A Mammoth, So-Called, by Marc Laidlaw

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Average

(19th-Century SF Adventure) In which the explorer, Vargas, describes the great Mammoth he found frozen in the polar ice and what became of it (2,439 words; Time: 08m)

"A Mammoth, So-Called," by Marc Laidlaw [bio] (edited by Sheila Williams), appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction issue 05-06|18, published on April 19, 2018 by Penny Publications.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: It’s very cute that the mammoth was really just a holographic image of a mammoth, unaccountably etched into ice by (presumably) alien visitors. The trick with the ice cubes depends on the fact that every fragment of a hologram contains the entire image.

Con: The clever trick is all there is to the story. No plot or character development.

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 05-06|18)
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