Several columns (including an "In Memoriam: Steven Utley: 1948-2013,") essays, poems and book reviews. Overall not a bad issue with a couple better stories to balance the weak ones. The fiction story content is four novelettes and three short stories:

Haplotype 1402 • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka
The Art of Homecoming • novelette by Carrie Vaughn
Blair's War • shortstory by Ian Watson
Yubba Vines • novelette by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo
What is a Warrior Without His Wounds? • novelette by Gray Rinehart
Today's Friends • shortstory by David J. Schwartz
At Palomar • novelette by Rick Wilber

“Haplotype 1402" by Ted Kosmatka is the first story. A survivalist post-apocalyptic drama with only a few people resistant to a nasty bacteria. Nathan tries to stay moral in an amoral world. Interesting short piece.

Carrie Vaughn's “The Art of Homecoming” I found to be an unexpectedly touching story. This is a rather quiet story. Wendy is "Major Daring" on the security team of the interstellar diplomatic corps and is responsible for a major incident. Her Captain recommends some time off when Wendy insists on resigning or retiring. But she is a very skilled officer who is too valuable to let go. She decides to spend a month with her sister who is a farmer on the planet Ariana. Wendy finds she loves the rural life her sister has and must decide where her own future lies. This is very well written and I liked it a lot.

"Blair's War" by Ian Watson was really an odd one for me. It is described as an alternate history piece, set in England in 1937 and concerning Basque refugee children. There's really not much story to this and furthermore it was quite uninteresting.

“Yubba Vines” by Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo is really an odd story. The intro blurb cites 'mastery of gnarly transrealism' as if that tells me diddly. 'Gonzo ribofunk' is also in the blurb description which really tells me a lot more. So, the intro had me wary and the story is certainly offbeat, but it wasn't a whack job and I found the adventure of Cammy and Bengt and the strange diner with the fabulous food rather amusing.

“What Is a Warrior Without His Wounds?” is a novelette by Gray Rinehart. I have mixed feelings about this one. I thought the story was very good and well told, but the mad scientist mind transfer procedure just was not believable.

“Today’s Friends” really creeped me out. When I finished I worried I would have nightmares for a week. David J Schwartz has really finely crafted a short story about the after effects of an alien invasion by the Greys. They play with people's minds, make them act like puppets, make birds sing til they burst. They don't like sound, but they like music. This story is really worth reading.

“At Palomar” by Rick Wilber for me was a muddled story at first, flipping constantly through multiple timelines. It settles a bit towards the end with our "hero" trying to fix some of the timelines in which the Nazi's and Japanese were victors in WWII (The Germans via submarine set off atomic bombs in New York and Boston in one scenario we flip through). Good guys here are the bad guys there, maybe, who knows as we flip through the parallel universes. The key to all of this was Moe Berg. The story was OK, good only in parts, and I liked "Uncertainty," a novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from the March 2013 issue, that touched on Moe Berg much better. ( )

Decent issue with only three standouts in my opinion. Hallo type 1402, Today's Friend, and At Palomar were all great to read. ( )

Decent issue with only three standouts in my opinion. Hallo type 1402, Today's Friend, and At Palomar were all great to read. ( )