Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 220, January 2025

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Zun Yu Tan (Contributor), Gunnar De Winter (Contributor)

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 January 2025 issue (#220)

Fiction

* "When There Are Two of A Documentary" by Zun Yu Tan
* "Child of the Mountain" by Gunnar De Winter
* "Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak
* "The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro
* "Beyond Everything" by Wang Yanzhong
* "Autonomy" by Meg Elison

Non-Fiction

* "Do Termites Celebrate Holidays?" by Priya Sridhar
* "Finishing the A Conversation with Diana M. Pho" by Arley Sorg
* "Humbled By A Conversation with LaShawn M. Wanak" by Arley Sorg
* "Editor's 2024 in Review" by Neil Clarke

Cover Art: "Landscape Painter" by Alex Rommel

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2024

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

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When There Are Two of A Documentary" by Zun Yu Tan - (5*) - Very timely. This, at least to me, makes me question our own sentience. Or if that fails, shows there's no difference either way. Hello, ChatGPT. Written evocatively.


"Child of the Mountain" by Gunnar De Winter - (4*) - Uploads, monks, immortality, and vultures. The subtle point about the sky burial is not lost on me. The story is pretty for what it is, but it kinda left a not-so-tasty impression in my mouth.


"Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak - (4*) - So sad, aggravating. Half an unborn-philosophical question, half a sentience question, and all of a capitalist-bad story. Definitely and firmly an object lesson on what not to do in the future, oh, humanity. Not bad, but it seems like I keep reading way too many like this.


"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro - (3*) - A decent story about strings, chemical-commentary mental health, and the inherent dystopia so many live, unseen in our midst.


"Beyond Everything" by Wang Yanzhong - (5*) - Surprisingly great, this scratched a long-desire to read something vast in scope, rich in adventure. Imagination. I really vibed to this.


"Autonomy" by Meg Elison - (2*) - It's fine if you want a thrilling near-rape and escape story. If you are easily triggered or just want to hit pause on the assumption that all men are assholes, then also be forewarned. I admit, after reading three of this author's novels, to getting massively burned-out. This story feels like it's just perpetuating hate--my opinion only. Let me be clear: I have always believed there are assholes everywhere. I do not espouse that they are always men. Unfortunately, this is the feeling I get from this author.


OKAY! Final impression of this January's fiction in Clarkesworld Mag!

Very strong stories for the most part. The writing was really great for the first two. Never Eaten Vegetables was solid, if not very unusual in SF. Beyond Everything gave me a great little taste of awe, which was VERY, VERY welcome.

I had a very distinct impression of incense and candlelight as I read one of these. The welcome one smelled of the ocean. Very pleasing to my Synesthesia.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When There Are Two of You: A Documentary by Zun Yu Tan, Malaysia, 2130 words, 🤖🤖🤖🤖
“I forgot why I had my digital clone installed in the first place.“
Simulated consciousness. Sentience in an artificial flesh. Short, but good.

Child of the Mountain by Gunnar De Winter, Belgium, 3890 words, 🦅🦅🦅½
“Chime waits until the vultures have picked the cold flesh from the bones. When she hears the bald birds snap at each other, she turns around and walks toward the stone altar, whirling her wooden rattle against a backdrop of snow-covered mountain peaks.
Monks on a mountain top, with printed bodies and reincarnated, re-grown brains, watching over the world and tended by an 11-year old, immortal girls. Odd story, with a girl making a hard choice. Hopeful?

Never Eaten Vegetables by H.H. Pak, 15170 words, novelette, 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
“A ship glides through the night, behemoth mother, swollen with ten thousand human lives.“
A ship carrying human cells that will become a colony. An error and unplanned gestation. Desperate measures and corporate overlords hovering Far Away. Really good! Made me smile and cheer for the underdog.

The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe by Tia Tashiro, 11900 words, novelette, 💀💀💀💀💀
“Jay scrubs at the blood spot on her tennis shoe with her thumb and a gob of spit, hurried by the knowledge that Hardy will be there any moment.“
Excellent mystery. The story flows very nicely. Near future SF where the rich can afford to have their dead bodies revived. It opens possibilities! Twisty plot and timeline. I liked this a lot.

Beyond Everything by Wang Yanzhong, China, translated by Stella Jiayue Zhu, 9750 words, novelette, 👽👽👽
“The order to depart was issued, but trusted to a reluctant envoy. He was keenly aware that many before him had received similar orders—some were dispatched by militaries, some by states, and still more in the name of international organizations.“
An envoy visits various alien worlds, stepping through portals on his own war ravaged world, looking for paradise. This story is experimenting with philosophical ideas. It was a bit too emotionally removed and academic for me. And I am not a fan if authors telling me they can‘t describe something.

