Subject: Review: "Emperor Penguins," Joseph Manzione (Jul-Aug ANALOG)

From: [email-masked] (P.D. TILLMAN)
Date: 26 Jun 1999 00:34:26 -0400

"Emperor Penguins" by Joseph Manzione
	Review Copyright 1999 Peter D. Tillman

Rating: strong "A" -- Manzione's first world-class story, a legal-
political examination of human-alien cultural contact. Don't miss it.

Law professor John Renko is going through a bad divorce. His ex-wife has
accused him of child abuse. He can't see his kids; they have to sneak
behind their mother's back even to call him. So he's not paying much
attention to the Aurigean visitors, until one hires him as a legal
consultant.  Sefira, an Aurigean diplomat, is being divorced back home,
and "he" wants help with winning visitation rights for his children,
unheard-of in the matrilocal Aurigean culture....  Yes, Emperor penguins
are involved.

Manzione's world-building is remarkably good. Both human and alien
characters are sympathetic and well-drawn. Exposition is a little rough,
forgiveable since he's got a lot of background to slip across -- even our
best writers have trouble doing this well. The story-line has some
unexpected, but logical and thought-provoking, twists.  I hope this is the
start of many stories of human-Aurigean relations; in any case, you
shouldn't miss this one. Easily the best story I've read in Analog this
year, and highly recommended.

It's paired with an interesting Joseph H. Delaney article on how to write
an sfnal law-story. This is Analog's annual double-issue. If you buy only
three SF magazines a year, you should pick up this one, plus the Asimov's
and F&SF doubles -- all three magazines showcase their best stories in
inventory there -- I've never seen a double that wasn't worthwhile. So --
get thee to the newstand!

Manzione has just two stories listed in the ISFDB < www.sfsite.com/isfdb/
>, both also published in Analog. "Candle in a Cosmic Wind" (1987,
reprinted Dozois Year's Best #5), concerns "a Russian national, fleeing
west across the U.S. after a nuclear exchange, runs into an alien landing
party on the Utah border."
			-- from Brian Davies' useful SF Synopses
< http://www.ils.nwu.edu/~davies/ >
		
ISTR one or two more recent stories, but, if they exist, they're not
indexed on the web (at least not where I looked). I know nothing about the
author, although there is a "Joseph Manzione" who teaches at a college in
Maine. If you know him, please forward this, to encourage him to write
more (more!). Or will Analog forward email to authors? One way to find
out: [email-masked] < www.analogsf.com >

%T Emperor Penguins
%A Joseph Manzione
%O Novelette
%P 24 pp
%J Analog
%D Jul-Aug 99
%O $5.50

Read more of my reviews:
http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html#tillman