What do you think?
Rate this book
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 217, October 2024
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 October 2024 issue (#217) fiction by Abby Nicole Yee ("A Space O/pera"), Nigel Brown ("The Buried People"), Fiona Moore ("The Children of Flame"), Arula Ratnakar ("Fractal Karma"), Louis Inglis Hall ("Fishing the Intergalactic Stream"), Mike Robinson ("Midnight Patron"), and Damián Neri ("The Face of A Documentary").Non-fiction includes an article by Gunnar De Winter, interviews with Indrapramit Das and R.S.A. Garcia, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.
163 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2024
9 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Neil Clarke
400 books398 followersNeil 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 18, 2024
Abby Nicole Yee ("A Space O/pera") -- (5*) Nicely fascinating, blending a post-fake society with a wedding, a space dog, and an emotional mystery. I really liked this one.
Nigel Brown ("The Buried People") -- (4*) Odd frontier SF, but it's the questions--to me--that drives this story.
Fiona Moore ("The Children of Flame") -- (2*) Nomads and subtle post-apoc communities are a special breed for me--either I love them, get eerie'd out, fascinated, or... I don't. This one didn't really catch me at all.
Arula Ratnakar ("Fractal Karma") -- (5*) This full novella takes its lovely time getting to some seriously hard core SFnal (wonderfully math heavy) ideas. Topography as applied to consciousness. Solid dark ending. This kind of story is one very dear to my heart. And so far, it's easily the best story of the month.
Louis Inglis Hall ("Fishing the Intergalactic Stream") -- (4*) This clipped, imaginative tour of alien fisheries was somewhat relaxing. Just sit back and fish. Of course, the twist was pretty obvious, but nice for all that.
Mike Robinson ("Midnight Patron") -- (4*) Anyone want an artistic crow's vision of our future? Ah, it's the implications that I liked best.
Damián Neri ("The Face of A Documentary") -- (5*) Brilliantly irreverent and I'm all about remembering James Morrow. This one is a very nice documentary-like nod, with some slight alterations. And now I kinda wish we had THIS story instead of the one we got in the movie Deep Impact. Alas.
Nigel Brown ("The Buried People") -- (4*) Odd frontier SF, but it's the questions--to me--that drives this story.
Fiona Moore ("The Children of Flame") -- (2*) Nomads and subtle post-apoc communities are a special breed for me--either I love them, get eerie'd out, fascinated, or... I don't. This one didn't really catch me at all.
Arula Ratnakar ("Fractal Karma") -- (5*) This full novella takes its lovely time getting to some seriously hard core SFnal (wonderfully math heavy) ideas. Topography as applied to consciousness. Solid dark ending. This kind of story is one very dear to my heart. And so far, it's easily the best story of the month.
Louis Inglis Hall ("Fishing the Intergalactic Stream") -- (4*) This clipped, imaginative tour of alien fisheries was somewhat relaxing. Just sit back and fish. Of course, the twist was pretty obvious, but nice for all that.
Mike Robinson ("Midnight Patron") -- (4*) Anyone want an artistic crow's vision of our future? Ah, it's the implications that I liked best.
Damián Neri ("The Face of A Documentary") -- (5*) Brilliantly irreverent and I'm all about remembering James Morrow. This one is a very nice documentary-like nod, with some slight alterations. And now I kinda wish we had THIS story instead of the one we got in the movie Deep Impact. Alas.
October 30, 2024
This review is solely for the story The Face of God: A Documentary by Damián Neri.
I cannot reveal too much about what is going on. Suffice it to say that God has returned to us and not in the way any major religion on Earth ever foresaw. *lol*
What we humans make of our meeting with the Creator ... well.
Sometimes, I like reading short stories. Thankfully, my buddy-reader has subscribed to this magazine and he often lets me know what's good. He obviously wasn't wrong about this one. :)
The story is told through several POVs, giving a glimpse at how people from various corners of the world experience this "revelation". It's a bit odd, but in a way I definitely appreciated - especially the deeper look at humanity with all its stupid flaws. *chuckles*
You can read the story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/neri...
I cannot reveal too much about what is going on. Suffice it to say that God has returned to us and not in the way any major religion on Earth ever foresaw. *lol*
What we humans make of our meeting with the Creator ... well.
Sometimes, I like reading short stories. Thankfully, my buddy-reader has subscribed to this magazine and he often lets me know what's good. He obviously wasn't wrong about this one. :)
The story is told through several POVs, giving a glimpse at how people from various corners of the world experience this "revelation". It's a bit odd, but in a way I definitely appreciated - especially the deeper look at humanity with all its stupid flaws. *chuckles*
You can read the story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/neri...
