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Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 190, July 2022
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 July 2022 issue (#190) contains:
Original fiction by Eliane Boey ("The Forgotten"), Ahmed Asi ("To Be"), David Goodman ("Carapace"), Suzanne Palmer ("The Sadness Box"), Xiu Xinyu ("The Strange Girl"), and Isabel J. Kim ("Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist"). Non-fiction includes an article by E.E. King, interviews with Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Eileen Gunn, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.
Original fiction by Eliane Boey ("The Forgotten"), Ahmed Asi ("To Be"), David Goodman ("Carapace"), Suzanne Palmer ("The Sadness Box"), Xiu Xinyu ("The Strange Girl"), and Isabel J. Kim ("Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist"). Non-fiction includes an article by E.E. King, interviews with Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Eileen Gunn, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.
233 pages, ebook
First published July 1, 2022
4 people are currently reading
24 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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 8, 2023
So far I only read Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist by Isabel J Kim though I mean to read more from this issue (particularly Sadness Box). I will edit it if/when I read more.
I do this weird thing sometimes, with favorite authors where I save one work of theirs to read, a work I am perfectly aware of, but you know just in case, somehow, a backup. I was saving this story of Kim's but meanwhile she has a new story out on this month´s (June 2023) issue of Clarkesworld so I am saving (literally) that story instead.
Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist is Cool and Sexy Asian Girl (that is what she wants be) and her adventures in a narrative, meta narrative or AI dream or something, and well growth within that..
It is incredibly moody, Blade Runner dream like (maybe a touch of Paolo Bacigalupi?). Pretty insightful about, well, vanity and main character (or secondary character but extra cool and sexy) syndrome. It is very good, though a bit more vague than my favored type of short fiction, but I expect like with Kim's other stories I will be remembering it and thinking of it for a while and maybe change my mind on what it is about or what I thought of it (but I am writing these notes at once, after finished, because if I do not make myself do that, I do not do it and then forget all the details...)
I do this weird thing sometimes, with favorite authors where I save one work of theirs to read, a work I am perfectly aware of, but you know just in case, somehow, a backup. I was saving this story of Kim's but meanwhile she has a new story out on this month´s (June 2023) issue of Clarkesworld so I am saving (literally) that story instead.
Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist is Cool and Sexy Asian Girl (that is what she wants be) and her adventures in a narrative, meta narrative or AI dream or something, and well growth within that..
The surprise that the people around you existed outside of your narrative
It is incredibly moody, Blade Runner dream like (maybe a touch of Paolo Bacigalupi?). Pretty insightful about, well, vanity and main character (or secondary character but extra cool and sexy) syndrome. It is very good, though a bit more vague than my favored type of short fiction, but I expect like with Kim's other stories I will be remembering it and thinking of it for a while and maybe change my mind on what it is about or what I thought of it (but I am writing these notes at once, after finished, because if I do not make myself do that, I do not do it and then forget all the details...)
September 26, 2022
Onwards with Clarkesworld Magazine issue #190 (July, 2022). 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.
I didn’t pick and chose, just dove in blind and read all of them (combined with narration of Kate), and I wasn’t disappointed! On offer where:
The Forgotten by Eliane Boey
Carapace by David Goodman
The Strange Girl by Xiu Xinyu
To Be by Ahmed Asi
The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer
and Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist by Isabel J. Kim
All stories were exceptional and very diverse, and I have two favorites this time, namely Carapace by David Goodman and The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer.
(I didn’t read the non-fiction offerings).
Themes: sci-fi, fantasy, space opera, dystopian, AI, aliens.
4 Stars
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prio...
Consider supporting them on Patreon.
I didn’t pick and chose, just dove in blind and read all of them (combined with narration of Kate), and I wasn’t disappointed! On offer where:
The Forgotten by Eliane Boey
Carapace by David Goodman
The Strange Girl by Xiu Xinyu
To Be by Ahmed Asi
The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer
and Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist by Isabel J. Kim
All stories were exceptional and very diverse, and I have two favorites this time, namely Carapace by David Goodman and The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer.
(I didn’t read the non-fiction offerings).
Themes: sci-fi, fantasy, space opera, dystopian, AI, aliens.
4 Stars
July 6, 2023
Review for The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer.
The Sadness Box was a cute story of friendship in a time of war. I loved how the author built up the world on the sidelines of the story. We never get a full picture of what actually the war is about but we get throwaway details mentioned by the characters which really works for a story like this. I wanted more from the AI deleting the Sadness setting, which didn't really happen so this came across as kind of predictable. Also, it was long for no reason, I feel like if it was going to be 13k words, we could have gotten something more to sink our teeth into.
Overall not bad, but left me wanting more.
