Here are my brief summaries and ratings for the latest issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine.

“Isolate” by Tom R. Pike — A monk with training in linguistics comes to a newly colonized planet to evaluate their language. I really loved how this story treats language and language learning. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Robot and the Winding Wood” by Brenda Cooper — An elderly couple maintaining a campground by themselves with no visitors for years is visited by a robot. A sweet story about the end of the world. (My rating: 5/5)

“Outside the Robles Line” by Raymund Eich — A young man makes a proposal to an older board of the Wise on an asteroid. This one felt like a non-fiction piece forced into a fiction wrapper. (My rating: 3/3)

“Retail Is Dying” by David Lee Zweifler and Ronan Zweifler — An old man wandering an old empty mall encounters a man with a dog he needs to adopt out. Perfect for dog lovers. (My rating: 4/5)

“Groundling” by Shane Tourtellotte — A mechanical engineer born on a generation ship enjoys a tour of duty planetside so much that he angles to be assigned to a new longer tour. This was one of those stories that I wanted to keep going so I could see what happens next. (My rating: 5/5)

“Amtech Deep Sea Institute Thanks You for Your Donation” by Kelsey Hutton — Scientists record the consciousness of a deep sea squid in its natural environment. An interesting piece of flash fiction. (My rating: 4/5)

“North American Union v. Exergy-Petroline Corporation” by TIffany Fritz — A legal finding from a future Supreme Court. The author uses a clever storytelling method, but it got in the way. Legal decisions are not entertaining stories. (My rating: 2/5)

“Momentum Exchange” by Nikolai Lofving Hersfeldt — Two immortals struggle against one another, one trying to keep the other on the planet. This one was good but didn’t really grab me. (My rating: 3/5)

“And So Greenpeace Invented the Death Ray…” by C. Stuart Hardwick — Satellites designed to beam energy to earth are compromised. This one had a thriller vibe. (My rating: 4/5)

“Mnemonomie” by Mark N. Tiedemann — A man wakes up feeling different after almost being beaten to death. A fascinating story of memory and coming-of-age. (My rating:4/5)

“Methods of Remediation in Nearshore Ecologies” by Joanne Rixon — A scientist kayaks the bay testing chemical levels in the soil. Interesting, but not much happens. (My rating: 3/5)

“First Contact, Already Seen” by Howard V. Hendrix — A series of vignettes outlining willful “othering” and personally enthrowning one’s own people. (My rating: 3/5)

“The New Shape of Care” by Lynne Sargent — A woman in hospice care run by robots is held by her daughter in her dying moments. An unexpected and slightly disturbing ending. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Scientist’s Book of the Dead” by Gregor Hartmann — After a revolution by scientists and a war that lowered the human population, those scientists debate lowering population even further. An interesting look at a society run by scientists. (My rating: 5/5)

“Siegried Howls Against the Void” by Erik Johnson — Siegfried, a slow, lumbering spacecraft communicates with Eurydice across the void of space. A metaphor for human relationships and aging. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Iceberg” by Michael Capobianco — A found-footage story of a man surviving on an iceberg near Antarctica after some sort of cataclysm. Meh. (My rating: 3/5)

“Bluebeard’s Womb” by M.G. Wills — A scientist experiments with men having babies as a way to address misogyny. Unexpected things happen in this well-told novella. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for a story in this issue: 3.82/5