Stories
"The Christmas Tree" – by Peter Friend (short story) 5 pages
"Strength Alone" – by Paul Melko (novelette) 18 pages
"The Star Called Wormwood" – by Elizabeth Counihan (short story) 8 pages
"Home of the Brave" – by Allen M. Steele (novelette) 15 pages
"A Princess of Earth" – by Mike Resnick (short story) 10 pages
"Being With Jimmy" – by Aaron Schutz (short story) 9 pages
"Red Hands, Black Hands" – by Chris Roberson (short story) 13 pages
"Strood" – by Neal Asher (short story) 10 pages
"Echoing" – by James Van Pelt (short story) 9 pages
"A Reunion" – by Keith Ferrell (novelette) 20 pages

The December issue, as always, is a holiday issue and it kicks off with a holiday story. Unfortunately, it's not the most interesting holiday story. The issue is sort of hit and miss, with some outstanding stories (Allen M. Steele's Coyote sequence always entertains, and the wonderful final story of the issue) and some not so good ones. It's the first issue I've bought that wasn't a double issue, and I'd have to say that it's probably the worst of the three that I own. Another strong story is Aaron Schutz's "Being With Jimmy." While I don't believe this is intentional, there does seem to be a "group mind" or telepathic theme to this story, as there are four stories that have something to do with the ability for the characters to either talk to each other or at least share some consciousness between them. It's still an interesting issue, despite the sporadic quality of the stories. Robert Silverberg, in his "Reflections" article, makes a good case for the United States Postal Service to produce an Isaac Asimov postage stamp, which is certainly a good cause as well.

The Stories
"The Christmas Tree" – by Peter Friend
The December issue begins with a space-age Christmas story with a weird twist on the Christmas ideal. Young Bloona comes racing into the Elderhouse yelling that he's found a ripe Christmas tree, the first one in ages. After some initial skepticism, his grandmother and a few of the other elders come to see it. While the tree has moved a little ways, they do manage to find it as it's chowing down on something bloody. Grandmother stakes the village's claim to the tree by putting the North Pole into the ground and vows that they must keep it well-fed until it can be harvested. This is a quiet little story that turns a lot of Christmas traditions on their heads, with Grandmother acting as "Mother Christmas" and Bloona acting as her elf. The townspeople have to continually visit the tree and put gifts underneath it to keep it happy. While the changes in the traditions are interesting, the story ultimately didn't hold my attention, saved only by its shortness. It's charming, but ultimately very lightweight. Perhaps that's perfect for a Christmas issue, though?

"Strength Alone" – by Paul Melko
Paul Melko has conceived of an intriguing future of Earth, one that's been through many wars and caused society to go through massive changes. Now, "pods" are the norm, with each pod consisting of from three to eight young people who, while having individuality, exist in a group mind. Each individual brings a capability to the group whole. On a survival training mission, an avalanche buries two of these pods. Strom appears to be the only survivor of his pod, but he stumbles upon four survivors in another pod. Strom is the strong part of his pod, without a whole lot of intelligence. He struggles to rescue the other four while using the limited brain power that he has. He also meets resistance as the four survivors don't seem to want to be rescued if their podmates are dead. I've read one other story in this world ("Singletons in Love"), and found it a fascinating concept. Melko carries it further in this one, analyzing what it would be like if a single piece has to survive on its own. Melko shows us that sometimes the strong have their own mental strengths besides their muscles. Strom has a single-minded determination that they must survive at all costs. I did find the ending a little trite and predictable, but the journey to that point was worth it.

"The Star Called Wormwood" – by Elizabeth Counihan
I'm not sure what to make of this story. A comet seems to mark the passage of life from one species to the next. First, an old woman breathes her last as the comet passes by, mouthing the word "Wormwood" which is picked up by the machines that are taking care of her. Then, we cut to a man, Kuri, who is living alone with an "adapt," a creature who is part pet and part lover. Kuri knows that he is dying, but he is determined to make all the repairs on his home before he does so. He is old, becoming decrepit, and knows he can't last much longer. Meanwhile, the comet appears, marking yet another transition. While I found interesting the idea of the house where everything used in its construction adds to the audio and video harmony, until finally a masterpiece of sound and sight is created, I didn't find that the rest of the story grabbed me that much. It's yet another shorter story that barely rates even that page count.

"Home of the Brave" – by Allen M. Steele
In the final installment of the second Coyote sequence of stories by Steele, the revolution on the planet Coyote is over and the colonists have won. The Collectivists have retreated, and Carlos, the new mayor of the colony, has some new problems. A volcano erupted a few months ago, spewing ash and affecting the climate on Coyote. He has to guide the settlement through its growing pains. He also has to deal with the return of an enemy thought dead months ago, as well as some rebels who have known nothing but violence. This is an effective coda to the whole Coyote series of stories, with wonderful characterization of Carlos and the problems that he has to deal with. It does suffer even more than "Liberation Day" from the need to be at least somewhat familiar with what's been going on. Steele does explain some of it, and the story is still good even without this knowledge, but it loses some of its impact. Of course, that's not the story's fault, more the fault of it being featured in an isolated fashion in a magazine.

