“What We Found,” Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011): what if the notion of the observer changing the observed applied at the level of all of science? I have a soft spot for works that try to tackle difficult problems about justice and history. This one does not disappoint.
“Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” by Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2011): what happens to a boy who is experimented on to think like a quantum computer? I’m impressed by the skillful way in which the premise is introduced. The pacing and the laying out of information is perfectly executed. Not a word is wasted.