A darn good issue all around. I had a number of favorites:
- "The Memorybox Vultures" by Brian Trent: I've read and enjoyed several of Trent's stories, and this one creates a chilling and fascinating vision of the future where the dead continue to post on social media.
- "Powerless" by Harry Turtledove: Southern California under Russian communism, with a focus on a rebellious cog in the machine. Leave it to Turtledove to come up with a fresh alt history twist. I added this novelette to my awards short list.
- "Emissaries from the Skirts of Heaven" by Gregor Hartmann: The worldbuilding is what gripped me in this story, as it describes as space-faring civilization and a religion that intrigues.
- "Shooting Iron" by Cassandra Khaw and Jonathan L. Howard: This is a violent, fun twist on the trope of white men venturing off to Asia to come back as enlightened fighters. ( )