Long ago in the time of the pulp fiction magazines the cover artists often got paid more than the writers for their work. A good cover, after all, could really sell a lot of magazines. For the less prosperous magazines, sometimes a good cover was bought before the fiction was even written. This gave an ironic and ambiguous meaning to the phrase “the cover story” — which was sometimes, actually fairly often, written to fit the art. - David Hartwell, Introducing the Palencar Project

This is a collection of five short stories commissioned by Tor for a painting by John Jude Palencar. I have been interested in this project for a while, so I thought I'd give these a read. (I'm reviewing the ebook instead of the individuals for once because I'm hoping the whole is better than the parts.)

[b:New World Blues|20556330|New World Blues|L.E. Modesitt Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389830094s/20556330.jpg|38688961] by [a:L.E. Modesitt Jr.|1301649|L.E. Modesitt Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207333645p2/1301649.jpg] A woman is sent to a purple-gray world to save others. This is supposed to be a feminist story. Not enough background in there to establish the victory. 2*

[b:Dormanna|13541034|Dormanna|Gene Wolfe|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331703472s/13541034.jpg|19104260] by [a:Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207670073p2/23069.jpg] Close encounters, growing up. Aren't they the same thing? I was extremely unsure of this one at first, but it sticks the ending. Liked it a lot. 3*. Maybe 4* on reflection.

[b:Thanatos Beach|20557304|Thanatos Beach|James K. Morrow|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389840437s/20557304.jpg|38761640] by [a:James K. Morrow|22631|James K. Morrow|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1242312093p2/22631.jpg] I think this is supposed to be an absurdist parody of some of the more pretentious upper-crust stories that have been published in The New Yorker. Nice conceit (cancer as alien), but I don't care enough about sending up that set to get anything out of this. (If it's not parody then its inane and boring and a waste of that story idea.) 2* at best.

[b:The Woman Who Shook the World-Tree|20557373|The Woman Who Shook the World-Tree|Michael Swanwick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389840979s/20557373.jpg|38766723] by [a:Michael Swanwick|14454|Michael Swanwick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1257630257p2/14454.jpg] This is Good Will Hunting meets The Mirror Has Two Faces. The effect is a sappy romance with a lot of hand-waving at sciency philosophy type stuff. 2*

[b:The Sigma Structure Symphony|20557423|The Sigma Structure Symphony|Gregory Benford|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389841592s/20557423.jpg|38770141] by [a:Gregory Benford|22645|Gregory Benford|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1224059011p2/22645.jpg] This wanted to be more of a novel than a short story. Hard sci-fi, there are a lot of ideas packed in here about language and music and math and how AI might communicate over galactic distances. Interesting ideas, but a slog to read. There's a nice splash of [b:Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance|629|Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance An Inquiry Into Values|Robert M. Pirsig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410136019s/629.jpg|175720] as well. I like the story better now on reflection than I did while I was reading it or right after I finished. 3*

Overall, I was disappointed as compared to what Tor normally delivers with their online original fiction. I felt like most of these stories tried much too hard. Also, a weird theme came through the whole: every one of these authors is a man writing from a woman's point of view, and not all of them actually manage to inhabit it well. Maybe the close encounters theme brought the war of the sexes into sharp focus. Maybe it's just me. Only buy the ebook if you want to send some money to Tor; all five stories are available free online from Tor.com (links below). I'd check out "Dormanna" by itself; give "The Sigma Structure Symphony" a go if you like hard sci-fi. Skip the other three.



http://www.tor.com/2012/02/29/new-world-blues/
http://www.tor.com/2012/03/07/dormanna/
http://www.tor.com/2012/03/14/thanatos-beach/
http://www.tor.com/2012/03/21/the-woman-who-shook-the-world-tree/
http://www.tor.com/2012/03/28/the-sigma-structure-symphony/
( )