November 10, 2024
A Space O/pera by Abby Nicole Yee
🐕🐕🐕
“When Clara Villegas got invited to a party the night before the launch of the Datu I spacecraft—by none other than the President of the Philippine Space Agency—she thought it was, at best, an unavoidable formality.“
An odd re-imagining of the first dog in space, a wedding, entitled people. Not quite sure what this story tried to do. It kinda petered out on me.
The Buried People by NIGEL BROWN
🥶🥶🥶🥶
“That evening, the buried people woke from their hibernation.“
No, not zombies. Scotland, a dystopian and icy landscape. Loss of civilization. Adapted humans, sought out and abused. We never learn, apparently. There is hope. And I wouldn‘t mind more of this world.
The Children of Flame by Fiona Moore
🐐🤖🐐🤖🐐
“When Morag saw one of the Children of Flame walking in her front gate, taking off their gull-feather mask and shaking out untidy blond-red locks of hair, all she said was, “That time of year again, is it?”
Similar idea as the previous story. The season changes, snow melts or flies. In the previous story the buried people unfreeze and here nomads come down to the villages when it gets cold. A post-apocalyptic Wales this time. Different people coming together for a common goal. Feudalism or nomads? Something positive. This story made me feel good.
Fractal Karma by ARULA RATNAKAR, novella, 87 pages
🎧🎧🎧
“The gray sky turns blood red. Instead of the Sun, through a clearing in the clouds, she finds the Eye. Veins branch across a white gelatinous sphere, iris shining around an abyss of pupil like solar corona behind an eclipse.“
Hard SF, neuroscience, mind altering states, drugs, unfulfilled love, joined consciousness. Odd.
Fishing the Intergalactic Stream by LOUIS INGLIS HALL
🐠
“First, we must define a fish.“
DNF, couldn’t make heads or tails of this.
Midnight Patron by MIKE ROBINSON
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛
“Where the winds took him that day resembled many other places he’d been: broken and ravaged, confined by walls, a large hole in the ceiling. Like a wood-toothed mouth, yawning in desperate craving for the elements.“
Post-apocalyptic. Humanity is dead. A murder of crows. Creation.
The Face of God: A Documentary by DAMIÁN NERI
☄️☄️☄️
“You can cover the sun with one finger; to cover God, you need the entire hand. The face of God looks down on us. It occupies an area in the sky seven times that of the moon and grows larger as he approaches.“
God comes to Earth.
🐕🐕🐕
“When Clara Villegas got invited to a party the night before the launch of the Datu I spacecraft—by none other than the President of the Philippine Space Agency—she thought it was, at best, an unavoidable formality.“
An odd re-imagining of the first dog in space, a wedding, entitled people. Not quite sure what this story tried to do. It kinda petered out on me.
The Buried People by NIGEL BROWN
🥶🥶🥶🥶
“That evening, the buried people woke from their hibernation.“
No, not zombies. Scotland, a dystopian and icy landscape. Loss of civilization. Adapted humans, sought out and abused. We never learn, apparently. There is hope. And I wouldn‘t mind more of this world.
The Children of Flame by Fiona Moore
🐐🤖🐐🤖🐐
“When Morag saw one of the Children of Flame walking in her front gate, taking off their gull-feather mask and shaking out untidy blond-red locks of hair, all she said was, “That time of year again, is it?”
Similar idea as the previous story. The season changes, snow melts or flies. In the previous story the buried people unfreeze and here nomads come down to the villages when it gets cold. A post-apocalyptic Wales this time. Different people coming together for a common goal. Feudalism or nomads? Something positive. This story made me feel good.
Fractal Karma by ARULA RATNAKAR, novella, 87 pages
🎧🎧🎧
“The gray sky turns blood red. Instead of the Sun, through a clearing in the clouds, she finds the Eye. Veins branch across a white gelatinous sphere, iris shining around an abyss of pupil like solar corona behind an eclipse.“
Hard SF, neuroscience, mind altering states, drugs, unfulfilled love, joined consciousness. Odd.
Fishing the Intergalactic Stream by LOUIS INGLIS HALL
🐠
“First, we must define a fish.“
DNF, couldn’t make heads or tails of this.
Midnight Patron by MIKE ROBINSON
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛
“Where the winds took him that day resembled many other places he’d been: broken and ravaged, confined by walls, a large hole in the ceiling. Like a wood-toothed mouth, yawning in desperate craving for the elements.“
Post-apocalyptic. Humanity is dead. A murder of crows. Creation.
The Face of God: A Documentary by DAMIÁN NERI
☄️☄️☄️
“You can cover the sun with one finger; to cover God, you need the entire hand. The face of God looks down on us. It occupies an area in the sky seven times that of the moon and grows larger as he approaches.“
God comes to Earth.