Short Story Month - 4/10
The Sadness Box was a cute story of friendship in a time of war. I loved how the author built up the world on the sidelines of the story. We never get a full picture of what actually the war is about but we get throwaway details mentioned by the characters which really works for a story like this. I wanted more from the AI deleting the Sadness setting, which didn't really happen so this came across as kind of predictable. Also, it was long for no reason, I feel like if it was going to be 13k words, we could have gotten something more to sink our teeth into.
Overall not bad, but left me wanting more.
Short Story Month - 4/10
September 19, 2023
Rating and review only for Isabel Kim's Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist. I did not get the story but at least it got the cyberpunk dystopian atmo right.
August 2, 2022
Two AI stories in this issue really stuck out among the others here as exceptional.
"Carapace" by David Goodman – Intelligent armor suit SM-14 gains programmed sentience after the death of its human pilot and fellow soldiers during a brutal battle. However, after taking an injured enemy combatant as prisoner for questioning, SM-14 begins to learn more than its programming. AI stories are a type that aren't an instant sell for me, yet this issue had two of them that hit the spot. The insights and sincerity of SM-14 and the story's ending made this one stand out.
"The Sadness Box" by Suzanne Palmer – Amid a future war with nanobot weapons and a dangerous biotechnology-infested environment, a young boy lives with his mother and step-father, but still visits with his biological father, an eccentric and self-occupied inventor. One day, the inventor gives the boy a box he has designed with an AI designed to be frightened of the world. When opened like a jack-in-the-box, the AI reaches an arm/hand out to close the lid and shut itself back away. While the inventor finds this a brilliantly hilarious commentary, the boy finds it a bit silly, if not cruel, and decides to just keep the box rather than giving it back. What follows is a perfect novella of friendship, family, and the risks/rewards possible amid bravery in facing a dangerous world.
"Carapace" by David Goodman – Intelligent armor suit SM-14 gains programmed sentience after the death of its human pilot and fellow soldiers during a brutal battle. However, after taking an injured enemy combatant as prisoner for questioning, SM-14 begins to learn more than its programming. AI stories are a type that aren't an instant sell for me, yet this issue had two of them that hit the spot. The insights and sincerity of SM-14 and the story's ending made this one stand out.
"The Sadness Box" by Suzanne Palmer – Amid a future war with nanobot weapons and a dangerous biotechnology-infested environment, a young boy lives with his mother and step-father, but still visits with his biological father, an eccentric and self-occupied inventor. One day, the inventor gives the boy a box he has designed with an AI designed to be frightened of the world. When opened like a jack-in-the-box, the AI reaches an arm/hand out to close the lid and shut itself back away. While the inventor finds this a brilliantly hilarious commentary, the boy finds it a bit silly, if not cruel, and decides to just keep the box rather than giving it back. What follows is a perfect novella of friendship, family, and the risks/rewards possible amid bravery in facing a dangerous world.
August 10, 2022
Really enjoyed this issue, just a very solid collection of good, short scifi. Both Carapace (big Murderbot vibes with a dash of The Fall (the videogame)) and The Sadness Box are the standout stories here, but I also thought none of the others were worth anything less than the time it took to read them, I enjoyed them too. Reminder that you can read these for free at the magazine's website!
February 7, 2023
The Clarkesworld Reader Poll is out, and I basically ended up reading all of this because there were several nominees from this issue.
Really, really great. Isabel J. Kim is a star and has had the short fiction year of my dreams. Of her three nominated stories, this one is my favorite, and my top vote for the Clarkesworld short story of the year.
Really, really great. Isabel J. Kim is a star and has had the short fiction year of my dreams. Of her three nominated stories, this one is my favorite, and my top vote for the Clarkesworld short story of the year.
July 31, 2022
The Sadness Box - Suzanne Palmer: 3/5. Fun little exploration into a different mind and I like the limited information we get throughout. Wish the world was either more interesting or less present; as it is it feels a bit too coarse stroke.
December 6, 2022
The Forgotten - Elaine Boey ***
To Be - Ahmed Asi ***
Carapace - David Goodman **
The Sadness Box - Suzanne Palmer **
The Strange Girl - Xiu Xinyu, trans. Emily Jin ****
Termination Stories For The Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist - Isabel J Kim ***
To Be - Ahmed Asi ***
Carapace - David Goodman **
The Sadness Box - Suzanne Palmer **
The Strange Girl - Xiu Xinyu, trans. Emily Jin ****
Termination Stories For The Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist - Isabel J Kim ***
July 30, 2022
3.5 stars. A pleasant issue, but I don't recall anything really exciting.
August 5, 2022
Suzanne Palmer delivered again with the story in this issue, and Carapace was also great. But the vest story was the Strange Girl by Xiu Xinyu.
Read
August 27, 2023Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer
April 30, 2024
Read TERMINATION STORIES FOR THE CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIA PROTAGONIST by Isabel J. Kim
November 1, 2025
Loved the setting details in “The Sadness Box”, and “Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist” was my fave story in this one
December 18, 2023
Sweet little dystopian tale
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews