Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 201, June 2023

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Dominica Phetteplace, Carrie Vaughn

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction, articles, interviews and art. Our June 2023 issue (#201) contains:

Original fiction by Dominica Phetteplace ("The Officiant"), Carrie Vaughn ("Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone"), Isabel J. Kim ("Day Ten Thousand"), Angela Liu ("Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon"), David Ebenbach ("The Moon Rabbi"), Jana Bianchi (". . . Your Little Light"), Bella Han ("To Helen"), and Rajeev Prasad ("Mirror View").

Non-fiction includes an article by Julie Novakova, interviews with Vajra Chandrasekera and Kemi Ashing-Giwa, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2023

About the author

Neil Clarke is best known as the editor and publisher of the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine. Launched in October 2006, the online magazine has been a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine four times (winning three times), the World Fantasy Award four times (winning once), and the British Fantasy Award once (winning once). Neil is also a ten-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form (winning once in 2022), three-time winner of the Chesley Award for Best Art Director, and a recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. In the fifteen years since Clarkesworld Magazine launched, numerous stories that he has published have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, and Stoker Awards.

Additionally, Neil edits  Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us,  The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.

He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications) · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 3rd 2024 - read Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon by Angela Liu, which was shortlisted for 2023 Clarkesworld Reader's Poll (and so was Day Ten Thousand below). Novelette, dreamy, a truly dystopic highly monetized world, where our main character does sell her body and creativity. It felt a bit Paolo Bacigalupi, though dreamier. It was one of those stories which while being very much not my cup of tea I still respected. Interesting, but not for me. Incidentally I am reading at the same time a longer work Welcome to Forever which is also dystopic, also about insert memories, visions, but more concrete, and I am not sure if that not affected my enjoyment of this story - I do like the novel a lot better!

July 7th 2023 - read Day Ten Thousand by Isabel J. Kim. I have been reading everything of hers I can find, since her short stories really seem to click for me, no matter the theme or voice, and they do vary a lot.

Her website describes this story as "(SF) I got nothing for you, this one’s weird even for me. " And yes, it is written using SF settings, and it is really hard to describe and yes it is weird. No plot, very surreal all feelings and meta discussion about storytelling and about suicide and Ötzi, kind of. Also very beautiful in an almost abstract way and I highlighted tons of passages. I will reread and think for a while. Rating is not meaningful, the concept of rating gives me paralysis, just trying to figure out how much this resonated with me. A lot, but maybe, and this is just on me, less surreal resonates harder, with me.

[John Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this edition. The stories in it are a bit darker than the previous one but I would say are more moving as a whole. Some standouts for me were “…Your Little Light” and “Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone”. I look forward to reading more by these authors as well as more editions of Clarkesworlde.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Dominica Phetteplace and Carrie Vaughn, with two emotional pieces, one humorous, one saddening, by David Ebenbach and Jana Bianchi.

- "The Officiant" by Dominica Phetteplace: an official is asked to officiate at a wedding on an alien planet. But her requests for more information to perform the task are blocked until she grants them a 'vision'. That, she would not do, until she learns more about the nature of the visions, which she has been getting since childhood, and has affected society on her original planet and may be connected to the wedding of the aliens.

- "Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone" by Carrie Vaughn: Aliens request a first contact with humans, but only involving one individual. What takes place would be unexpected and involve what would represent humanity to the aliens.

- "Day Ten Thousand" by Isabel J. Kim: various tales about the death of a person who died thousands of years ago, followed by his present day cloning and the repercussions to the cloned person.

- "Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon" by Angela Liu: starting what a prompt for AI image generator, the story follows the down-and-out life of a girl who paints images for 'orb' that can change a person's character for a living and who also 'services' men at a house. Both converge when a customer requests a special painting that would change her life in a way she would not like.

- "The Moon Rabbi" by David Ebenbach: the entertaining tale of a Rabbi who, emotionally disgusted with the state of the world, goes to the moon, where he is to do the first Passover on the moon. But a special moment with the world he wants to run away from would change him emotionally just before the ceremony.

- ". . . Your Little Light" by Jana Bianchi: an incident on a spaceship leaves only two survivors, a pregnant woman and an alien, who now have to struggle to survive. Things get even more critical when the woman gives birth and life support on the ship starts to fail. In the end, the woman and alien comfort each other in this rather emotional story about facing the end with the baby you love.

- "To Helen" by Bella Han: two women meet to discuss their lives, in a world where people can now 'freeze' their ages but at huge financial and social costs.

- "Mirror View" by Rajeev Prasad: an alien entity arrives at Earth and takes the form of a mirror that can subtlety change the reflections of people. It is looking for a reason for why it is 'wasting' away, but learns more about life from a pregnant girl who takes an interest in the entity.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved: Imagine: Purple-Hair Girl Shooting Down the Moon (novelette) - An extremely sad, dark, and hopeless novelette that I just couldn't turn away from. I was enraptured. Many trigger warnings.

I liked:
Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone by Carrie Vaughn - A first encounter alien story about an alien race of mapmakers.

Day Ten Thousand by Isabel J. Kim

The Officiant by Dominica Phetteplace

[Ryan Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm lagging behind by a few months now but this is the best issue in probably about a year. High peaks and solid throughout. Angela Liu's story is my frontrunner for the Clarkesworld reader poll. I also particularly liked Bella Han's "To Helen" about two friends meeting for a ritzy lunch where the rich can freeze their age. I'm also highly jealous of "The Moon Rabbi" by David Ebenbach. Such a phenomenal idea.

[Matthew Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this issue of Clarkesworld. I think my favourite story was Carrie Vaughn's "Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone", which was an unusual first contact story in which the aliens were in full control. The conclusion was also very much my kind of thing. There wasn't a single story I didn't get something out of, though. While Rajeev Prasad's "Mirror View" didn't strike me while I was reading it, I ended up thinking about it most of the day after I read it. I also want to shout out David Ebenbach's "The Moon Rabbi", which was about the spiritual needs of people on the Moon and also people on Earth.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at myreadinglife.com.

The latest short fiction magazine that I finished is the June 2023 issue of Clarkesworld. You may have heard about this magazine in the news regarding generative AI. Earlier this year, they were inundated with AI generated story and cover art submissions. They are dedicated to keeping the magazine human generated only. Here are my brief descriptions and ratings.

The issue starts strong with "The Officiant" by Dominica Phetteplace. In it, a human arrives on non-human planet to perform a wedding and is asked to perform visions. After refusing, she later learns what is causing those visions. I enjoyed this brief exploration of culture clash and purpose. (My rating: 4/5)

Next up is the superb "Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone" by Carrie Vaughn. Earth is alerted to a coming space ship whose passengers request an interview with one human. This is how they meet other sentient species—one-on-one. The main character is chosen and trained. But then comes the actual interview. What a wonderful new take on first contact! (My rating: 5/5)

I am normally a big fan of everything that Isabel J. Kim writes. That was not the case with her tale "Day Ten Thousand". While I appreciated what she was doing in the story, I found it confusing in a way that ultimately went flat for me. It is the story of Dave, a clone of a ten-thousand-year-old man. Unfortunately, most of the other characters are also named Dave. That's what makes it confusing. A potentially interesting story about stories, fate, and agency that could have used a bit more editing. (My rating: 3/5)

"Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon" by Angela Liu is a very dark tale in quite a hopeless dystopia. The main character works in a brothel while in her downtime making a sort of synthetic drug that reboots a person's psyche. She is also playing with generative AI to make art. Through all this, she works to protect her friend but she isn't always as successful as she thinks she is. (My rating: 4/5)

I found "The Moon Rabbi" by David Ebenbach to be quite spiritual in a transcendent way. A rabbi prepares for and ultimately spends two week on a moon base in order to hold a seder supper. The story doesn't go deep on religion but rather the awe and connection that spirituality implies. Everyone on the moon is thirsty for it. And it ultimately comes from the most unlikely place. (My rating: 4/5)

I never thought I would read a cross-species story of pregnancy, birth, and survival. But that is what Jana Bianchi has achieved with ". . . Your Little Light". The story begins on a devastated space ship on which the protagonist is the only human survivor, accompanied by a giant creature of another species. And she is eight months pregnant. As she works to survive, she bonds with the creature in their joint struggle. I don't want to spoil the story, so I'll just say that while the story involves death as well as birth, it is touching and emotional while being surprisingly uplifting. (My rating: 4/5)

In a Chinese dystopia of surveillance and AI, two woman meet to catch up after twenty-five years apart. This is "To Helen" by Bella Han. A pill exists in this world that stops aging. Naturally some people can afford to take this early than others leaving them looking much younger. And this leads to great disparities of experience that play out across the interchange of these characters. (My rating: 3/5)

"Mirror View" by Rajeev Prasad is another story of interacting with extraterrestrials, though on a much smaller scale. Not everyone knows about this new visitor because it is metaloid rather that carbon based. It lands near Chicago and ultimately interacts with a newly pregnant woman. In the process, it learns what it means to reproduce and makes its own attempt to do so. (My rating: 4/5)

As usual with Clarkesworld, this is a strong showing, the average rating per story coming out to 3.875. I don't expect to renew all of the magazine subscriptions I started as part of my year of short fiction, but Clarkesworld is a strong contender for renewal.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strong collection of stories about faith, first contact, and the Moon. There's also an article about the importance of water and interviews with Vajra Chandrasekera and Kemi Ashing-Giwa.

