A Shaky Bridge by Marissa Lingen

This first story in the August 2025 issue of Clarkesworld magazine (Issue #227) left me wanting more. It takes place in a near future world where people who have suffered from a stroke can get a neural bridge implant. This helps speed recovery for those unable to afford the lengthy physical therapy otherwise required. But after the father of a family receives an implant, they start to notice that he is not quite himself. And he occasionally says things that he wouldn’t have before. They sound almost like ads. The story follows the family as they struggle with the change in the father and how their limited means affect the range of options they have.

The writing is simple and clear allowing the reader to really get a feel for what the family is going through and the difficult choice that has to be made. This is speculative fiction at its best—taking a current day technology, nudging it slightly into the future, and exploring how that development might effect ordinary people. And at the end I wanted to continue following the family to see how their decision turned out for them.

My rating: 5/5

A Slight Change of Direction

The author seated at his desk writing on his laptop. A bookshelf and standing desk with computer are in the background.

Starting tomorrow my Daily Dose of Empathy feature will change. Until now it has been a very brief comment about a short story that I have rated as five out of five stars with a link to the story. Since not all the short stories I read are five stars, I have come close to running out. So going forward I will be writing a longer (but still relatively brief) review of every short story I read with a link to read the story for yourself.

I have also been publishing a review of each short fiction magazine that I read. I have included brief summaries and ratings for each story. I will also no longer be doing that as it will become a repeat of my daily posts. I will continue to publish a review of every book I read, excluding any collections or anthologies as the stories in those will be published daily.

So far, this website/blog has been an exercise I started and continue for myself. I hope to improve my writing and create a repository of the stories I read so that I can go back and find them when one comes to mind. One thing that will continue is the searchable tables (short fiction read and speculative fiction index). I hope you find it useful as well.

Apex Magazine Issue #149

I recently resubscribed to Apex Magazine. This is the first issue I have read since doing so. Here are my brief reviews of the fiction in that issue. As always, stories can be read online for free by clicking on the titles.

“Shadows Below Seaway Trains” by Ai Jiang (4,400 words) — A friend tricks the main character into adopting a child for the money then abandons them both. A touching exploration of hard pasts and hard decisions. (My rating: 4/5)

“I Remember a One-Sided Die” by Francis Bass (7,000 words) — A young girl on an alien planet seeks to become a coordinator. This story is told from the perspective of an alien race. I applaud the attempt, but it ended up being too confusing for me. Perhaps needs more than one read. (My rating: 2/5)

“Seven Ribbons” by Beth Goder (3,400 words) — A girl saves her sister from the penalties of being a traitor to her city. I liked the relationship, but it wasn’t much of a story. A little too abstract for me. (My rating: 2/5)

“Heart Seeds” by E. Thade (1,700 words) — After the Collapse, a robot child cares for its father in a world that broke down after finding a drug for immortality and the population becoming sterile. (My rating: 4/5)

“Life as the Natural State of Things” by Rich Larson (3,500 words) — Friends and brothers find their relationships undone by a simple wooden cup. An exploration of how power corrupts. As usual, this author explores an idea in a deeply engrossing story. (My rating: 5/5)

“To Kill a Language” by Rukman Ragas (800 words) — A list of steps for how to kill a language. A disturbing, effective metaphor. (My rating: 4/5)

“Extenta” by Daniel Roop (1,000 words) — In the far future of humans enslaved and born in space, one discovers resistance. ((My rating: 4/5)

“Things the Older Boy Understands” by Sierra Branham (1,000 words) — Two boys on a ship to new world comfort each other as one dies from a thought worm. A heartbreaking story of love and found family. (My rating: 5/5)

“As It Comes” by Derek Alan Jones (100 words) — One person comforts another at the end. (My rating: 4/5)

“Swan Song” by Liam Hogan (100 words) — Two drones descend to the ground after fighting stops. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Fifth Horseman” by Cressida Roe (100 words) — A fifth horseman of the Apocalypse follows the first four. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Liberation of Brother Buffalo” by Michael Boatman (12,500 words) — A man who lost his sister as a child finds himself married to a violent mega church preacher. The story goes down easy until the climax takes a crowbar upside your head. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Neighbors” by L. Marie Wood (2,300 words) — A woman sits on her deck contemplating what the neighbors might be hiding. Includes a great opening passage about mind wandering. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating: 3.92/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #65, July/August 2025

Once again I am reviewing the stories in the latest issue of a magazine I subscribe to. All stories are available to read online for free by clicking on the story title. If you like what you read from a particular magazine, I highly encourage you to subscribe. It is very inexpensive and helps support short speculative fiction writers and publications.

