Interzone

"The issue begins with a novella by Jason Sanford, 'Sublimation Angels'. I have enjoyed Sanford's stories in the past and I was looking forward to this one. I was not disappointed. Chicka and Alna are humans, part of a colony living on the planet Eur. Also resident are a race called the Aural, a race that seems to be illuminated balls of energy. They make great designs in the sky but resist all attempts at contact. Six hundred years ago they communicated with Earth and allowed them to land in their home planet, whose orbit they had changed so that it was elliptical enough so as to take it far enough away out of Aural space for humans to land on it. No human ship could approach closer or it would be destroyed. The colony is ruled by a woman called Big Mom who is actually an AI downloaded into a human body because the Aurals do not allow them to have anything but the minimum of tech. Chicka learns more about the way things really are in this truly interesting culture. Sanford shows again just what a talent he is."