Articulated Restraint by Mary Robinette Kowal

One of the main characters is a young man who used to be an indentured worker. The future world of “Old Media” by Annalee Newitz is a complex, high-tech one. Although well written, with richly drawn characters, this depressing story is so grim that many will find reading it unpleasant. The fate of the whales is no better than that of the humans. Two minor characters, for example, commit suicide. This is a bleak tale from beginning to end, without a trace of hope. Together they discover a change in whale songs, leading to a major alteration in the animals’ behavior. They have both lost close family members to death. The two main characters are a welder and a scientist. Before the story begins, terrorists destroyed a supply ship headed for the rig, killing everyone aboard and leaving the workers without relief. Kemper, workers on a large ocean rig harvest whales for meat. The story will appeal to those who enjoy hard science fiction, as well as to anyone who appreciates a character of courage and determination. The tense situation creates a great deal of suspense. The author makes use of believable technical details to portray a very realistic alternate history of space exploration.

With no time to equip another astronaut, she runs the risk of greatly worsening her injury, threatening her career, in order to save the lives of her colleagues. Complicating matters is the fact that she has a badly sprained ankle. The astronaut, under extreme time pressure, must figure out a way to deal with the crisis. There is a real emergency on the genuine space station. Underwater to simulate weightlessness, she works with a model of the space station. Her current assignment is to enter a huge swimming pool while wearing a spacesuit. Despite this background, the story takes place on Earth.

There is a thriving moon colony and an active space station. “Articulated Restraint” by Mary Robinette Kowal takes place in 1960, but in a world with an advanced space program. This month, three science fiction stories offer visions of the far future, the near future, and a past that never existed.

Articulated Restraint by Mary Robinette Kowal