“The Diner at the Intersection of Duty and Despair” by John Chu (7,422 words) — Two chosen one participants work to save a bridge that holds worlds together. Oh, and they have a prior relationship, too. (My rating: 3/5)

“When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M. Valente (10,219 words) — A woman’s husband is drawn away by a beauty who is not all that she seems to be. Let’s just say that fans of Dolly Parton will especially appreciate this supernatural exploration of power, relationships, and cheating. (My rating: 5/5)

“Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow” by Shveta Thakrar (2,385 words) — A laundress learns ancient tales from a snake who turns out to be a demon. A straightforward fairy tale about the value of story. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Garden” by Emma Törzs (5,096 words) — A god or undead person trapped in the city due to running water in the canals watches her neighbor water her garden during a drought. A little flat. I felt like it could have said more. (My rating: 3/5)

“Whalesong” by Daniel H. Wilson (7,038 words) — A mother and son confront each other on a research trip to observe the Great Convergence of whales. A touching story of how a mother and son can misunderstand each other their whole lives. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Terrarium” by Jordan Taylor (3,995 words) — An heir to a lord who is in love with another young man let’s loose fairy moths. A heartbreaking story of learning to deal with change. (My rating:4/5)

“The Best Way to Survive a Tiger Attack” by A.W. Prihandita (1,495 words) — A young girl who was mentally abused by her nanny who she sees as a tiger, does her best to behave. Explores the mixed up emotions that arise in such situations. (My rating: 3/5)

Average rating per story: 3.71

Missed One!

I missed one story from my review yesterday of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, July/August 2025. It was the last, and in my opinion, the best story in the issue. It was also the longest as the only novella. That story is…

“The Chronolithographer’s Assistant” by Suzanne Palmer (30,507 words) — A young man from a fishing family, terrified of the sea, seeks to become the assistant to an artist in a nearby cottage. A touching coming of age story with a twist. (My rating: 5/5)

Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, July/August 2025

Another post where I give my brief summaries and ratings for the stories in one of the magazines I read.

“Most Things” by Rich Larson (13,570 words) — Something from the quantum realm called the Slip has escaped and is searching for a scientist. Zany fun that reminded me of Cheech and Chong or Bill and Ted. (My rating: 4/5)

“In the Halls of the Makeshift King” by Tobias S. Buckell (4,928 words) — A pilgrim to the Alcove Above is made Makeshift King and has a big decision to make. The shaft is described slowly and in a way I found hard to picture, but the civilization-level decision foisted on one individual is intriguing. (My rating: 4/5)

“Another Mother on Mars” by Dominica Phetteplace (9,916 words) — A scientist on Mars longs to have a baby, specifically a clone. Nothing really new here for me. Well written but nothing grabbed me. (My rating: 3/5)

“Worm Song” by Derek Künsken (6,060 words) — An augmented human finds herself alienated from her wife and drawn to the worm song on a gas giant planet where dragons are in danger of going extinct. (My rating: 4/5)

“Aftermath” by William Preston (6,763 words) — An investigator and his team look into strange events. Inspired by Ray Bradbury. The writing kept me turning the pages but was still somehow a little too opaque for me. (My rating: 4/5)

“In the Gardener’s Service” by Michèle Laframboise (14,243 words) — The Questor for the Emperor is tasked with preserving the empire by coming to the rescue of a young girl. Fascinating world. The main character species is an animal that also photosynthesizes. (My rating: 4/5)

“Pirates of Highship” by Stephen Case (8,121 words) — The son of a very wealthy mother uses her money to experiment with trying to talk to a planetary mind. Very much a brief thriller with a fascinating premise (a sentient planet). Calls back to Stanslaw Lem’s Solaris. (My rating: 5/5)

“Perri’s Fate” by Robert Reed — This is a story in a world that I have never read any. It is a long novelette that I chose not to read. (No rating)

“The Courier” by Lavie Tidhar (4,292 words) — A courier makes her rounds on Mars. Nothing special here. Likable characters. Maybe you need to have read the other stories in the series. (My rating: 3/5)

“Vivienne” by E. H. Lipton (164 words) — A lover talks to his lover about a what if. Says a lot in few words but lacks some clarity and direction. (My rating: 3/5)

Average story rating: 3.77/5

One note. Going forward, I am only reading magazines where the stories are available to read for free online. This means that I will no longer be reading either Analog or Asimov’s. Neither of these magazines makes their stories available to read online. That is a pity. They have some really great fiction. Another reason I am choosing to no longer read these is that the epub formats continue to be poorly laid out. At first it seemed that they only ran their PDF through a converter and didn’t proofread it. Now, with the new owners, they are doing a poor job of properly managing the layout in the CSS file resulting in italics where they don’t belong and a lack of italics where they are needed, inconsistently. It makes reading them less than the pleasure it should be. So you can look forward to reviews of each issue of these magazines that I am now subscribed to and reading:

And I am still reading novels and non-fiction that will also be reviewed from time to time. The schedule for these will continue to be on weekends at noon with short posts about my highest rated short stories to read coming out weekdays at noon.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2025

Each time I finish reading a short fiction magazine, I post short descriptions and a rating for each story. Here is my latest for the most recent issue of Analog.

“North Station Blues” by David Gerrold (9,141 words) — A lowly employee on a station around a dying star plots his way out and up. Good storytelling. Nothing new or particularly attention-getting here. (My rating: 3/5)

“The First Velodrome on Mars” by Marie Vibbert (3,921 words) — A scientist on Mars becomes obsessed about getting credit for his velodrome project. The main character is annoying but so real. (My rating: 4/5)

“Desert Soul” by David Gullen (11,577 words) — A female starfarer joins with a male boat captain seeking the last of insane timeless golems. An unusual story that surprised me toward the end. Liked it more than anticipated. (My rating: 3.5/5)

“Hidden Achievement” by Shane Tourtellotte (4,504) — Two people struggling in their dating and social lives download and play a new dating app. This was a page turner for me. Should have seen the ending coming but didn’t as I was so caught up in the story I didn’t have time to evaluate. I thoroughly enjoy everything by this author. I only wish he had more available to read on the public internet. (My rating: 5/5)

“Patient Was the Doctor” by Victoria N. Shi (6,761 words) — A psychologist takes a job treating an octopus-like alien to get health coverage for IVF with is wife. Reminds me of the movie Arrival. (My rating: 5/5)

“Last Dam Standing” by Dawn Vogel (2,950 words) — A retired doctor living alone in the mountains is contacted to help same a dam she designed 20 years prior. I liked it but it just felt run of the mill. (My rating: 3/5)

“If The Algorithms Are Gentle” by Bernie Jean Schiebeling (1,139 words) — Computer servers in a post-apocalyptic city with no humans observe a red panda plunder an ice cream cart. 🤷🏻 (My rating: 3/5)

“Low-Tide Salvage” by Matthew Claxton (6,310 words) — A father and daughter find a drone ship and work to salvage it for sale to the local Prosper. A touching story of pride and survival. (My rating: 4/5)

“ESRI” by James Dick (12,312 words) — The daughter of a famous scientist follows in her footsteps sending a mission to Europa. This story is a sequel to EDIE by the same author in the January/February 2023 issue of Analog. (My rating: 4/5)

“Jennifer Does Pushups” by Joseph Weber (4,460 words) — A woman who survived a deadly car accident makes her living selling her gut biome. A unique exploration of the ethics and economics of selling parts of oneself. (My rating: 4/5)

“Your Entry to Paradise^TM Memorial Experience” by Robert Morrell, Jr. (999 words) — A daughter’s father bequeaths her an experience that teaches her to live life. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Marks We Leave” by M. Ian Bell (6,768 words) — Rylek seeks to assuage his pain of the loss of his lover by saving some of the people in the simulation on which he works. A compassionate exploration and portrayal of deep grief. (My rating: 5/5)

“Ready for New Arrivals?” by Sean Monaghan (6,966 words) — An astronaut on Ganymede falls down a hole while tethered to another. Lots of suspense, a sort of brief thriller. (My rating: 5/5)

“Under the Moons of Venus: A Tale of a Princess Altivolant” by Jay Werkheiser and Frank Wu (34,072 words) — A story of Venus as told at King George’s court during the 1769 transit of Venus. Partially inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books. About halfway it becomes a climate change allegory. (My rating: 3/5)

Average story rating: 3.89/5

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #226, July 2025

Clarkesworld is my favorite short fiction magazine. Here are my mini review from the July issue.

“Missing Helen” by Tia Tashiro (5,830 words | 24 minutes) — A woman learns that her ex-husband is engaged to her clone. A fantastic use of point of view as a reveal. Explores complications in relationships. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Walled Garden” by Fiona Moore (6,530 words | 26 minutes) — After the last of a tool breaks that was used for gardening, Morag struggles to figure out how to grow food. A continuation of the story of Morag started in “The Spoil Heap” and continued it “King of the Castle“. This story alternates passages in the present with those of her past after leaving her village. (My rating: 4/5)

“Welcome to Kearney” by Gary Kloster (9,110 words | 37 minutes) — A newly sentient android shows up at a historic town/museum where the caretaker human fixes it. Explores the complexity of human relationships and our desire to fix things and people. Wonderful! (My rating: 5/5)

“Serpent Carriers” by K.A. Teryna (14,500 words | 58 minutes) — Three stories told by an old man around a fire. This story is nearly unintelligible. But I feel like there is something there that I just missed. Not for me. (My rating:2/5)

“Bits and Pieces on This Floor” by Eric Del Carlo (4,050 words | 16 minutes) — An officer of the Galactic Collective supervises the clearing of a mining planet that is being abandoned. Great story development, with little pieces revealing more little by little. (My rating: 4/5)

“A Land Called Folly” by Amal Singh (3,660 words | 15 minutes) — A young man estranged from his space faring family returns home to his dying grandfather. A bit confusing. (My rating: 3/5)

“Hunter Harvester” by Bam Bruin (3,670 words | 15 minutes) — Women on a colonized planet who are harvesting native cabbages find out a bit more about what they are eating. All the colonizers are women. A fascinating look at reproduction and colonization. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating per story: 3.86/5

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #225, June 2025

Time for my monthly summary of the latest issue of Clarkesworld that I have read.

“Emily of Emerald Starship” by Ng Yi-Sheng (3,860 words | 16 minutes) — A mother who has become a spaceship controls her family and tries to corral her son when he falls in love with a horse stable owner. A beautiful, heartbreaking story with a clever use of vague language. (My rating: 5/5)

“If an Algorithm Can Cast a Shadow” by Claire Jia-Wen ((5,040 words | 21 minutes) — A mother whose son died in an auto accident orders a Digital Double of him. This one was just okay for me. (My rating: 3/5)

“In the Shells of Broken Things” by A.T. Greenblatt (7,050 words | 28 minutes) — A man seeks to understand his family member who left the Evergreen Domes decades ago. A sweet story of reconciliation and openness. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Eighth Pyramid” by Louis Inglis Hall (8,060 words | 33 minutes) — A lone family attempts to preserve knowledge of previous species as the leaders of their world claim it to be the pinnacle. Shows what defending truth can sometimes bring. (My rating: 4/5)

“Faces of the Antipode” by Matthew Marcus (8,680 | 35 minutes) — On a planet cooling due to the actions of its colonizers, one of them seeks answers among the indigenous people of the jungle on the opposite side of the planet. Despite prejudice, we can always learn from the “other”. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Last Lunar New Year” by Derek Künsken (5,310 words | 22 minutes) — In the far future in our dying solar system, a high court of descendants of humans considers a request from distant relatives. I love the far future feel of this story. Reminds me of a Dr. Who episode. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Last to Survive” by Rita Chang-Eppig (5,720 words | 23 minutes) — The first cyberized person returns to a place from her past desperate to hang onto her memories. A story of unwanted celebrity. (My rating: 4/4)

“Outlier” by R.L. Meza (2,930 words | 12 minutes) — A homeless person is experimented on turning her into a scorpion for use in further experiments. Explores agency. A little too confusing for my taste. (My rating: 3/5)

Average rating per story: 4.125/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #64

This is the first issue of this magazine that I have read since 2023. I still love the variety of stories told.

“Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War” by Caroline M. Yoachim (6,748 words) — Through a series of short vignettes, it tells the story of an ongoing war between humans and fae and how it reflects the ongoing state of their shared existence. (My rating: 4/5)

“Barbershops of the Floating City” by Angela Liu (6,024 words) — A daughter who sees the memories of her customers cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. A poignant story of class struggle, abuse, and relationships. (My rating: 4/5)

“Vivisection” by Anjali Sachdeva (4,916 words) — Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. This my first story by this author. A unflinching and sideways look at a relationship with an abuser from the victim’s perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers” by Aliette de Bodard (Story link live starting June 3) — An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the celestial being tortured. (My rating: 4/5)

“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (Story link live starting June 3) — A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. A view to our possible future? (My rating: 5/5)

“All the World is Fog” by DeVaun Sanders (Story link live starting June 3) — A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. I enjoyed the world here but the plot was a bit muddled for me and left me not feeling much of anything. (My rating: 2/5)

“Pale Serpent, Green Serpent” by Ewen Ma (1,199 words) — Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. The game is one only immortals can play. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for this issue: 4 out of 5.