Autonomy by Meg Elison, 3100 words, 🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕
‘“It happened again. Friday night.” Janine was chewing gum fast, jaw running like she was in training to eat bricks.‘
Near future, two women in big city (New York?), driverless taxis, a mysterious destination. The reality of a woman alone in the dark and a man threatening her with sexual violence. A crazy option of escape. This story packs a punch.

I have read The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (5 stars), The Book of Etta (5 stars) and The Book of Flora (DNF) by Elison. I (mostly) like her writing. Worth checking out.

NON-FICTION
Some interesting thoughts in Do Termites Celebrate Holidays? by Priya Sridhar.
Book recommendations in Finishing the Read: A Conversation with Diana M. Pho.
And a review of the published stories of 2024 at the end of this issue.

Very good first issue of 2025! ★★★★¼

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good issue of Clarkesworld, with some interesting long stories. One that I liked are by Gunnar De Winter, H.H. Pak and Tia Tashiro.

- "When There Are Two of You: A Documentary" by Zun Yu Tan: in a world with sentient AI that can be installed into a person, questions would be asked about who would really be in charge of the person.

- "Child of the Mountain" by Gunnar De Winter: at a time when the world is in a climate crisis, a monk at a monastery whose members can be 'regrown' when they die has a flash of insight on how to solve the problem. But to do so will require sacrifices to be made.

- "Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak: a spaceship transporting hibernating embryos suddenly faces a crisis when some embryos unexpectedly begin to grow before the ship reaches its destination. The desperate decisions it makes would affect the colony that develops years later, and one of the colony's member decides to investigate just what happened before the ship's final termination.

- "The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro: Thomas is murdered, but is then bought back to life with a memory download from an earlier time. Now he tries to recall who murdered him, and it may be linked to his conflicts with his parents who want to control his life, and his relations with a girl who may be the key to the reason why he was murdered.

- "Beyond Everything" by Wang Yanzhong, translated by Stella Jiayue Zhu: an envoy is given the job of stepping through gates that transport him to distant worlds, in hopes of finding a way to end a conflict on Earth. What his finds may not answer his question, but still offer hope for a solution.

- "Autonomy" by Meg Elison: at a time when autonomous cars can be made to stop for any reason, one person discovers a keyphrase that could be used to make a car behave differently. That may become important when she is then attacked by another person who take advantage of the car's autonomous behaviour.

[Nore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so sorry to the nonfiction writers. I appreciate your work. I just don't read it because I mostly have no interest in it. I'm very behind in my reading (I fell into reading Dungeon Crawler Carl...), but I actually finished this a few weeks ago and simply forgot to review!

Most of the stories in this volume didn't do it for me, but a few were one was so good it bumped the volume up a star for me. Full reviews can be found here, as usual.

Favorite story: Never Eaten Vegetables, hands down. Had me pacing and crying. A nearly-self aware ship takes control through its own directives. Look, I'm weak to robots/constructs/AI as metaphor for humanity. I loved Granny Ship. What is our purpose in life? How do we form our identities and our path in life around the outside pressures trying to shape us? What does it mean, to leave a legacy? Do our actions really matter to those around us in the end? Can you love your mother even with all of her faults?

Runner-up: I think I'll leave this one blank, actually. By the number it's either When There Are Two of You or Temporary Murder, but neither really spoke to me. Two of You did have some interesting ideas, but it was a little short to expand on them in a way that tickled the brain.

Least favorite story: Beyond Everything. Meant to be hopeful and noble but ultimately speaks to a doomerist anti-human mindset I find irritating. Ironically deeply selfish and individualistic even though it's preaching the opposite! Ohhhh, the only paradise is through the obliteration of the self? Humans are doomed to labor eternally outside of paradise? Christianity is shaking hands with Buddhism in this piece.

[Pontus Doverstav · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty strong issue!

Personal standouts were Never Eaten Vegetables and The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe, with The Temporary Murder... being the favorite - a murder mystery with a hopeful ending (though still dealing with some heavy themes).

I found Beyond Everything to have potential but it felt a bit underbaked to me, and the ending didn't really satisfy.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at myreadinglife.com.

I decided to add a bit of short fiction back into my reading life this year. Two years ago (2023) was my year of short fiction, which I read almost exclusively. At the end of the year, I stopped as I found that there was no easy way to find good short fiction without getting subpar stories as well. But last year, I found myself missing the timeliness of short fiction magazines. So I did a bit of research on my reading in 2023 and decided to subscribe (again) to Clarkesworld magazine in 2025. This is my review of the first issue of the year.

"When There Are Two of You: A Documentary" by Zun Yu Tan (2,130 word) - In a near future world, citizens can get a copy of their mentality/personality called a Sentience. It's kind of a snapshot of who they are. One character makes one of himself and puts it into his clone. We follow what happens with that clone after the original dies. The other main character is a woman who has her Sentience within herself. It's kind of like the voice in your head on steroids. This is a wonderful exploration of identity and the way we talk to ourselves. (My rating: 4/5)

"Child of the Mountain" by Gunnar De Winter (2,890 words) - Taking place on a mountain in an unknown place and time, a young girl is caretaker for her genetic sisters. When they die, she extracts a "soul seed" and resurrects them. This is her purpose in life. But the ritual vultures that eat the flesh off her sisters' dead bodies seem to be suggesting a different path altogether. A haunting tale of life, death, and hard decisions. (My rating: 3/5)

"Never Eaten Vegetables" by H. H. Pak (15,170 words) - A corporation sends a sentient ship filled with suspended embryos to a planet previously prepared for their arrival. But when something goes wrong, the ship has a tough decision to make on her own. The corporation won't answer her questions as to what she should do as she keeps bumping into parts of herself that she has no access to. Very well written. The story just flows and it is easy to empathize and root for the characters. (My rating: 5/5)

"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro (11,900 words) - A young man wakes up to find that he has died... again. But this time instead of being at his own hand, he has been murdered. But he doesn't recall who killed him. At least not at first. And as he starts to remember, things get odder and odder. Another propulsive, well-written read that kept me turning the pages. (My rating: 5/5)

"Beyond Everything" by Wang Yanzhong translated from Chinese by Stella Jiayue Zhu (9,750 words) - In a future world devastated by never-ending war and environmental collapse, a new envoy is sent to seek help from extraterrestrials after all but one of the previous envoys never returned. After talking to the only returning envoy, the new one sets out to learn from the aliens, presumably more advanced than Earth, what the Earthlings can do to save themselves. The story feels muddled a bit and the writing felt clumsy to me. The author is going for something big and difficult to communicate. It didn't quite work for me. (My rating: 2/5)

"Autonomy" by Meg Ellison (3,100 words) - A woman meets her best friend, as she regularly does, and hears about a confrontation with a man who sat on the hood of her robo taxi and the mysterious code someone gave her to use in similar future situations. Later, on her way home, the woman is assaulted in her autonomous taxi and finds out what happens when she uses that code. Has some gore and a feel of a short horror story. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring "what if" in a world with fully autonomous vehicles. (My rating: 4/5)

That's all the fiction in the issue. There are two interviews each with a writer/editor as well as an interesting essay about termites and consciousness. The issue is rounded out by Neil Clarke's editorial reviewing happenings with the magazine last year and a brief bio of the artist of the cover art. My average rating for the fiction comes out to 3.83 out five stars. A solid start to the new year that leaves me grateful for subscribing again. I'm looking forward to reading the next issue!

[k.]

OK so time presses on, and it looks like I only reviewed my least favorite story from the collection. Sorry about that.

Never Eaten Vegetables
MLA:
Pak, H.H. "Never Eaten Vegetables". Clarkesworld 220, Clarkesworld, 2025, pp 27-78.

CURRENT ANALYSIS
The Premise:
a. 500 deformed babies are born aboard a beleaguered space ship carrying fertilized human eggs, and the systems needed to gestate and "care" for them.
b. They are without parents, without any adult humans.
c. Their earliest experiences are of inadequate care from impersonal space-ship appliances.
d. Their ultimate socialization is from pre-programmed AI entities and robotic helpers; they interact with real humans only through comms links.
e. They are expected to fulfill a Corporate agenda for social development

My thoughts:
First of all: MASSIVE TRAUMA. This scenario would have massive implications for the social function of all surviving humans. With no adult care and touch there is very little chance that these infants would develop "normally"; even generously defined. The AI cannot be seen to suitably fulfill this role; if they could, there would be no story, because there would be no need to send humans abroad in the first place—you'd simply send the robots, and miss all this drama.
In my head this scenario fast tracks to HORROR incredibly quickly. There would be necessitated widespread disciplinary and police action to force these children to meet the expectations of the Corporation, resulting in further TRAUMA. These kids would be largely dysfunctional, inhabiting a world that was designed to shape them into producers of surplus value, not as living relating beings with human, spiritual needs.

The authors conclusions:
What actually plays out in the story is basically just ideal bourgeois subjects litigating politely against corporate authority (all legal of course). Inane. Not even actually existing liberal democracies operate this way, why would space-hell-14? There is no display of disciplinary force, no real understanding of the trauma that these humans have experienced, nothing for the story to say other than "if you do your homework, just maybe you can litigate yourself out of colonialism." It would be laughable if it wasn't such a horrifying look into the liberal mind.

My Conclusion:
"Never Eaten Vegetables" tackles a lot of big subjects: the nature of community and society; the impacts of corporate culture on our future; the nature and character of sentience and the spectrum of the human. And it does it all really poorly. Takes what in essence should be the premise of a horror story and plays it closer to the style of the comedy in the video RPG game The Outer Worlds, which yes covered similar dystopian grounds, but felt much more alive to the fact of its own ridiculousness. Instead the story stands as a plea for democratic, process oriented, legal petitioning as a remedy for enormous, traumatic social injustice. Also the writing is just fucking pedestrian.

[Anurag Sahay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have frequently read short stories on the Clarkesworld website and enjoyed them in the last few years. I finally took the jump and got a subscription. This is the first issue that arrived in my inbox.

I read all of the short stories and the article on termites; the interviews I only skimmed. I thoroughly enjoyed this issue and if the quality here is indicative, then I'm really glad I subscribed. Some thoughts on individual stories below (the termite article and the interviews were pretty meh, so I don't have anything to say about them).

"When There Are Two of A Documentary": This one was interesting in the moment, but the story didn't have a lot of staying power. I read it early in the month and I've already forgotten most of the details.

"Child of the Mountain": This was great -- the aesthetic of a monastery in the hills with vulture/drones and immortal goddesses/AI was particularly awesome, as was the allegorical comparison between death and climate change.

"Never Eaten Vegetables": I've always been a sucker for the concept of a living ship and I loved this story. The focus on just two characters and the in-depth exploration of the concept of motherhood for a creature like the generation ship was very poignant. I also loved the way the central mystery was resolved: it was the capitalists' fault!.

"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe": From a purely speculative fiction standpoint, this was the best story. The idea of temporary death was very well thought out and the concept of a whodunnit for a temporary death was particularly inspired idea. I highly recommend this one.

"Beyond Everything": This one was a real pleasure to read. There was something about the prose which really evoked a strong meditative response and I'm very curious whether that was the nature of the author's original writing, the translator's own work, or something about translating from Chinese. In any case, I really enjoyed the descriptions of extraterrestrial life as well as the exploration of what life itself means.

"Autonomy": This one was a bit harrowing to read and in the days since I've read it, I mostly blocked all the details out and only remember by actual horror when I read it.

Note that all the stories above are available to read for free (just Google them) even if you don't have a subscription.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cool issue! The best stories, imo, were “Never Eaten Vegetables”, “The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe” and “Autonomy”.

When There Are Two of You: A Documentary by Zun Yu Tan – a digital extra you, would you like that? This story does many things in a few pages. 4.2 stars.

Child of the Mountain by Gunnar de Winter – resurrection technology at a Tibet monastery. This was dark, strange and very interesting! 4.3 stars.

Never Eaten Vegetables by H.H. Pak – I have read another story with a similar theme in Clarkesworld: embryos on a colony star ship gestating too early. This one is very different in its approach, and excellent in its own way. 4.5 stars

The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe by Tia Tashiro – this one is about a con, a heist, a murder, and many other things. I like Tia Tashiro’s stories! 4.3 stars.

Beyond Everything by Wang Yanzhong, translated from Chinese by Stella Jiayue Zhu – this is a philosophical fable rather than sci-fi, and I don’t like fables very much; an envoy travels to different worlds to see if humanity can redeem itself. 3.5 stars.

Autonomy by Meg Elison – a gut punch of a story, the title is great. 4.5 stars.

[Elaysee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the Pak and Tashiro novelettes.

[Matthew WK · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Continues to be a great source for discovering new authors! A couple of 4 star stories, the majority 3 stars, but no clunkers.

[Martin Schuh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never Eaten Vegetables 5 stars
The temporary murder of Thomas Monroe 5 stars

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite stories were Pak's "Never Eaten Vegetables," Tashiro's "The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe," and Elison's "Autonomy."

[Jukaschar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond Everything - Wang Yanzhong

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never Eaten Vegetables was great
Also the Christine Jorgenson one

[Heni · Rating 3 out of 5]

When There Are Two of You: A Documentary by Zun Yu Tan
Even though there's an AI embedded in our brain, or even soul, just remember that ourselves can evolve, but the AIs cannot. 4 ⭐ 

Child of the Mountain by Gunnar De Winter
The setting is fantastical but the feel is sci-fi, I think. letting a vulture to eat the dead's brain and to farm the seed after to plant it into another child is perfect blend of sff imo. 4 ⭐

Never Eaten Vegetables by H.H. Pak
greedy corporate which only thinks of profit and not giving sufficient resources, and sacrificing the "sick" to nourish the "healthy". classic but enjoyable. 4 ⭐

The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe by Tia Tashiro
The title itself is already interesting but the whole story is a bit bland and tropey. Temporary because this guy can be resurrected lol. 3⭐

Beyond Everything by Wang Yanzhong, translated by Stella Jiayue Zhu
Remember Abaddon's Gate in the Expanse? basically that. 3 ⭐

Autonomy by Meg Elison
Talking cars and they literally reference Christine in it lol. Not bad. 3 ⭐