SF Signal: UPDATE: My New Year's Resolution

UPDATE: My New Year's Resolution

This is the March 2004 update of my New Year's Resolution.

QUICK STATS:
   SF-POINT^© QUOTA: 31
   SF-POINTS^©EARNED: 46
   YEAR-TO-DATE SF-POINTS^©: 115

PREVIOUS MONTHS: Jan   Feb

DATE READ	STORY	AUTHOR	YEAR WRITTEN	SOURCE	RATING	TYPE	POINTS	YTD POINTS
03/02/04	To Cuddle Amy	Nancy Kress	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (August 2000)		SS	1	70
03/02/04	The Political Officer	Charles Coleman Finlay	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20		NA	4	74
03/04/04	Lambing Season	Molly Gloss	2002			SS	1	75
03/04/04	Coelacanths	Robert Reed	2002			NV	2	77
03/05/04	The Prophet Ugly	Robert Reed	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (April 2000)		NV	2	79
03/05/04	Regression	Brian Stableford	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (April 2000)		NV	2	81
03/05/04	Presence	Maureen F. McHugh	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20		NV	2	83
03/08/04	At Lightspeed Slowing	Cory Doctorow	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (April 2000)		NV	2	85
03/08/04	Lobsters	Charles Stross	2001	Asimov's Science Fiction		NV	2	87
03/09/04	Halo	Charles Stross	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20 and online		NV	2	89
03/10/04	From Mars and Venus	Robert R. Chase	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (April 2000)		SS	1	90
03/11/04	When It Ends	Robert Reed	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (August 2000)		SS	1	91
03/13/04	The Ladykiller, as Observed from a Safe Distance	Brian Stableford	2000			SS	1	92
03/13/04	The Wurst King vs Aluminum Foil Boy	R. Neube	2000			SS	1	93
03/17/04	The Arimaspian Legacy	Gene Wolfe	1987	Infinity Plus		SS	1	94
03/17/04	Telling Stories in the Dark	William P. Simmons	2002	Infinity Plus		SS	1	95
03/18/04	The Potter of Bones	Eleanor Arnason	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20		NA	4	99
03/19/04	In Paradise	Bruce Sterling	2002			SS	1	100
03/23/04	The Old Cosmonaut and the Construction Worker Dream of Mars	Ian McDonald	2002			NV	2	102
03/23/04-03/25/04	Stories For Men	John Kessel	2002			NA	4	106
03/25/04	To Become a Warrior	Chris Beckett	2002			SS	1	107
03/30/04	Radiant Green Star	Lucius Shepard	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (August 2000)		NA	4	111
03/31/04	One-Eyed Jacks and Suicide Kings	R. Garcia y Robertson	2000	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (August 2000)		NA	4	115

KEY:VI=Vignette (.25 points), SS=Short Story (1 point), NV=Novelette (2 points), NA=Novella (4 points)

NOTES:

The reviews of the stories from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (April 2000 and August 2000) have already been posted.
The reviews for the stories from The Year's Best Science Fiction #20 will be posted when I complete the anthology. [4/24 UPDATE: Links added!]
Miscellaneous reviews follow

Lobsters by Charles Stross
[Read: 03/8/04]
[Rating:

]
[Source: Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (June 2001) and also online]

	Synopsis: Manfred Macx is a permanently hardwired "venture altruist" in an ultra-high-tech socio-economic near-future.
	Review: Not entirely sure what to make of this one. It was good, but there is so much going on in so many different areas (digitally uploaded lobsters, economics and politics [NOT favorite fiction topics of mine], defections by sentient AIs, cyber-lifestyles, a dominatrix ex-girlfriend) that I couldn't get my mind wrapped all of it. And, like John C. Wright's The Golden Age, Stross' Lobsters is heavily weighted down by futuristic jargon. I read this freely available story in preparation for Halo, the fourth novelette of a series that begins with Lobsters.
	Note: First in the nine novelette/novella sequence: (1) Lobsters, (2) Troubadour [novelette], (3) Tourist [novelette], (4) Halo [novelette], (5) Router [novella], Nightfall [novelette], (7) Curator [novelette], (8) Elector [due in 2004], (9) Survivor [due in 2004].

The Arimaspian Legacy by Gene Wolfe
[Read: 03/17/04]
[Rating:

]
[Source: Infinity Plus]

	Synopsis: Reminiscence on a boyhood friend who claims to be ruler of the world.
	Review: Good story, not great. The thing I liked most were the descriptions of this avid "book acquirer". The term "collector" was not used because there seemed to be no plan to how he acquired the books.

Telling Stories in the Dark by William P. Simmons
[Read: 03/17/04]
[Rating:

]
[Source: Infinity Plus]

	Synopsis: Only the telling of stories will keep the boogie man away from your kids.
	Review: Good at building suspense