Status Updates From Clarkesworld Magazine, Issu...

The Blaumilch by Lavie Tidhar - I'm not sure I fully understand what happened here, or more accurately, WHY it happened-- but Tidhar is such a sublime world builder and mood painter. His short stories are always full of Star Wars Twin Sunset moments full of vast alien landscapes glittering with beauty.

Read it for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tidh...

Timothy: An Oral History by Michael Swanwick 2*
In a world populated by women, the birth of a man shatters everything.
I didn't like this story, even the idea of the premise was awkward to me. The ending felt very icky as well.

Rafi by Amal Singh - 3*
Reminded me of Borne by Jeff Vandermeer but without the emotional connection. Average story.

Post Hacking for the Uninitiated by Grace Chan - DNF
The beginning of the story was interesting but it lost me after a while.

De Profundis, a Space Love Letter by Bella Han - 4*
A human rediscovers books after centuries of AI-written stories. A beautiful love letter to the power of stories. The narration style was interesting and the world felt detailed and alive.

Such is my Idea of Happiness by David Goodman - 5*
A young man working in finance on very little sleep and lots of stimulants like other red eyes wants to secure a promotion to earn a little more sleeping time.
The idea was great and it reminded me of old schools dystopias (like 1984) with a modern twist. The pacing was right, the atmosphere was right. Really good.

Down To The Root by Lisa Papademetriou - 5*
A young woman tries to save her colleage after an accident in space.
I loved the world and I wanted this story to be longer. In a few pages, the author managed to create fascinating characters and world with different cultures.

The Blaumilch by Lavie Tidhar - 4*
A young man living an aimless life in The Mars that Never Was group? cult? discovers that the Mars that is might be more interesting than something he can only grasp a few minutes here and there on virtual reality.
The worldbuilding was vivid and the humor completely worked for me which is usually the case with Tidhar's work.

Possibly Just About A Couch by Suzanne Palmer - DNF
A story about a couch which might be the universe? Honestly, I had no clue what it what about after a few pages so it was an easy DNF for me.