Clarkesworld is a monthly on-line magazine edited by Neil Clarke.
Everything is available in HTML from
the magazine's site, and
it can be bought in various other formats.
"Such Thoughts Are Unproductive" by Rebecca Campbell tries to point up
the effects of pervasive surveillance and self-censorship, but while
the atmosphere is effective it's very bitty and never quite manages
to pull itself together to be a coherent story.
"Witch of the Weave" by Henry Szabranski throws one in at the deep end
of world and society and technology base, but in a practical way so
that one can still work out what's going on. It feels more like the
first chapter of a novel than like a stand-alone story, but I'd be
happy to read the rest of the novel.
"Annotated Setlist of the Mikaela Cole Jazz Quintet" by Catherine
George is a series of vignettes of the rise and dispersion of a jazz
band aboard a generation ship where Something Has Gone Wrong – and
although everyone in the story knows all about it, it's kept back for
a while from the reader in a way that's somewhat atmospheric but
mostly annoying.
"Eclipse our Sins" by Tlotlo Tsamaase has a world where bad thoughts
lead immediately to illness and death… and yet somehow there are still
rich exploiters. Tries hard, with lines like "The sun is menstruating,
smearing a rosy tinge across the bleak industrial skyline"; I think it
tries too hard.
"Appointment in Vienna" by Gabriel Murray is the recollections of a
photographer, and spy, and… maybe something else? The SF content here
is barely present, just a vague hint that might turn out to point to
something entirely mundane.
"Symbiosis Theory" by Choyeop Kim, translated by Joungmin Lee Comfort
involves an artist who paints pictures of an unknown planet, and
interpreting the vocalisations of infants… it's an audacious conceit,
completely contradicted by even a little bit of scientific knowledge,
but it would have been great in the fifties.
"But Is It Art? Science Fiction that Isn't Really Science Fiction" by
Mark Cole tells us that New Wave film and art film in general doesn't
really care what SF fans think of it.
"Starfish and Sunflowers: A Conversation with Peter Watts" by Arley
Sorg doesn't make me like Watts any better.
"Caste in Blood: A Conversation with Juliette Wade" by Arley Sorg does
make Wade's work sound interesting, sociological and linguistics-based
SF. I may take a look.
"Editor's Desk: Staring at the Hole" by Neil Clarke tells is that he
didn't get to two conventions in China, first because his flight was
cancelled and second because his father-in-law died. It's more of a
blog than an editorial.
I liked the Szabranski, but the others didn't really appeal.
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