What do you think?
Rate this book
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 231, December 2025
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 December 2025 issue (#231)
Fiction
"Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron
Non-Fiction
"Decoding Animal (and Alien?) Language" by Gunnar De Winter
"Allegory and A Conversation with Simon Stålenhag" by Arley Sorg
"Climate, Hope, and the Global A Conversation with Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich" by Arley Sorg
"Editor's The End of the Year" by Neil Clarke
Cover Art
"The Brood" by Kristin Kest
Fiction
"Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron
Non-Fiction
"Decoding Animal (and Alien?) Language" by Gunnar De Winter
"Allegory and A Conversation with Simon Stålenhag" by Arley Sorg
"Climate, Hope, and the Global A Conversation with Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich" by Arley Sorg
"Editor's The End of the Year" by Neil Clarke
Cover Art
"The Brood" by Kristin Kest
- GenresScience Fiction
154 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2025
9 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Neil Clarke
403 books403 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 3, 2025
"Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester -- (4*) A fairly interesting ship of Theseus story revolving uploadable bodies.
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin -- (5*) Lots of great probability ruminations butting heads against friendship. Great worldbuilding, too.
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins -- (5*) Great dystopia. Utopia. Lol. A pretty hard-hitting capitalist nightmare. I'd say cyberpunk, but this is one step beyond.
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa -- (4*) A pleasure-filled and debased vision of a future. Feels distinctly post-humanity, post-bodies, while reveling in the the same--as a mystery story. :)
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed -- (5*) I'm reminded, AGAIN, how much I enjoy the Greatship series of Reed's. Memory and quest, yet again. :)
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham -- (5*) Thank goodness for strange, disturbing, layered post-human space fiction. :) Best because it'll always be horribly human.
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron - (3*) Birth, direction, future. Pretty simple. Not sure I found it all that interesting, though. At least, not written like this.
I suppose I simply loved Imperfect Simulations. Between Here and Everywhere was great for its own story and how it builds on all of the rest of Reed's stories. I loved This Sepulchral Aegis for its oddities.
Not a bad month.
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin -- (5*) Lots of great probability ruminations butting heads against friendship. Great worldbuilding, too.
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins -- (5*) Great dystopia. Utopia. Lol. A pretty hard-hitting capitalist nightmare. I'd say cyberpunk, but this is one step beyond.
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa -- (4*) A pleasure-filled and debased vision of a future. Feels distinctly post-humanity, post-bodies, while reveling in the the same--as a mystery story. :)
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed -- (5*) I'm reminded, AGAIN, how much I enjoy the Greatship series of Reed's. Memory and quest, yet again. :)
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham -- (5*) Thank goodness for strange, disturbing, layered post-human space fiction. :) Best because it'll always be horribly human.
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron - (3*) Birth, direction, future. Pretty simple. Not sure I found it all that interesting, though. At least, not written like this.
I suppose I simply loved Imperfect Simulations. Between Here and Everywhere was great for its own story and how it builds on all of the rest of Reed's stories. I loved This Sepulchral Aegis for its oddities.
Not a bad month.
Read
December 20, 2025"Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester: Short and meditative. I didn't connect with it all the way, but there are some interesting kernels there about parenting and cheating time with technology.
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin: A cool story that reached surprisingly far in time, told through a hyper-intelligent perspective. I liked the sketches of the world we get, the way time lags worked, and the conclusion that even if the world seems lost it's still worth hoping and trying for something better anyway.
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins: A stressful and suffocating setting, and I liked the way you feel the protagonist's frustration at his mother even though we all know it's some governing body creating those artificially tight conditions. The end let me down by
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa: An unholy combination of Terra Ignota and The Matrix. Some cool ideas, but like Terra Ignota, it veers a little too far into some really strange fetishes. I also took way too long to figure out there were two different women the main character interacted with, but maybe that's on me.
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed: I take it this story is part of a wider universe of other stories. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be able to stand alone, or if it would even make sense if I'd read the others. It still might not. Unfortunately, it was very long and I couldn't tell you what happened.
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham: Weird, dancing between intriguing and a little too gross-body-horror for me. The end felt a little too abrupt.
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron: I loved this. A poignant read about two sisters, having to flee your home, and survivor's guilt.
Otherwise, the non-fiction bits were pretty good. I enjoyed Gunnar De Winter's article about animal language. I skimmed through one of the interviews because I wasn't super interested, but the other one has me wondering how I can get my hands on a climate fiction and non-fiction combo anthology that retails for $48.
Highlights: "Home Grown" and "Imperfect Simulations"
"Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin: A cool story that reached surprisingly far in time, told through a hyper-intelligent perspective. I liked the sketches of the world we get, the way time lags worked, and the conclusion that even if the world seems lost it's still worth hoping and trying for something better anyway.
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins: A stressful and suffocating setting, and I liked the way you feel the protagonist's frustration at his mother even though we all know it's some governing body creating those artificially tight conditions. The end let me down by
"The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa: An unholy combination of Terra Ignota and The Matrix. Some cool ideas, but like Terra Ignota, it veers a little too far into some really strange fetishes. I also took way too long to figure out there were two different women the main character interacted with, but maybe that's on me.
"Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed: I take it this story is part of a wider universe of other stories. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be able to stand alone, or if it would even make sense if I'd read the others. It still might not. Unfortunately, it was very long and I couldn't tell you what happened.
"This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham: Weird, dancing between intriguing and a little too gross-body-horror for me. The end felt a little too abrupt.
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron: I loved this. A poignant read about two sisters, having to flee your home, and survivor's guilt.
Otherwise, the non-fiction bits were pretty good. I enjoyed Gunnar De Winter's article about animal language. I skimmed through one of the interviews because I wasn't super interested, but the other one has me wondering how I can get my hands on a climate fiction and non-fiction combo anthology that retails for $48.
Highlights: "Home Grown" and "Imperfect Simulations"
December 21, 2025
An average issue, with interesting stories by Michelle Z. Jin, Anne Wilkins and Ferenc Samsa.
- "Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester: on the relationship between a father and his son, when the son has to make a decision about his life that may not be his after all.
- "Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin: on a human colony on another one world, one person hides his skill at predicting how people would behave by internally simulating their behaviours. But when Earth starts to cut off supplies to the colony, his simulations would reveal just what is happening. But what needs to be done may be a surprise, even to him.
- "The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins: in a 'Utopian' society where everybody is measured by how much they consume, one person struggles to lower his consumption footprint, which doing his job at moving frozen people to a new colony. Then he learns the truth about what really happens to the frozen people, and learns that his utopia is not one at all.
- "The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa: in an unusual country where 'golems' do most of the work, people indulge in entertainment shows (even peep shows) put up by other people. As two people has a conversation through a peephole, it is revealed that one golem has gone rogue and gained intelligence. One of the persons in the conversation is hunting the golem, but he may be the hunted by assassins sent by the golem, unless he can turn the tables.
- "Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed: an archaic man may be the key to ending a search by a ship in space for a lost prize.
- "This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham: a generation ship lost in space discovers a lifeboat harbouring a more advanced human. The human was to return to where it was found, but must convince the lonely captain of the ship to do so. But the way to do that may be via the captain's sleeping sister, and by revealing the secret to the captain's long life.
- "Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron: only one of two sisters can travel on a ship heading to another world. During the travel, she imagines the life her sister is having back on earth so vividly that she has a crisis and needs to recover to keep on living.
- "Tomorrow. Today." by R.T. Ester: on the relationship between a father and his son, when the son has to make a decision about his life that may not be his after all.
- "Imperfect Simulations" by Michelle Z. Jin: on a human colony on another one world, one person hides his skill at predicting how people would behave by internally simulating their behaviours. But when Earth starts to cut off supplies to the colony, his simulations would reveal just what is happening. But what needs to be done may be a surprise, even to him.
- "The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins: in a 'Utopian' society where everybody is measured by how much they consume, one person struggles to lower his consumption footprint, which doing his job at moving frozen people to a new colony. Then he learns the truth about what really happens to the frozen people, and learns that his utopia is not one at all.
- "The Hole" by Ferenc Samsa: in an unusual country where 'golems' do most of the work, people indulge in entertainment shows (even peep shows) put up by other people. As two people has a conversation through a peephole, it is revealed that one golem has gone rogue and gained intelligence. One of the persons in the conversation is hunting the golem, but he may be the hunted by assassins sent by the golem, unless he can turn the tables.
- "Between Here and Everywhere" by Robert Reed: an archaic man may be the key to ending a search by a ship in space for a lost prize.
- "This Sepulchral Aegis" by Rob Gillham: a generation ship lost in space discovers a lifeboat harbouring a more advanced human. The human was to return to where it was found, but must convince the lonely captain of the ship to do so. But the way to do that may be via the captain's sleeping sister, and by revealing the secret to the captain's long life.
- "Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron: only one of two sisters can travel on a ship heading to another world. During the travel, she imagines the life her sister is having back on earth so vividly that she has a crisis and needs to recover to keep on living.
January 9, 2026
Lots of high quality stories in this issue.
I enjoyed This Sepulchral Aeigs, mostly for its imaging and setting, the plot itself didn't resonate that well with me. Plotwise The Cold Burns was my favorite, and the setting wasn't bad either.
I also found The Hole, Imperfect Simulations and Tomorrow. Today. to be enjoyable reads.
I enjoyed This Sepulchral Aeigs, mostly for its imaging and setting, the plot itself didn't resonate that well with me. Plotwise The Cold Burns was my favorite, and the setting wasn't bad either.
I also found The Hole, Imperfect Simulations and Tomorrow. Today. to be enjoyable reads.
December 14, 2025
Favourites from this issue:
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins (4*)
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron (4*)
"The Cold Burns" by Anne Wilkins (4*)
"Home Grown" by Madeleine Vigneron (4*)
January 9, 2026
R.T. Ester 3.75 stars
Michelle Z. Jin 4.5 stars
Anne Wilkins 4.5 stars
Ferenc Samsa 4 stars
Robert Reed 2 stars
Rob Gillham 4 stars
Madeleine Vigneron 4.25 stars
Michelle Z. Jin 4.5 stars
Anne Wilkins 4.5 stars
Ferenc Samsa 4 stars
Robert Reed 2 stars
Rob Gillham 4 stars
Madeleine Vigneron 4.25 stars
January 24, 2026
A solid but muted issue. Strong themes around loss, displacement, and survival, but most of it plays things a little too safe. Home Grown carries the emotional weight and actually lingers; the rest is thoughtful, competent, and occasionally interesting, but rarely gripping. I respect it more than I felt it.
Standouts
• Home Grown — easily the strongest piece; intimate, sad, and grounded.
• Imperfect Simulations — good idea, clean execution, emotionally cool.
• Decoding Animal (and Alien?) Language — smart, engaging nonfiction that fits the issue’s themes without feeling dry.
Standouts
• Home Grown — easily the strongest piece; intimate, sad, and grounded.
• Imperfect Simulations — good idea, clean execution, emotionally cool.
• Decoding Animal (and Alien?) Language — smart, engaging nonfiction that fits the issue’s themes without feeling dry.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews