Reviews

Below are all the reviews I know of for "Under the Graying Sea." If you happen to know of one I missed, please let me know. Thanks. ---------- Internet Review of Science Fiction – Lois Tilton, 1/10/06 Ignition. Tessa’s head snapped back in its cradle and her lips slid away from her teeth. The shock slapped the fog off the inside of her helmet and misted her face. This is science fiction. Hard science fiction — the Real Stuff, not the so-called “hard SF” that’s nothing more than galactic adventures and thrilling space battles, in which a futuristic veneer overlays the fantastic core. Here, the wormhole is the only concession to unreality. Very rarely do we see this kind of fiction these days, and more rarely still do we see it done this well. The story is not a complex one. Tessa’s destination is the remote ring of a star bridge in transit, a wormhole portal that, once in place, will enable travel from Earth to another world. She has piloted many of these missions, but this time she discovers that a nearby singularity has pulled the ring off-course, with potentially disastrous consequences. Now she must work against time to solve the problem by doing math. I am not the reviewer to check the author’s calculations, but Sherwood writes his physics with such authority that I feel no tremor of doubt threatening my suspended disbelief. Nor does he neglect the human element. As time inexorably runs out, the tension rises; readers can feel the sense of urgency driving Tessa’s desperate efforts. According to the editorial blurb, this is Sherwood’s first fiction sale. Science fiction now seems a bit less moribund. Tangent Short Fiction Review – Suzanne Church, 12/10/05 The hard Science Fiction offering in the issue is Jonathan Sherwood’s "Under the Graying Sea." Right from the first sentence, Tessa is in danger, thrusting through massive gees in her Concussion Vehicle (CV) with her partner, Loránd, slingshotting around the moon to enter a man-made wormhole. The two pilots' bodies have been reinforced to withstand up to twenty-four gees, but the CV malfunctions and they pull thirty-two-point-eight, causing life-threatening injuries to Loránd. Stuck over two light years from Earth and forced to wait over four hours for their return window, Tessa busies herself checking "Betty," the wormhole anchor, and discovers the multiple course adjustments that Betty has made since the last human inspection: a gravity well. Sherwood intertwines flashbacks about Tessa's relationship with her father, her first exposure to the wormhole project, and her fear of the gray sea of space. As she fights to save her partner's life and solve the problem of Betty's decaying flight path, Sherwood packs the prose with scientific details. Filled with suspense, passion, and cleverness, "Under the Graying Sea" stands above the other stories as the strongest contribution to the issue. SF Revu - Sam Tomaino, January 2006 "Under the Graying Sea" by Jonathan Sherwood is a nice little story and a great debut for this new author. It is the story of Tessa, an astronaut with a very important job. She is part of a team that must regularly journey to the end of a wormhole to monitor the progress of the "ring" on the other side. This has been done many times and is part of a long ongoing process. But this trip is anything but routine. Sherwood gives us a notable story of heroism and sacrifice. Watch for more from him in the future. Locus – Nick Gevers, January 2006 “Under the Graying Sea” by Jonathan Sherwood gushes forth scientific jargon like an Analog story on speed, only to reverse the formula at the very end. Grumpy Alien Reviews - Susan Urbanek Linville, January 2006 "Under the Graying Sea," Jonathan Sherwood: Even though this seemed more like a story you'd see in Analog, the scientific jargon didn't interrupt the character story. Good show. ***+ Beef stew for all.