The Officiant by Dominica Phetteplace is about a human escaping her religion and family by officiating a marriage for another species. There is some interesting reflection on faith. 4/5

Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone by Carrie Vaughn is a story about first contact with a group of aliens called the Mapmakers. 4/5

Day Ten Thousand by Isabel J. Kim is about wheels and a man named David who is cloned from the remains of a man 10,000 years ago. A meta, absurdic piece that reads like something by Kurt Vonnegut. 5/5

A story is a set of events, real or imaginary, told in succession. There are many forms that a story can take, but the difference between a story and facts is that a story makes sense and facts just exist.

"Don't be derogatory, archaic human civilization was plenty sophisticated. They had running water and tax collectors. You press buttons all day."

Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon by Angela Liu is a dystopian cyberpunk story about a woman who creates fake memories while working as a prostitute. 4/5

The Moon Rabbi by David Ebenbach is a spiritual reflection of an apostate rabbi who starts working on a Moon base. 5/5

"In the Bible, Passover is scheduled to happen on the full moon every year." I gestured around. "And here we are, sitting right on the full moon."

. . . Your Little Light by Jana Bianchi is a survival story following a pregnant woman after her generational ship suffers a catastrophic crash, leaving her the sole survivor along with an alien.4/5

To Helenby Bella Han is a translation from Chinese by the author taking place in a future where the rich are able to get surgery to remain forever young as long as they continue to take vitamins. The elderly are pariahs because they remind everyone of mortality. 4/5

Mirror View by Rajeev Prasad follows a large mirror-like construct that lands in Chicago to refuel and finds itself intrigued by our short lives. 3/5

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a very nice issue that had some excellent stories and just a couple of meh ones.

The Officiant by Dominica Phetteplace – the narrator travels to a distant planet to perform a wedding. Things are not what they seem, This is a story of homes and families lost and found and the nature of faith. It’s lovely. 4.5 stars.

Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone by Carrie Vaughn – a first contact story. Aliens come to Earth and want to talk to one person. One. It should be someone who is not in the position of power. A nearly perfect story, 4.9 stars.

Day Ten Thousand by Isabel J. Kim – a circular story of multiple lives, multiple timelines, guilt and redemption. Very good, but I feel that “Zero-Epsilon” (in issue 198 of Clarkesworld) by the same author was a more moving story. 4.1 stars.

Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon by Angela Liu – a dystopian tale that feels like a fever dream. The world building wasn’t very well done, but I appreciated everything else. 3.8 stars.

The Moon Rabbi by David Ebenbach – the title says it all, and it was a beautiful and spiritual story. 4.4 stars.

...Your Little Light by Jana Bianchi – a sole human survivor of a generation ship disaster is left alone with an alien creature. Heartbreaking, but somewhat unsatisfying. 3.9 stars.

To Helen by Bella Han – two friends catch up after twenty-five years. Their world is dystopian, where the anti-aging therapy is a must if you want to fit in. It left me cold. 2.8 stars.

Mirror View by Rajeev Prasad – an alien being comes to Earth and tries to understand humans. The story was trying to be philosophical, with the emphasis on *trying*. 3.1 stars.

[Bonnie McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume isn't quite as stellar as the May issue, but there are several stories worth noting.

The star of this issue is Isabel J. Kim. Nearly everything I've read by her has been outstanding (and she just started publishing stories two years ago). The story in this issue is "Day Ten Thousand," a twisty and intricate tale bouncing back and forth between different times and cloned characters with the same names. It's also very meta, but not in a cloying or pretentious way: the authorial asides to the reader (for example: "I am sorry that everyone in this story is named Dave. Sometimes these things happen") simply work. I had to read this twice to get the full impact. I could never write anything like that in a million years.

David Ebenbach's "The Moon Rabbi" is an absorbing little story about (you guessed it) a rabbi who goes to the Moon colony and sets up Seder there. There aren't a whole lot of stories really examining the nexus of science and religion, but this is one of them.

