First Publication: Analog, May 2014
Cover Artist: Vincent Di Fate
The author must have had a lot of fun writing this short story.
An alien race lands on the moon. They travelled to Earth to offer to take an ambassador to the Galactic Federation to appeal for membership. Your race has to be able to travel to the other planets of the Solar System. The aliens were disappointed to learn that we abandoned the space program. They offer to still take an ambassador if we can get one to the moon before they finish fueling up. It will take them approximately two months. Oltion describes the events that follow that announcement as the various countries try to reach the moon while sabotaging the others. It is a sad but unfortunately realistic stage of affairs. The final solution is interesting with some unforeseen side effects.
The story is a combination of funny, sad, and scary all at the same time. I will be looking for more of Jerry Oltion’s stories in the future.
First Publication: Analog, July/August 2012
Cover Artist: Vincent Di Fate
“Donner Summit” is a “Probability Zero” story from Analog. It is a first contact story where, surprise, things go wrong.
The “Probability Zero” stories have been part of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact for as long as I can remember. They are very short stories that usually have some sort of twist at the end.
“Donner Summit” is only the second Harry Turtledove story I can remember reading. He tells it in a casual, conversational manner that is very easy to read. Both the aliens and the humans seem to be the perfect race to meet for a first alien contact. Everything is going smoothly until… I will not ruin the ending for anyone who might want to read it.
You will find it to be entertaining if you like stories that have a surprise ending.
A new regular feature here will be a look back at some of my favorite covers. First up will be the covers that Vincent Di Fate did for Lin Carter's Callisto series.
The first book caught my eye due to Di Fate's classic cover. The combination of the bird like flying machines, futuristic building and the large moon in the background jumped off the book rack and into my hands. The cover convinced me to buy it.