December 14, 2024
S'alright. A lot of not-so-great stories but a few that did it for me, especially the final one, which had me sitting back and spinning my wheels for a few minutes. Obligatory link to my commentary.
Favorite story: The Face of God: A Documentary, hands down. 5 stars. Is the appearance of a dead God confirmation or denial of faith? What does it mean, to resurrect your creator? Is divine glory a benediction or a disaster? No answers, only questions. I loved this one. Beautifully translated, gorgeously written, short and effective.
Runner-up: Actually, I'll skip this one. I really didn't find much in this volume to really hook me, mostly because of...
My least favorite story: Fractal Karma. I'm literally breaking the star scale here to give it 0 stars. Sorry. 66 pages of terrible dialogue intercut with very simple, workmanlike prose that did nothing to endear me to the really, just, really terrible dialogue, which did most of the heavy lifting in the story. There are some fascinating ideas here and I could easily see this expanded into a full-length novel that would garner a TV adaptation, it's that interesting, but I cannot with two full pages of ellipsis-laden "we're... so fucked up on K..." chatter that was so bad I had to put the book down and walk away for a minute. I got through it on sheer disbelief.
Favorite story: The Face of God: A Documentary, hands down. 5 stars. Is the appearance of a dead God confirmation or denial of faith? What does it mean, to resurrect your creator? Is divine glory a benediction or a disaster? No answers, only questions. I loved this one. Beautifully translated, gorgeously written, short and effective.
Runner-up: Actually, I'll skip this one. I really didn't find much in this volume to really hook me, mostly because of...
My least favorite story: Fractal Karma. I'm literally breaking the star scale here to give it 0 stars. Sorry. 66 pages of terrible dialogue intercut with very simple, workmanlike prose that did nothing to endear me to the really, just, really terrible dialogue, which did most of the heavy lifting in the story. There are some fascinating ideas here and I could easily see this expanded into a full-length novel that would garner a TV adaptation, it's that interesting, but I cannot with two full pages of ellipsis-laden "we're... so fucked up on K..." chatter that was so bad I had to put the book down and walk away for a minute. I got through it on sheer disbelief.
November 13, 2024
This issue was mostly not for me, but it's somewhat saved by the novella, Fractal Karma. After reading almost all the stories I didn't really felt like I got anything from it and sort of wondered what the point was.
Fractal Karma was at least a bit interesting. There were some parts of it that failed to grab me, but the main premise was intriguing, and while a bit heavy in mathematical theory at times I enjoyed it. Some parts of the plot felt a bit weak and their existence didn't really feel motivated, but not enough to detract from the experience.
Fractal Karma was at least a bit interesting. There were some parts of it that failed to grab me, but the main premise was intriguing, and while a bit heavy in mathematical theory at times I enjoyed it. Some parts of the plot felt a bit weak and their existence didn't really feel motivated, but not enough to detract from the experience.
November 3, 2024
An average issue with interesting stories by Nigel Brown, Fiona Moore and Arula Ratnakar.
- "A Space O/pera" by Abby Nicole Yee: the Philippines sends up a dog into space. But a problem occurs, and the dog is left for dead in space. But her owner does not give up, and plans to rescue the dog.
- "The Buried People" by Nigel Brown: an expedition goes to the frozen north to dig up people who have the ability to hibernate and freeze during winter. The reason for this, and how these people may have got this ability, are hinted at in this story about a climate catastrophe that happened in the past.
- "The Children of Flame" by Fiona Moore: a community that sprung up after a civilization collapse now face a new challenge: a feudal group that wants to take over. It would need the community to realise that they need each other to face the challenge.
- "Fractal Karma" by Arula Ratnakar: a girl loses her job. Desperate to keep up her share of the payment, and stop being seen as a loser, she learns of and steals an experiment headset that allows the user to connect to the minds of another user. Intrigued, she forces her way into a study (which promises its volunteers a reward) being conducted with more connected minds, not knowing what she will get into. A rather mathematical story, featuring fractals and aspects of Borromean rings that tie into aspects of melded minds giving rise to another form of intelligence.
- "Fishing the Intergalactic Stream" by Louis Inglis Hall: a 'fisherman' travels from many worlds to catch their equivalent of fish. But a new, empty world presents a new challenge, for it may have been set to lure the fisherman instead.
- "Midnight Patron" by Mike Robinson: in a future where humans are no more and crows are more intelligent, one crow finds an abandoned house with images and a statue and, in a burst of imagination, sets out to create its own artwork.
- "The Face of God: A Documentary" by Damián Neri: short pieces from many viewpoints on the discovery of a large alien corpse in space that many view as the body of god.
