The Universe Within the Universe, by Dominica Phetteplace

[Asimov's]

★☆☆☆☆

(Virtual Reality) The narrator wants to visit her own past to try to make her life better, but all she has to work with is a simulation of the past. (3,700 words; Time: 12m)

The Disappeared, by Leah Cypess

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆

(Abduction SF) Like other of the Disappeared, Daniel’s mom came back physically improved, but he’s sure her mind isn’t the same. Even though she denies it. (13,206 words; Time: 44m)

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)

Story with Two Names, by Ian McHugh

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Mixed

(Colony SF) There aren’t supposed to be any intelligent natives on this planet, but Mils is sure the humanoids called “koi” must be sapient, even if they don’t seem to have language. (13,754 words; Time: 45m)

The Terminal Zone, by Nick Wolven

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆

(Colony SF) Cornelius comes to Ceres for a last visit with his daughter’s family before he’s too old to make the trip, but he has extreme difficulty relating to them at all. (11,066 words; Time: 36m)

Waterlines, by Suzanne Palmer

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Great Characters, Great Plot, Great Setting

(SF Thriller) By treaty, people on Erax never talk to the Oceanics, so when an Oceanic turns up at a south polar base to deliver a few dead human bodies, it’s trouble for sure. (35,183 words; Time: 1h:57m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+2 (Q&A)

The Work of Wolves, by Tegan Moore

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Exciting, with a Great Dog Protagonist

(SF Thriller) Sera does a great job at search and rescue, but she has conflicts with her handler, who has trouble coping with an enhanced intelligence dog. (18,790 words; Time: 1h:02m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

A Potential Application of Induced Resonance in a Four-Dimensional Crystal of Quantum Spacetime, by Eric James Stone

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF) A scientist’s model of the universe has unexpectedly personal implications. (590 words; Time: 01m)

Finnegan, Bring the Pain, by Joe M. McDermott

[Analog]

★★★★★ Hard-Hitting Tale of Different Kinds of Loss

(Literary SF) A group of rowdy teens hold a going-away party for a friend whose family is leaving for Alpha Centauri forever. (4,767 words; Time: 15m)

Dreaming Up the Future, by Julie Novakova

[Analog]

★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement

(AI SF) A group of scientists tries to use AI to do original research. (2,806 words; Time: 09m)

A Neighborhood for Someone Else, by Alison Wilgus

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Vignette) Berta works as a human translator on a very alien world, where no matter how hard she tries, she knows she’ll never fit in. (3,493 words; Time: 11m)

Captain Zack & the Data Raiders, by Steve Rasnic Tem

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Climate SF) Zack and his team prowl the Internet, preserving inconvenient data that other people want to delete forever. (3,426 words; Time: 11m)

Uncommon, by Leah Cypess

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Medical SF) Jen learns that curing her cancer will cost her immunity to a different nasty disease. (2,958 words; Time: 09m)

What We Named the Needle, by Freya Marske

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Adventure) Amy’s people don’t realize they’re sending her off in a lifeboat from their old starship, but fortunately she ends up somewhere she can actually do some good. (4,993 words; Time: 16m)

Portle, by Robert Scherrer

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Multiverse) The teleporters make travel a breeze, but Amy won’t use them, claiming she always ends up with a different mom and dad each time she goes through it. (7,287 words; Time: 24m)

A Wonderful Thing to Say, by Dan Reade

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SF) A woman hires two men to look back through time to find a letter her late husband wrote. (3,396 words; Time: 11m)

All Tomorrow's Parties, by Phoebe North

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Time Travel) Michael has done so much recreational time travel that he’s jaded. He’s resentful of the tourists who don’t try hard enough to blend in, and he wants to take his new girlfriend someplace special and authentic. (4,905 words; Time: 16m)

The Babbage Tour, by Leo Vladimirsky

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Time Travel) David’s wife is dying of cancer. She’s the world’s expert on time travel, but, so far, nothing living survives the trip. (2,641 words; Time: 08m)

Labor-Saving Relations, by Buzz Dixon

[Analog]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Robot SF) A man gets tired of his bossy appliances and replaces them with the old-fashioned kind. (2,333 words; Time: 07m)

Sailors of the Second Sun, by David L. Clements

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Hard SF) A space probe flies by a nearby brown dwarf, but the AI keeps sending pictures of the same area, wasting the mission. (3,695 words; Time: 12m)