Kathleen Moloney

In addition to all the fiction content, there is an assortment of columns, editorials, artwork (how I miss the pen and ink artwork the magazines used to carry), letters to the editor, puzzles, want ads and book reviews (including a nice one of Silverberg's Majipoor Chronicles by Baird Searles, a book reviewer I enjoyed for many years until his untimely death in 1993).

Fiction:
Not Fade Away • shortstory by Spider Robinson
Moonlighting in the Daylight • poem by Peter Payack
Universes • shortstory by Robert F. Young
Peace Offer • poem by David R. Bunch
The Sound of His Wings • novelette by Rand B. Lee
Blurb • shortstory by Henry Clark
Transisters • shortstory by Christine Renard translated from French by John Brunner
Elementary Decision • poem by Don Anderson
High Iron • shortstory by James Killus and Dorothy Smith
Acrostic Sonnet • poem by Barry Wilkes
No Browsing • shortstory by J. Michael Matuszewicz
A Classical Ending • poem by John D. Seats
Triangle • shortstory by Dianne Thompson and George Florance-Guthridge
War of Independence • novelette by Stanley Schmidt

This issue appeared during Kathleen Maloney's short tenure as editor

There is also a rather odd long profile of author Harry Harrison who comes across as something of a crankypants. I wasn't much of a fan of his work until the West of Eden Trilogy which would come a few years later in the mid to late 80's and which I really enjoyed.

The first two stories I enjoyed, but after that, not so much and there always seems to be a story or two in these digest issues that is a little too odd or confusing to me, or I simply dislike. 'Not fade Away' by Spider Robinson was an excellent opening story. It is about an encounter in the far future with the last human warrior in the universe. "Universes" by Robert F Young followed and was an oddly touching story. It is lacking in some details about how the event happened but it is a story about an astronaut who believes he went through a black hole and came into an alternate universe. It is a very personal story tinged with sadness.

The next story, a novelette, is one of author Rand B. Lee's first published stories. As authors go he wasn't prolific but he made several appearances in these early 80's issues of Asimov's. Trivia note revealed in the intro: His father, the late Manfred B. Lee, was one-half of the "Ellery Queen" writing team. So this story, "The Sound of His Wings" was one of the ones that I found odd and confusing about two men in love at the end of something and I didn't finish it. It does have a great intriguing opening line to the story "On the very last morning, the alarm woke Hugh Mabary out of the most beautiful dream of his life."

'Transisters' is a French science fiction story by Christine Renard. In this story one can take a very expensive trip to parallel universes and visit oneself there. Cecile is a very unhappy woman who wants to visit one of her doubles who had an apparently happy life. They decide to do a Prince and the Pauper. This was interesting although it felt like a stumble at the end. Overall a good story. The next few stories I didn't connect with but I did think the last story was OK if a little long. "War of Independence" by Stanley Schmidt (who was the editor at that time of Analog magazine.)

Overall this magazine issue disappointed despite a few highlights.… (more)