Jana Bianchi's "...Your Little Light" is a sad but ultimately uplifting tale about parents and children, and a human and alien mother aboard a damaged generation ship. It does need a content warning for child death though.

"Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone, " by Carrie Vaughn, is a first contact tale with a twist: the aliens want to talk to only one person, they don't stay long, and they end up not being colonizers or conquerors, but collectors of the symbols and art of more than thirty interstellar civilizations. This story emphasizes communication and understanding, and a peaceful interchange of cultures and ideas. Very thought-provoking.

As always, since Amazon abruptly ended their Kindle subscription program, genre magazines like Clarkesworld are taking a hit. Please consider subscribing from them directly. You can do so here.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarkesworld Magazine issue #201 (June, 2023). You can read the stories online or listen to the podcast, hosted and narrated by the lovely Kate Baker https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prio...

Consider supporting them on Patreon.

Onwards with more high quality sci-fi offerings:

The Officiant by Dominica Phetteplace
Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone by Carrie Vaughn
Day Ten Thousand by Isabel J. Kim
Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon by Angela Liu
The Moon Rabbi by David Ebenbach
… Your Little Light by Jana Bianchi
To Helen by Bella Han
and Mirror View by Rajeev Prasad

All stories were exceptional and very diverse, but the winner has to be Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon by Angela Liu.

(I didn’t read the three non-fiction offerings).

Themes: sci-fi, fantasy, space opera, dystopian, AI, aliens.

4 Stars

[Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My total rating for this issue: 3,5/5 stars.
My favourite was definitely '...Your Little Light', by Jana Bianchi, and I really enjoyed 'Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon', by Angela Liu as well as 'Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone', by Carrie Vaughn. I thought that last one was just a very creative and clever first-contact story. I was considering rounding my rating up to 4 stars, but none of the other stories really pushed me to do so. The cover for this month is also phenomenal. Looking forward to the next Clarkesworld issue :>

[Eric de Roulet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated primarily for "Day Ten Thousand" by Isabel J. Kim. This is, quite simply, a piece of art that belongs in a gallery somewhere, at least if a short story could be put on display in an art gallery. Sci-fi can be so, so much more than a showcase of futuristic technology and strange creatures, and we really see that here.

I don't think it'll ever be the case that I like every single piece in a given magazine issue, but sometimes an issue brings such a groundbreaking story to light that it deserves all five stars.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carrie Vaughn's story was quite good but the mvp was Jana Bianca's story. Really haven't read too much sf (maybe a me problen) about pregnancy/childbirth but it is a fundamental and fascinating aspect of human existence and she explores here the possible connections between mothers of alien species.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

“…Your Little Light” by Jana Bianchi and “Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone” by Carrie Vaughn are the two highlights of this issue. The other stories are (as we would say where I am currently based) ok la.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some thought-provoking entries - the best stories here were Day Ten Thousand and To Helen

[Baily]

Read: "Day Ten Thousand" by Isabel J. Kim (three and a half stars)

[Zoe]

Nebula finalist:
"Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down The Moon", Angela Liu (okay)

[Jonathan]

I read "Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon"

Story lost me a few times and was not memorable.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this a story, or facts?

I am reviewing only "Day Ten Thousand", by Isabel J. Kim. Here is the thirteenth paragraph

A story is a set of events, real or imaginary, told in succession. There are many forms that a story can take, but the difference between a story and facts is that a story makes sense and facts just exist.

One of several problem with this definition is that "makes sense" is not an all or none thing. Some sets of facts make a lot of sense, and others make a fair amount of sense, while yet others make only a very little bit of sense. This particular story-like object makes very little sense, but more than none at all. So, I guess, by its own standards, it is a story, just barely.

I'm going to do you a small favor here: Ten thousand days is a bit over 27 years. This is a useful thing to know if you read the story.

I don't really feel like saying much more about this barely-a-story. I might have liked it more if I read it in a forgiving mood. As it is, I am annoyed at all the work Kim made me do to read these deliberately obscure 6610 words and try to come up with a story-like construction under which they make some kind of sense. And after all that, I am left with the impression that there is no pony in there.

Blog review.

[Kathryn Atreides · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read “Day Ten Thousand” by Isabel J. Kim.


So weird. I need to do a reread because it makes no sense or plenty of sense in lots of different ways.

So far everything Isabel J. Kim writes is captivating. Off to find more of her short stories. Hope she puts out a short story collection at some point!