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A review by mikewhiteman
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 137 by Neil Clarke
3.0
Deep Down In The Cloud - Julie Novakova ***
Quick espionage story, with three saboteurs attempting to destroy the information architecture of the company that controls everyone's data. Neat underwater adventure with familiar themes of breaking free of the observation and exploitation of all-encompassing corporations.
Obliteration - Robert Reed **
Exploration of memories, between artificially keeping records of every moment and one man who chooses to forget everything up to reading and writing to remain "pure". Felt a little muddled in itself but seemed to settle on a reasonable middle ground. Not much story and more whimsical people on Mars than to my taste.
Umbernight - Carolyn Ives Gilman ****
An exploratory adventure that leans towards horror in the second half, as a group of young idealists on a settled planet attempt to retrieve their final shipment of supplies from Earth before the titular "night" - a period when the system's other star is revealed and blasts the surface with x-rays radiation, bringing the local flora and fauna to activity. The battles between conservatism and freedom, pure rationality and artistic expression are simply delineated but the story is no less affecting for that.
The Power Is Out - A Que, trans. Elizabeth Hanlon *
Bleak and largely unimaginative, a group of people in northern China plan and prepare to travel south for the winter after all electrical power has stopped working and society has collapsed. All the characters are thin and clichéd, although given their names - Handsome, Mediocre, Violent, etc - there may have been a level of humour intended that got lost in translation. None of the traits they embody are enough to survive their situation and the presentation of those traits, particularly along gender lines, gets ugly fast.
Soldierin' - Joe R Lansdale ***
Apparently a straight western story (if there's anything speculative I missed it) but enjoyable enough. An ex-slave joins the army after escaping a lynching and gets into a running battle with a group of Apache. Humorous and cynical tone keeps it entertaining in the face of grim and meaningless violence.
The Girl-Thing Who Went Out For Sushi - Pat Cadigan ****
Cadigan's writing is the highlight here, her easy humour and light touch bringing out the personality of the sushi (humans adapted to aquatic forms for low-gravity life) work team and the beauty queen assigned to work with them. The political conflict between Jupiter and the Inner and Outer planets hums in the background but it's the characters that shine as they deal with out of touch bosses and Fry the girl-thing's decision to become sushi herself.
Quick espionage story, with three saboteurs attempting to destroy the information architecture of the company that controls everyone's data. Neat underwater adventure with familiar themes of breaking free of the observation and exploitation of all-encompassing corporations.
Obliteration - Robert Reed **
Exploration of memories, between artificially keeping records of every moment and one man who chooses to forget everything up to reading and writing to remain "pure". Felt a little muddled in itself but seemed to settle on a reasonable middle ground. Not much story and more whimsical people on Mars than to my taste.
Umbernight - Carolyn Ives Gilman ****
An exploratory adventure that leans towards horror in the second half, as a group of young idealists on a settled planet attempt to retrieve their final shipment of supplies from Earth before the titular "night" - a period when the system's other star is revealed and blasts the surface with x-rays radiation, bringing the local flora and fauna to activity. The battles between conservatism and freedom, pure rationality and artistic expression are simply delineated but the story is no less affecting for that.
The Power Is Out - A Que, trans. Elizabeth Hanlon *
Bleak and largely unimaginative, a group of people in northern China plan and prepare to travel south for the winter after all electrical power has stopped working and society has collapsed. All the characters are thin and clichéd, although given their names - Handsome, Mediocre, Violent, etc - there may have been a level of humour intended that got lost in translation. None of the traits they embody are enough to survive their situation and the presentation of those traits, particularly along gender lines, gets ugly fast.
Soldierin' - Joe R Lansdale ***
Apparently a straight western story (if there's anything speculative I missed it) but enjoyable enough. An ex-slave joins the army after escaping a lynching and gets into a running battle with a group of Apache. Humorous and cynical tone keeps it entertaining in the face of grim and meaningless violence.
The Girl-Thing Who Went Out For Sushi - Pat Cadigan ****
Cadigan's writing is the highlight here, her easy humour and light touch bringing out the personality of the sushi (humans adapted to aquatic forms for low-gravity life) work team and the beauty queen assigned to work with them. The political conflict between Jupiter and the Inner and Outer planets hums in the background but it's the characters that shine as they deal with out of touch bosses and Fry the girl-thing's decision to become sushi herself.