"Clipper's Last Ride" by Richard Mueller

An emotional and exciting story about two people set on a backwater world where they have drifted to. One was a former jockey caught cheating and is now the town barber while the other was a former soldier dismissed dis-honestly. When strange things began to happen and the local army suspects an attack, they are called upon to help and they have to make sacrifices to save the town.

• Read from Asimov's SF, July 2005

"The Children of Time" by Stephen Baxter

A fascinating story, told through the eyes of children and set in different eras, many thousands of years apart. We see the earth as civilisation fails, ice ages come and go, and continents drift back together, finally forming a new super-continent. But even then, somehow, humanity survives, living until the end of the earth.

• Read from Asimov's SF, July 2005

"Girls and Boys, Come Out and Play" by Michael Swanwick

An amusing story that takes place in the future where a pair of agents for Her Majesty's government arrive in Arcadia, Greece, looking for some stolen bronze statues. There, they encouter satyrs, nymphs and other greek mythological creatures and discover that some scientists are planning to re-create some greeek gods; some good like Pan and some definitely not so good.

• Read from Asimov's SF, July 2005

"RAW" by Daniel Grotta

An interesting piece involving a revolutionary new image sensor used in a camera and a camera professional asked to give a review of it. Things become spooky when a freak accident causes the camera to be able to see unexpected things and causes him to come to the attention of some where bad people. Best read if you have some experience in professional digital camera photography as the story uses a number of technological teminology that may confuse the reader at some parts, but not enough to high the emotional impact of parts of the story.

• Read from Asimov's SF, July 2005

"How Bears Survived the Change" by Uncle River

A story set in a future after malfunctioning military satellites accidentally activated a global apocalypyse. Bears suddenly appear in this new world where bears have been extince for centuries. So how did they get there? Well, it appears they took an unusual path that involves UFO visitors in the past (our present), a woman who can get along with bears and the strange journey the UFO takes after an accidental joyride on it.

• Read from Analog SF, June 2005

"This Little World" by Carl Frederick

This is the usual 'scientist/engineers' solve a problem type of story with an interesting premise. A film company wants to film a monster movie in space so they set up a miniature world on a space station. Problem is a power glitch causes the airlock hatches to seal and they have to figure out how to use whatever they have to try to get it open before they suffocate.

• Read from Analog SF, June 2005