Starting reviews from this 1999 anthology of original stories (and one reprint):
"Hunting Mother" by Sage Walker -- Set inside an asteroid which has been transformed into a generation starship. Some of the inhabitants are chimerae created from a combination of human and animal genes. The story deals with a young man with some of the characteristics of a cougar and his elderly, dying "mother" (source of his human genes.) Written in an intense style with multiple points of view.
"Judith's Flowers" by Susan Palwick -- The protagonist is a woman who was created from the genetic information of her parents in an artificial womb. On vacation in Mexico, both parents died during an influenza epidemic, and the infant was adopted by a elderly Mexican woman. As a young adult she emigrates to the United States with temporary double citizenship. On her twenty-first birthday she has to decide which citizenship to renounce and in which nation to live. Notable for the fact that much of the back story is narrated in the style of a fairy tale.
"A Gift to Be Simple" by Patricia A. McKillip -- The few remaining members of the Shakers (in the real year of 2017, there are only two surviving members), who do not engage in sexual intercourse, ponder how to keep their society from dying out. It's no surprise what they decide, but it's an interesting point of view.
"Island of the Ancestor" by William F. Wu -- A young man who has been cloned from the ancient ancestor of a major Chinese clan acts as the reincarnation of the ancestor on a luxurious island set up by the billionaire who created him. He feels guilt over being part of what he sees as a fraud. Interesting concept and setting, traditionally narrated plot.
"One Day at Central Convenience Mall" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman -- Satiric tale set at a shopping mall where the staff are all duplicates of one person and are considered to be less than fully human. They never leave the mall and are otherwise forbidden from doing things only "real" people are allowed to do. Manages to combine comedy and tragedy.
"Dead in the Water" by Jack McDevitt -- A woman has to decide whether to allow her only offspring to be the result of a process which will greatly extend life, but which will result in permanent sterility for the child. Considers numerous philosophical issues.
"Raising Jenny" by Janni Lee Simner -- A young woman who is sort of the black sheep of the family compared to her sisters, who have professional careers and are married with children, agrees to carry the clone of their dead mother in her womb. An intimate story of parents and children.
"There Was an Old Woman" by Robert Silverberg (
Infinity Science Fiction, November 1958) -- A biologist creates thirty-one clones and raises each one to have a different career. Things don't go as planned. The ending is a bit melodramatic.
