Status Updates From Clarkesworld Magazine, Issu...

The nonfiction pieces were good--an article on African SF from Wole Talabi, and interviews with Jonathan Strahan & Nnedi Okorafor.

Canyon Dance - Prasad: The story of an alcoholic in space, trying hard to resist a relapse.

The Deformed Saint and the Poison Wind - McGillveray: A first contact story, in a way, with crab people.

Where My Love Still Lives - Taylor: Post-apocalyptic earth, and lovers who broke up for a reason.

Three Circuits of the Monoceros Ring - Pichette: A polycule trades messages across the galaxy.

The Time Capsule - Towey: A returning space probe may help out the local townspeople in post-apocalyptic America.

The Sort - Ha: Wonderful story following a man and his son visiting a new town.

Molum, Molum, Molum the Scourge - Larson: Ex-gladiator enticed by a chemical he wants, as his history unfolds.

Something Crossing Over, Something Coming Back - Mudie: A spy muses on what he did during the war.

three circuits - 1 stars - painfully, pointlessly twee, zero grounding in character or world to make me care about what was happening. also not my thing.

where my love - 1 star - I think I just hate romance. hints of interesting worldbuilding, but it's all overshadowed by a dank, oppressive little love story. absolutely not my thing but don't take my word for it.

deformed saint - 4 stars - really interesting worldbuilding. echos of war, unintended consequences, maturity, meaning-making and community. found it very satisfying.

canyon dance - 1 star - abjectly hated this one. dense, impenetrable worldbuilding, and a lot of it. feels like a 70s sci-fi graphic novel trying to cram all that rich visual impact into written format and it just didn't work in short story format. suffocating! interesting ideas but also I couldn't care about the plot, what little there is.

smth coming back - 3.5 stars. interesting. selfhood as biology and a social role both. enjoyed the understated nod to the worldbuilding, found the obsession with the other man a good hook to draw you through the story. ultimately unsatisfying in a plot-appropriate way. it's going to niggle at me for a while, I think, which is a positive thing to say. we're left with nothing more than the narrator in the end."

oh I missed the sort oooops. 3.5/4 stars. interesting little meditation on neurodivergence and the alien/other/inhuman. found the near future everyday dystopia vibes to be A Vibe, resonated, felt realistic. rly enjoyed the father/son dynamic. I'd read more in this world.

the time capsule - 1 star. skimmed it. not a fan of the writing, or the worldbuilding, or the romance, or the characters, or..... basically it didn't speak to me.

molum the scourge - 5 stars I'm OBSESSED. so good I put the book down bc I couldn't bear to read on in that moment and leave the world. fantastic little character study, concise and vibrant worldbuilding, tastttyyyy writing. loved it. whiplash tbh.