Father, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Punch-Card Punk) In an alternate 1950s with robots, spaceships, and flying cars, the US Army sends a robot father to the son of a dead soldier. (7,134 words; Time: 23m)

The Swallows of the Storm, by Ray Nayler

[Lightspeed]

★★★☆☆

(Alien Mystery) Something has been drilling long, narrow holes through plants, animals, even rocks, and Dr. Nino gives the US Senate a report on what it was about. (6,847 words; Time: 22m)

Eyes of the Forest, by Ray Nayler

[F&SF]

★★★★★ Plenty of excitement in a beautiful, deadly setting.

(SF Adventure) To become a Wayfarer, Sedef needs to master the dangers of the forest on her planet, which kills anything that doesn’t glow. And she has to survive an emergency run, seven hours each way, alone. (5,667 words; Time: 18m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Albedo Season, by Ray Nayler

[Clarkesworld]

★★★☆☆

(Lost Colony) A settlement on the moon of a giant planet suffers a threat from a fungus that kills the ploughtrees they depend on. (6,115 words; Time: 20m)

Return to the Red Castle, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SF Adventure) Years ago, Irem went to the stars, but the results were disappointing, and now she’s trying to settle back into an Istanbul grown strange to her. (7,171 words; Time: 23m)

The Disintegration Loops, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆

(Alternate History) In a 1956 America where Roosevelt is still president and life has been transformed by alien technology discovered before the war, a very special investigator looks into a murder. (9,226 words; Time: 30m)

The Death of Fire Station 10, by Ray Nayler

[Lightspeed]

★★☆☆☆

(Emergent AI) When it sees its neighbors torn down, a smart building appeals to the government not to let it die. (5,784 words; Time: 19m)

The Ocean Between The Leaves, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SF Thriller) A young man spends all he has to care for his sister who lies in a coma. Or so it seems. (7,775 words; Time: 25m)

Fire in the Bone, by Ray Nayler

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★☆ Read carefully; things are not as they seem

(SF Colony) On an agricultural planet, on the night they celebrate the harvest, a young man plans a secret rendezvous with his forbidden lover. (5,635 words; Time: 18m)

Incident at San Juan Bautista, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Time Travel) August has come to town to kill a man, but first he decides to spend the night with a woman. (5,325 words; Time: 17m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

A Threnody for Hazan, by Ray Nayler

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF) Baris watches helplessly as Hazan’s obsession with her work destroys her. (8,930 words; Time: 29m)

Winter Timeshare, by Ray Nayler

Find this issue

(SF) Regina and Ilkay take an annual holiday together in Istanbul, renting “blank” bodies for the occasion. (7,122 words; Time: 23m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Do Not Forget Me, by Ray Nayler

Find this issue.

(Tale) In the style of the Arabian Nights, this story tells the tale Batyr related to his wife after an evening with a great poet. (6,571 words)

Rating: 2, Not recommended

 

Mutability, by Ray Nayler

Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2015;  6,800 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story  Recommended By:  Locus  SFEP

In a comfortable future world, a man meets a woman from a past he doesn't remember.

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

Pro: We like The concept of immortals in a post-scarcity society able to do whatever they want, but unable to remember more than a century or two into the past. It's a nice detail that the book Sebastian has been studying is the same one Sophia tried to dispose of. It's sad that they know they were once happy together, that they broke up for some reason, and they're together again hoping something magic will happen.

Con: There's no actual action or tension of any kind in the story. It almost feels as though everyone has been drugged.