- "A Space O/pera" by Abby Nicole Yee: the Philippines sends up a dog into space. But a problem occurs, and the dog is left for dead in space. But her owner does not give up, and plans to rescue the dog.
- "The Buried People" by Nigel Brown: an expedition goes to the frozen north to dig up people who have the ability to hibernate and freeze during winter. The reason for this, and how these people may have got this ability, are hinted at in this story about a climate catastrophe that happened in the past.
- "The Children of Flame" by Fiona Moore: a community that sprung up after a civilization collapse now face a new challenge: a feudal group that wants to take over. It would need the community to realise that they need each other to face the challenge.
- "Fractal Karma" by Arula Ratnakar: a girl loses her job. Desperate to keep up her share of the payment, and stop being seen as a loser, she learns of and steals an experiment headset that allows the user to connect to the minds of another user. Intrigued, she forces her way into a study (which promises its volunteers a reward) being conducted with more connected minds, not knowing what she will get into. A rather mathematical story, featuring fractals and aspects of Borromean rings that tie into aspects of melded minds giving rise to another form of intelligence.
- "Fishing the Intergalactic Stream" by Louis Inglis Hall: a 'fisherman' travels from many worlds to catch their equivalent of fish. But a new, empty world presents a new challenge, for it may have been set to lure the fisherman instead.
- "Midnight Patron" by Mike Robinson: in a future where humans are no more and crows are more intelligent, one crow finds an abandoned house with images and a statue and, in a burst of imagination, sets out to create its own artwork.
- "The Face of God: A Documentary" by Damián Neri: short pieces from many viewpoints on the discovery of a large alien corpse in space that many view as the body of god.
September 13, 2025
I am way behind on my Clarkesworlds! Oh dear. Well, it just means I have lots of short stories to read. This was an issue without five star stories, but I mostly liked it. My average rating for all the stories is 4.1.
Here goes:
A Space O/pera by Abby Nicole Yee - Philippines is launching a space mission in the near future, and things don’t go as planned. Likable! 3.5 stars.
The Buried People by Nigel Brown - in a post-apocalyptic landscape an expedition is looking for people buried in ice and snow. This was excellent! I would read more stories set in this world. 4.6 stars.
The Children of Flame by Fiona Moore - Oh, yes, another story about Morag, her people, her robots, her post-apocalyptic world. This time, there is trouble as someone is trying to bring back feudalism. Please, author, keep writing these. 4.8 stars.
Fractal Karma by Arula Rathnakar - messed-up people, shady politics, shady secret government experiments. It gets psychedelic. At first I didn’t like it, and then I did. 3.9 stars.
Fishing the Intergalactic Stream by Louis Inglis Hall - a celebrity fisherman goes to yet another planet to catch something. Nice! 3.8 stars.
Midnight Patron by Mike Robinson - some disaster has killed humans and crows learn how to make art. A classic kind of story done well. 3.9 stars.
The Face of God: a documentary by Damián Neri (translated from Spanish by the author) - I really liked this story! 4.2 stars.
Here goes:
A Space O/pera by Abby Nicole Yee - Philippines is launching a space mission in the near future, and things don’t go as planned. Likable! 3.5 stars.
The Buried People by Nigel Brown - in a post-apocalyptic landscape an expedition is looking for people buried in ice and snow. This was excellent! I would read more stories set in this world. 4.6 stars.
The Children of Flame by Fiona Moore - Oh, yes, another story about Morag, her people, her robots, her post-apocalyptic world. This time, there is trouble as someone is trying to bring back feudalism. Please, author, keep writing these. 4.8 stars.
Fractal Karma by Arula Rathnakar - messed-up people, shady politics, shady secret government experiments. It gets psychedelic. At first I didn’t like it, and then I did. 3.9 stars.
Fishing the Intergalactic Stream by Louis Inglis Hall - a celebrity fisherman goes to yet another planet to catch something. Nice! 3.8 stars.
Midnight Patron by Mike Robinson - some disaster has killed humans and crows learn how to make art. A classic kind of story done well. 3.9 stars.
The Face of God: a documentary by Damián Neri (translated from Spanish by the author) - I really liked this story! 4.2 stars.
July 5, 2025
Another interesting issue from Clarkesworld. My favorites were "The Buried People" by Nigel Brown and Fiona Moore's "The Children of Flame," though I thought Robinson's "Midnight Patron" was quite interesting, too.
December 2, 2024
ghjsj vsjskekek
August 6, 2025
Favorites: “A Space O/pera”, Abby Nicole Yee; “The Buried People”, by Nigel Brown; “The Children of Flame”, by Fiona Moore (ongoing series/universe); “The Face of God: A Documentary”, by Damian Neri.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews