"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." – George R. R. Martin
A haunting and disturbing tale of a man who talks with an AI about the troubles in his life.
“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (2025) — 4,443 words (about 18 minutes for the average reader)
Published in Uncanny magazine issue #64, May 2025.
Told from the perspective of a networked inorganic family, this is a story of its interaction with a human who crash lands on their planet. A tale of family and friendship told from a unique perspective.
“We, the Fleet” by Alex T. Singer (2025) — 7,700 words (about 31 minutes for the average reader)
Published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #224, May 2025.
Here are the winners as announced last night!
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer (13,673 words)
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo (4,517 words)
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
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
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim (3,190 words or 13 minutes to read), published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #209, February 2024.
This story addresses more deeply the issues only hinted at in the original story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin.
My choice for Best Short Story, if I had a vote, would be “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo. It is a kick ass story with action and emotion that goes deep, punching you right in the gut. Amazing!
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim (2,832 words or 12 minutes to read), published in Lightspeed magazine issue #168, May 2024.
A unique side-by-side storytelling format.
“Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine (4,139 words or 18 minutes to read), published in Uncanny magazine issue #58, May/June 2024.
Discusses the tool of storytelling and how it affects how we understand history.
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)
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.
Today I start with the Hugo nominees for Best Short Story.
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachel K. Jones (549 words or 3 minutes to read), published in Lightspeed magazine issue #164, January 2024.
Eerie and incredibly creepy. Amazingly effective for such a short story.