Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine - September/October 2021

In this issue

This issue, we’re going to do something that’s a little unusual for a number of reasons: we’re experimenting with the serial format by bringing you a full-length novel in just two parts, and we’re revisiting the lethal world of Kepler from Jay Werkheiser’s original novelette, “Kepler’s Law,” much expanded, in Kepler’s Laws (note the plural). Folks who remember the original story and recall the desperate attempts of the colonists to settle on the chemically hostile world might think they have an inkling of what’s in store, but far from it—Kepler’s Laws is about 90,000 words beyond what you’ve seen. Hold on to your hats; survival is going to come at a cost.
Perhaps the primary objection to using nuclear power to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel is that terrestrial nuclear power plants are dangerous. If that’s the case, then might we skirt the issue by making them nonterrestrial? We take a look in our fact article for the issue, “Orbital Nuclear Power,” by Donald Wilkins.
Then we have a planet held in thrall by two feuding petty tyrants when contract killer Rage Laskin drops in to take a job, but naturally things rapidly go pear-shaped in “The Silence Before I Sleep,” by Adam-Troy Castro.
And of course we have a wide variety of other stories from familiar faces like J.T. Sharrah, John Vester, Marissa Lingen, Robert Scherrer, Marie Vibbert, Joel Richards, and Holly Schofield, plus new names like Marco Frasetto and Bianca Sayan, plus the next entry in all of our fine features and incredible columns.