"A Princess of Earth" – by Mike Resnick
This is a story that's enjoyable in its own right, but if you're familiar with Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter on Mars stories, it would be even more effective. A man has lost his wife and refuses to get past it, living his life entirely in the past, going through the motions of living. One wintry morning, he discovers a naked man in his yard. He brings him in to warm up. The man claims to be John Carter of Mars, the famous hero of those stories. The narrator is convinced that the man is insane, but he slowly starts to be won over by the man's sincerity and insistence, especially when John lets drop that the body dies when the spirit is transported between Mars and Earth, so he has actually "died" a few times. The story ultimately has a tragic feel to it, but it also has an underlying humour as the conversation between the two men continues. The ending is suitably ambiguous, so much so that you don't know whether the narrator is going on to his ultimate dream or being deluded into something horrible. The story is really about the nature of reality and how we try to conform reality to our beliefs. It's quite effective in that.

"Being with Jimmy" – by Aaron Schutz
On an island that appears to be either a prison or a zoo (or maybe that's the point?), three men live alone, isolated from the outside world. They have some sort of telepathy and empathy among them that permits communication as well as the transfer of memories. Alphie is the elder, a man who took in Jimmy when Jimmy first showed up. The narrator is then deposited on the island as a child, having no memory of life before his exile. It appears that they are being studied in some way, as Jimmy and the narrator stumble onto a woman who is wearing some sort of holographic masker. Jimmy has always been a little unstable, and he takes sadistic glee in torturing her. Told alternately in "present day" and memories, the story is quite good, showing us what isolation and imprisonment can do to an already unstable mind. The story embodies one of the statements made in the story: "You don't kill the bear if a tourist climbs into his cage." I think the story suffers a little bit from too much ambiguity about why these three men are on the island, but it is definitely worth reading.

"Red Hands, Black Hands" – by Chris Roberson
The introduction to this story says that it's part of a series of alternate histories that will ultimately be collected. I found this confusing at first, until it's revealed that the world in this story is a colony from an Earth where the Chinese became the dominant world power. It's a story about the power of ideas and how those ideas can live beyond the person espousing them. Song Huagu is a novelist whose publisher is demanding her next manuscript, but none of these controversial tracts. She meets a miner who appears to be an insurrectionist against the Emperor back on Earth, and they fall into an affair. The affair and her already rebellious tendencies make for an explosive situation. Roberson tells an interesting story of politics and ideas, along with a little bit of intrigue. The characters are interesting, but they're a little bit thin, with only Song and Madame Jade getting much characterization. Still, there's a little twist at the end which makes for a satisfying tale.

"Strood" – by Neil Asher
This is a twist on that old "To Serve Man," where the aliens end up coming to Earth with, well, culinary intentions. In this one, the aliens show up and ship off the people who are too sick to benefit from the aliens' DNA improvements. The narrator is sent to an orbiting station where the aliens and their pets, the "strood," are staying. One of the strood attacks and it seems that the aliens have an ulterior motive to their benevolence. Do they? Or is there some other reason? The twist in this story is wonderful and the situation is extremely interesting. Asher keeps the reader guessing with some nice slight of hand, effectively using the old "hungry alien" idea to get the reader going and then pulling the rug out from under. There isn't a lot of characterization in this one, and I did have to wonder about the change of heart by the BBC documentary makers (they don't believe the narrator's story about being food, but then they start asking questions as if they do), but it's definitely a winner of a story.

"Echoing" – by James Van Pelt
Three vastly different characters seem to be linked in some way, as the story jumps from one to another sometimes in mid-sentence. The first is Laird, a truck driver who's trying to make it home through a blinding snowstorm on Christmas Eve. The second is Tremaine, a navigator on a sleeper ship going through [M]-Space who wakes and discovers that his ship is off course. The third is Brianna, a young girl who is thinking of suicide in her father's office as family members in the other room sing Christmas carols. These three stories are combined as the narrative echoes like a ping-pong ball from one to another and then back again. This linking seems to help them as each one gets a new lease on life from the images of the others. There is no explanation for what is happening, but I think it works in this case. Van Pelt gives us a narrative that is almost leisurely at the beginning, spending time with each one before jumping to the next in wonderful transitions. However, as things reach a climax, the images join in a blur that is almost breath-taking.

"Reunion" – by Keith Ferrell
The issue ends on a triumphant note with this powerful story of progress not necessarily being the best thing. The story takes place on a colony world that used to have all of the accoutrements of science fiction modern-day life: doors that open and close on their own, food processors that create food from recycled materials so that nothing has to be grown, other items that make it so trees and other natural things don't have to be uprooted. Eight years ago, raiders came and damaged all of the solar batteries, forcing the colony to go back to the hard way of doing things. The narrator is a young boy who hasn't known anything but this hard life, having been very young when the raiders hit. He feels attached to everything he and his family have done, especially the rock dam that they are building for power. However, former companions of the colonists finally return and start to get everything working. The colonists are ecstatic; all but a boy who loves doesn't want anything to change. This story leads to an inevitable conclusion that still goes further than I thought Ferrell would. The characterization is wonderful as you see the increasing disappointment in the narrator's voice as he's telling the story. It's the longest story in the issue, and it's also the best.

The Articles
"Reflections" – by Robert Silverberg
The case for producing a postage stamp for Isaac Asimov

"On the Net" – by James Patrick Kelly
Ebooks again?

"On Books" – by Peter Heck
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
Olympic Games by Leslie What
Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod
Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory by Edward J. Larson