Sarah K. Castle's "Kukulkan" (which seems to be the author's first published story—if so it's an auspicious start) is a tale about tradition. It begins as a character study of Pascual Teotalco, an astronomer of Mayan descent who struggles to hold onto his ancestral culture in a near-future that makes little room for indigenous religion. When aliens land in Guatemala, it is both a challenge to and an affirmation of his beliefs: the alien Cheorka look exactly like the Mayan god Kukulkan, better know as Quetzalcoatl. The story's main focus is on Teotalco's racial identity, but the religious aspects of that identity are certainly an important part of the story, which is well worth reading.

Castle’s descriptions of her aliens reminded me greatly of the middle section of Isaac Asimov’s The Gods Themselves, their customs and behaviors foreign, their appeal fascinating. Everything is influenced by the Mayan deity, especially in how the aliens look, and the writing is authentic. The story is structured so it flips back and forth between Pascual and the Cheorka envoy sent to chat with the Earthlings. Of these two, the alien sections are much more interesting. “Kukulkan” takes some time to get started, but once first contact is made and people start running for their lives, I found it hard to stop reading.

But I find it exciting that Analog still carries stories as good as “Still-Hunting.” It’s a small drama about polar bears a few years into the future as they and humans reluctantly join forces to survive environmental changes. Written from the point of view of a male named Rariil, it is well told and the portrayal of the bears is completely convincing. Hurrah for Sarah Castle! When some old-timer like me assures you in the future that “They don’t write stories like they used to,” just point to some story this good and say, “So what?” But you might have to search to find many this good.

With the melting of the polar icecap, Rariil the polar bear fights to maintain the traditional ways of his kind. The new pacts with the humans give great advantages to the bears, but Rariil despises the ones who allow humans to feed them. Yet it is impossible to avoid all dealings with them. A happy surprise to find such a piece here. The author writes with authority about the traditions and psychology of the polar bears, and if readers can suspend their disbelief about the ability of bears to speak, they should find this tale quite scientifically credible. RECOMMENDED