Today I conclude my look at the year 1992 in science fiction as reflected by the short story and novella anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Tenth Annual Collection, edited by the late Gardner Dozois. My encounter with Hurricane Idalia this past week reminded me of horrific Hurricane Andrew in August of '92, greatly intensifying as it bore down on the South Florida coastline right at my frightened parents' house in Hollywood before veering just before landfall as Category Five and devastating Homestead several miles south. Yes, sometimes reality can be scarier than science fiction, speaking of which here are my reactions to the book's final four tales...
NAMING THE FLOWERS by Kate Wilhelm
This is a novella about a very special little girl, born into a very wealthy family and an infant survivor of a devastating plane crash that claimed her mother...but no one can find her. A man recovering from a broken marriage is taking a short break from work when, in the vicinity of the wreck, he encounters a little girl who befriends him. Later an FBI agent contacts him and connects her to the missing infant...but how can that be since she would have quickly aged? The story goes on from there, the man, agent and girl and examines the ethics of government involving itself in genetics...whether the subject for investigation wants it or not. Reminded me of the Stephen King novel Firestarter...
SNODGRASS by Ian R. MacLeod
What if, just as the Beatles began recording in 1962, John Lennon got angry in the studio and just walked away? An interesting "what if" story that poses the theory that certain things will come back around full circle...including unhinged fans. I liked how the author captured Lennon's personality here, although I'm not so sure things would have turned out this way had he flown the coop that early...
BY THE MIRROR OF MY YOUTH by Kathe Koja
A woman married to a callous, selfish man is dying of an incurable brain disease and has made the sacrificial move of having herself cloned into a replacement wife just like herself. As she approaches her end, her resentment at her replacement-turned-rival only builds until they confront one another...and realize that they have a common purpose. The husband here is a thoroughly monumental jerk...
OUTNUMBERING THE DEAD by Frederick Pohl
It is hundreds of years into the future and humanity has figured the way to inject immortality into the genetic code, resulting in a massive population growth (to 10 trillion) and pressure to settle many other worlds. One man's body does not take to the genetic treatment, though...he is 92 and sees only some 30 more years of life before death. Very popular as a movie star, singer and dancer, he yet feels himself a terrible victim in juxtaposition to everyone else. In today's world he would be regarded as blessed for his longevity, but humans being what they are, it's all about who's around you and where you stand in comparison. This "short story" was in truth a pretty long novella to close out the 1992 anthology...
Next week I began review science fiction short stories from the year 1993...
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