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A review by mikewhiteman
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 131 by Octavia Cade, Olga Kuno, Chen Qiufan, Sandra McDonald, Neil Clarke, Nin Harris, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Ken Liu, Sunny Moraine, Cat Rambo, Chris Urie, Kim Stanley Robinson
3.0
Twisted Knots - DA Shaolin Spires **
There are nice touches and details here - Lilian's focus on spaces and topologies, the potential in a reunion with her puppet master mother, the creation of a golem that takes on her imprint - but I struggled to get past giving sentience to, essentially, a steak and what a horrific thing to do that would be. Putting the sentience straight into a golem is one thing, creating the end of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, continuing to use a laser on it to make it more steak-like, keeping it in a drawer for an undefined length of time, then putting it in a robot suit is something else.
Reversion - Nin Harris **
A woman returns to her family after an excursion to an alien planet, where she fell in love with a member of the resident aquatic species. The family's culture demands she goes through reversion, to remove any trace of the alien and make her fully human again. The clash between earthbound tradition and the new world in space, the family politics and the forbidden romance angle are all fine, but "falling in love with an alien" is neither a useful metaphor nor an interesting story if taken literally.
The Stone Weta - Octavia Cade ****
Enjoyed the structure of this one, with a network of women smuggling and preserving environmental data, all taking their codenames from appropriate animals or plants. Gets a little vague but the continuation of each section and the series of efforts to save or share ecological information mesh together perfectly.
In The Blind - Sunny Moraine **
Two people stranded in space after communication with Earth is cut off increasingly resent each other and their attitude to the situation. Well enough written but, other than some musing on the nature of death and dying alone, never rises above the standard premise.
A Man Out Of Fashion - Chen Qiufan, trans. Ken Liu ***
Mostly a solid take on the classic premise of someone finding themselves in a drastically changed world of the far future; here it is a China of 300 years away, where people constantly chase the latest fashion in everything. The end, after the inevitable rebellion against the seemingly-perfect society, is particularly bleak and hopeless.
Fleet - Sandra McDonald ***
On a post-collapse Guam, an isolated society waits for the return of the titular Fleet, although why they are waiting is only revealed at the end of the story. The narrator is a Bridge, maintaining the memory of before the Silence in the current time. Keeps up its mystery and builds confidently to a satisfying conclusion.
Venice Drowned - Kim Stanley Robinson ***
A boatman in a future Venice struggles to come to terms with the removal of its underwater treasures following the rising sea levels. The boiling frustration and anger has real clarity and the slightly spooky/uncanny passage towards the end brings the wider main story to life.
There are nice touches and details here - Lilian's focus on spaces and topologies, the potential in a reunion with her puppet master mother, the creation of a golem that takes on her imprint - but I struggled to get past giving sentience to, essentially, a steak and what a horrific thing to do that would be. Putting the sentience straight into a golem is one thing, creating the end of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, continuing to use a laser on it to make it more steak-like, keeping it in a drawer for an undefined length of time, then putting it in a robot suit is something else.
Reversion - Nin Harris **
A woman returns to her family after an excursion to an alien planet, where she fell in love with a member of the resident aquatic species. The family's culture demands she goes through reversion, to remove any trace of the alien and make her fully human again. The clash between earthbound tradition and the new world in space, the family politics and the forbidden romance angle are all fine, but "falling in love with an alien" is neither a useful metaphor nor an interesting story if taken literally.
The Stone Weta - Octavia Cade ****
Enjoyed the structure of this one, with a network of women smuggling and preserving environmental data, all taking their codenames from appropriate animals or plants. Gets a little vague but the continuation of each section and the series of efforts to save or share ecological information mesh together perfectly.
In The Blind - Sunny Moraine **
Two people stranded in space after communication with Earth is cut off increasingly resent each other and their attitude to the situation. Well enough written but, other than some musing on the nature of death and dying alone, never rises above the standard premise.
A Man Out Of Fashion - Chen Qiufan, trans. Ken Liu ***
Mostly a solid take on the classic premise of someone finding themselves in a drastically changed world of the far future; here it is a China of 300 years away, where people constantly chase the latest fashion in everything. The end, after the inevitable rebellion against the seemingly-perfect society, is particularly bleak and hopeless.
Fleet - Sandra McDonald ***
On a post-collapse Guam, an isolated society waits for the return of the titular Fleet, although why they are waiting is only revealed at the end of the story. The narrator is a Bridge, maintaining the memory of before the Silence in the current time. Keeps up its mystery and builds confidently to a satisfying conclusion.
Venice Drowned - Kim Stanley Robinson ***
A boatman in a future Venice struggles to come to terms with the removal of its underwater treasures following the rising sea levels. The boiling frustration and anger has real clarity and the slightly spooky/uncanny passage towards the end brings the wider main story to life.