Scan barcode
A review by justkyliep
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 204 by Nika Murphy, RJ Taylor, Julie Nováková, Neil Clarke, Arula Ratnakar, Arley Sorg, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, R.L. Meza, Djuna, Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This issue was just okay for me, but I kind of suspected that would be the case going in. Though she's a lovely person and extremely intelligent, I find I disagree with Arula on the function of science fiction as a genre pretty fundamentally. Axiom of Dreams fell quite flat for me. With my very limited knowledge of higher math and a lack of compelling prose/complexity of characters, I found myself skimming large chunks of theorem waiting for it to get interesting. It mostly didn't. As the longest story in the issue, it dragged the whole experience down. That said, I think it's pretty clear a different kind of reader enjoyed it and there was certainly an interesting world to uncover there... so your mileage may vary!
On the shorter side, I really enjoyed how much of a punch some of the remaining stories packed. People from the Dead Whale, The Five Remembrances, and Upgrade Day were an incredibly strong run of bites into fascinating worlds with an emotional kick. I'm really enjoying short, short powerful stories like these these days. Matchmaking on Station 9 was decently interesting, but not particularly memorable to me just a week or so later. Stones, as is usual to my experiences with Nnedi Okorafor, wasn't something I felt I had a great handle on, but I enjoyed the writing and world nonetheless. Calligraphic Susurrations, meanwhile, is mostly confirming my bad opinion of AI fiction.
The non-fiction was decent this month! I particularly enjoyed the insight into The Water Outlaws—a book that's been on my TBR so long I'd forgotten what it was about. I'm definitely anxiously awaiting that hold now.
On the shorter side, I really enjoyed how much of a punch some of the remaining stories packed. People from the Dead Whale, The Five Remembrances, and Upgrade Day were an incredibly strong run of bites into fascinating worlds with an emotional kick. I'm really enjoying short, short powerful stories like these these days. Matchmaking on Station 9 was decently interesting, but not particularly memorable to me just a week or so later. Stones, as is usual to my experiences with Nnedi Okorafor, wasn't something I felt I had a great handle on, but I enjoyed the writing and world nonetheless. Calligraphic Susurrations, meanwhile, is mostly confirming my bad opinion of AI fiction.
The non-fiction was decent this month! I particularly enjoyed the insight into The Water Outlaws—a book that's been on my TBR so long I'd forgotten what it was about. I'm definitely anxiously awaiting that hold now.