Asimov's Science Fiction: April/May 2013 (39 page)

No doubt there are some Young Adults who could read this novel with pre-educated understanding. No doubt there are some Young Adults who
should
read it before their first vote or while contemplating a military or clandestine service career. But they would hardly add up to its central mass audience.

Paul McAuley has followed the logic of multiversal quantum cosmology with more scientific rigor than Ian McDonald. In
Planesrunner,
the Heisenberg Gates serve as doors to anything and not much more, and you can't meet your doppel.

But in
Cowboy Angels,
doppels can and do meet and the story revolves around them. McAuley accepts what the theory implies: that every little event in every sheaf can branch off another alternative reality, in which every little event can branch off another alternate reality, and so forth, quite literally ad infinitum.

He fudges the seeming impossibility of being able to write any kind of a coherent story in such a situation with the corollary that events that are too small do not prevent what branching sheafs they may create from collapsing back onto the main line they came from.

However, even McAuley, and anyone else thus far who has used quantum cosmology to frame science fiction, has avoided tackling the ultimate implication of the theory that sits there like the eight hundred pound gorilla in the logic thereof.

Cowboy Angels
embraces quantum cosmology perhaps further than any other novel yet has. But McAuley confines his novel to alternate
Americas.
And if the theory is correct, if each significant event branches off another alternate brane, another alternate reality, then this has to be true for each significant event, not just in the United States, not just on the planet Earth, not just in this solar system, not just in this galaxy,
but anywhere and everywhere in our soda bubble universe, and indeed in the multiverse in which it has arisen among an infinity of others.

It works in theory, all right.

But can anyone make it work in science fiction?

The big Memorial Day weekend is only three months off; I'll have more for that weekend next time. Till then, check out LunaCon (where I'll be), ICon (ditto), MillenniCon, RavenCon (me again), and MiniCon. Plan now for social weekends with your favorite SF authors, editors, artists, and fellow fans. For an explanation of con(vention)s, a sample of SF folksongs, and info on fanzines and clubs, send me an SASE (self-addressed, stamped #10 [business] envelope) at 10 Hill #22-L, Newark NJ 07102. The hot line is (973) 242-5999. If a machine answers (with a list of the week's cons), leave a message and I'll call back on my nickel. When writing cons, send an SASE. For free listings, tell me of your con five months out. Look for me at cons behind the Filthy Pierre badge, playing a musical keyboard.—Erwin S. Strauss

1-3—
StellarCon,
For info, write:
Box F4, EUC, UNCG, Greensboro NC 27413. stellarcon.org.
Or phone:
(937) 242-5999
(10 am to 10 pm, not collect).
(Web) stellarcon.com. (E-mail) [email protected].
Con will be held in: Greensboro NC (if city omitted, same as in address) at the Airport Marriott. Guests will include: the Banes, A. Wold, D. Beauchamp, M. Pederson, actress A. Pritchett, model Allegra.

8-10—
FogCon. fogcon.org.
Marriott, Walnut Creek CA. The late A. Boucher, Bisson, S. R. Matthews. Theme: "Law, Order and Crime."

15-17—
LunaCon, c/o Box 432, Bronx NY 10465. lunacon.org.
Hilton, Rye Town NY. Michael F. Flynn, Wm. O'Connor, Leslie Fish.

15-17—
MillenniCon, 5818 Wilmington Pike #122, Centerville OH 45459. millennicon.org.
Cincinnati OH. Flint, Tom Smith, Clemens.

15-17—
RevelCon, Box 6924, Houston TX 77265. severalunlimited.com.
For adult fans of SF media. "Sleeping with the Stars."

22-24—
ICon, c/o Box 550, Stony Brook NY 11790. iconsf.org.
Hofstra U., Long Island NY. Guests TBA. Big on-campus event.

22-24—
ZenkaiKon. zenkaikon.com.
Convention Center, Lancaster PA. Musicians The Slants, voicers R. Epcar, E. Stern. Anime.

29-31—
MarCon, Box 141414, Columbus OH 43214. marcon.org.
Hyatt. Joe Haldeman, F. Paul Wilson, J. Dee. Finally back in March.

29-31—
MiniCon, Box 8297, Minneapolis MN 55408. mnstf.org/minicon48.
Doubletree, Bloomington MN. J. Czerneda, R. Tatge.

5-7—
RavenCon, Box 36420, Richmond VA 23235. ravencon.com.
Holiday Inn Select Koger Center. K. J. Anderson, R. Moesta.

12-14—
Windy City Pulp & Paper Con, 13 Spring Lane, Barrington Hills IL 60010. windycitypulpandpaper.com.
Lombard IL.

19-21—
ConStellation, Box 84324, Lincoln NE 68501. constellationne.net.
Dylan Nigh of Anime Nebraskon. Theme: "A New Hope".

19-21—
FILKONtario, 145 Rice Ave. #98, Hamilton ON L9C 6R3. filkontario.ca.
Mississauga (Toronto) ON. SF/fantasy folksinging.

26-28—
EerieCon, c/o Box 412, Buffalo NY 14226. eeriecon.org.
Grand Island (Niagara Falls) NY. Jack McDevitt, Carl Fredrick.

26-28—
Divine Decadence. thetwistedworld.com
Doubletree, Somerset NJ. "A multi-cultural, multi-genre event." 18+ only, please.

3-5—
Malice Domestic, Box 8007, Gaithersburg MD 20898. malicedomestic.org.
Hyatt, Bethesda MD (near DC). L. King. Mysteries.

9-12—
ÅCon. acon6.wordpress.com.
Hotel Adlon, Mariehamn, Åland I., Finland. Tricia Sullivan. "Pronounced 'Awe-Con:' truly Åsome."

9-13—
MistiCon. misti-con.org.
Margate Hotel, Laconia NH. "A Harry Potter Convention Like No Other." Not officially sanctioned.

10-12—
Faerie Festival. marylandfaeriefestival.org
Camp Ramblewood, Darlington MD. Outdoor event. Pony rides, May Pole, etc.

17-19—
KeyCon, Box 3178, Winnipeg MB R3C 4E6. keycon.org.
Richard Hatch. L. Moyer. Celebrating Dr. Who and H. P. Lovecraft

17-19—
Spectrum. spectrumfantasticartlive.com.
Bartle Hall, Kansas City MO. M. Whelan, C. Vess, McPherson, Whitlatch, de Sève.

17-20—
CostumeCon, 1218 Florence Ave., Colorado Springs CO 80905. cc31denver.com.
Aurora CO. Masqueraders' annual con.

18—
Book Festival. gaithersburgbookfestival.org.
City Hall, Gaithersburg, MD (near DC). "Books, Writers &the Written Word." Free.

24-26—
Oasis, Bos 323, Goldenrod FL 32733. oasfis.org.
Orlando, FL. Seanan McGuire, Cthulhu Chili Cookoff, NASA stuff.

24-26—
ConQuest. conquestkc.org.
Holiday Inn CoCo Key Water Park. P. Rothfuss, C. Garcia, P. C. Wrede, J. Pacicio. T. N. Hayden.

24-27—
BaltiCon, Box 686, Baltimore MD 21203. balticon.org.
Marriot, Hunt Valley MD. Joe Haldeman, N. Okorafor, R. Sternbach.

24-27—
Baycon, Box 62108, Sunnyvale CA 94088. baycon.org.
Hyatt, Santa Clara CA. L. M. Bujold, V. Belmont. C. & J. O'Halloran.

24-27—
MisCon, Box 7721, Missoula MT 59807. (406) 544-7083. miscon.org.
Ruby's Inn. Jim and S. K. Butcher. "Family-friendly."

24-27—
Wiscon, Box 1624, Madison WI 53701. (608) 233-8850. wiscon.info.
Concourse Hotel. Walton, Slonczewaki. Feminism & SF.

29-Sep. 2—
Lone Star Con 3, Box 27277, Austin TX 78755. lonestarcon3.org.
San Antonio TX. The World SF Convention. $160+.

14-18—
LonCon 3, 379 Myrtle Rd., Sheffield S2 3HQ, UK. loncon3.org.
Docklands, London UK. The WorldCon. ú95/A,C,US$160.

SHEILA WILLIAMS

Editor

TREVOR QUACHRI

Managing Editor

MARY GRANT

Editorial Assistant

EMILY HOCKADAY

Editorial Administrative Assistant

JAYNE KEISER

Typesetting Director

SUZANNE LEMKE

Assistant Typesetting Manager

KEVIN DORIS

Senior Typesetter

VICTORIA GREEN

Senior Art Director

CINDY TIBERI

Production Artist

LAURA TULLEY

Senior Production Manager

JENNIFER CONE

Production Associate

ABIGAIL BROWNING

Manager Subsidiary Rights and Marketing

TERRIE POLY

Digital Publishing Manager

SANDY MARLOWE

Circulation Services

ADVERTISING SALES DEPARTMENT

Tel: (203) 866-6688 ext.442 Fax: (203) 854-5962 [email protected] (Display and Classified Advertising)

Subscriber Services:
203-866-6688 Option #2

PETER KANTER

Publisher

BRUCE W. SHERBOW

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing

CHRISTINE BEGLEY

Vice President, Editorial and Product Development

SUSAN MANGAN

Vice President, Design and Production

ISAAC ASIMOV

Editorial Director (1977-1992)

Stories from
Asimov's
have won 53 Hugos and 27 Nebula Awards, and our editors have received 19 Hugo Awards for Best Editor.

Please do not send us your manuscript until you've gotten a copy of our guidelines. Look for them online at
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Asimov's Science Fiction,
267 Broadway, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10007-2352. While we're always looking for new writers, please, in the interest of time-saving, find out what we're looking for, and how to prepare it, before submitting your story.

Asimov's Science Fiction.
ISSN 1065-2698. Vol. 37, Nos. 4 & 5. Whole Nos. 447 & 448, April/May 2013. GST #R123293128. Published monthly except for two combined double issues in April/May and October/November by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. One year subscription $55.90 in the United States and U.S. possessions. In all other countries $70.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. Address for subscription and all other correspondence about them, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for change of address. Address for all editorial matters:
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