Tag: science fiction

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

Timothy: An Oral History by Michael Swanwick

A story that upends gender norms.

“Timothy: An Oral History” by Michael Swanwick (2023) — 3,650 words (about 15 minutes for the average reader)

Published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #205, October 2023.

P.S. The author in yesterday‘s Daily Dose of Empathy has an interview in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld. You can read it in full here. If you like it, consider subscribing to support fantastic short fiction.

The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family by Allison King

A humorous story about a family dealing with dementia.

“The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family” by Allison King (2023) — 3,975 (about 30 minutes to listen)

Published on LeVar Burton Reads 6 November 2023.

P.S. The author in has an interview in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld. You can read it in full here. If you like it, consider subscribing to support fantastic short fiction.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

I first learned about this book from the 2018 movie of the same name starring Natalie Portman. I was fascinated by the concept. The author recently dropped a new title in the series (Southern Reach), and I thought it might be a good opportunity to experience the first in the series. The book is a rather short novel so I decided to listen to it on audiobook during a recent weekend soccer tournament out of town.

It is the story of a team of four women who are tasked to be the twelfth expedition into Area X, an area cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. The story is told by the biologist. The other members of the team are a psychologist (the leader), an anthropologist, and a surveyor. None of them use their names in an effort to keep their observations untainted by the others. Early on we learn that our narrator’s husband was a member of the eleventh expedition, a fact that was a big factor in the biologist joining this latest journey into Area X. Once the team arrives, weird things start to happen, though the book is very different from the movie.

The writing is very evocative of feelings, the main feeling being creepy. Something just feels off in Area X. And while there are plenty of revelations in the book, there really is no resolution. But that fits for the book and, oddly, I didn’t have an issue with it. It felt right. This was more an exploration of an experience of self-examination and interaction with the unknown at the same time. Truths about the members of the team are revealed even to themselves. It is a unique book that I can’t say I “enjoyed”. It isn’t that kind of story. But I did thoroughly appreciate the unique experience it provided.

My rating: 4/5