Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 216, September 2024 by Neil Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fiction:

The Music Must Always Play -- (3.75 stars) A short, interesting, first contact story that just managed to stick to the wistful. I kinda wish I knew what the groove sounded like.

Fish Fear Me, You Need ME -- (3.5 stars) Also short, this one barely has a tie to SF, just a hint of flooding. Otherwise, it's a fish story, a longing story, a willpower story, and eventually, just a story of acceptance. I guess I used to read a lot of these a while ago, so it's somewhat interesting to see it again.

Broken -- (4 stars) I tend to like these little claustrophobic, small scale perception SFs. A pilot and her obsession with her helmet. It feels very much like anything we are, staring at our phones. Oh, the helplessness if it gets broken!

How to Remember Perfectly -- (5 stars) This is the first in this month's stories that I think is beyond excellent. Gamifying memories in old people--it's beautiful, eerie, and more than subtly disturbing. The implications beyond this one good use is frankly terrifying. I totally recommend it.

The Children I gave you, Oxalaia -- (5 stars) Beautiful and ugly at the same time, this story of the home life of Venusians, or geckos, living in a slum-shelter after losing a battle with humans, is rather haunting. Yes, it's absolutely about poverty, racism, and colonialism, and it's gloriously alien, too.

Those Who Remember the World -- (5 stars) Woooo... I love me the weird of the New Weird. Or rather, is all fiction that has mycelium automatically weird? Or must it also have tentacles? Anyway, this was a great, strange mystery with a satisfying ending.

A Theory of Missing Affections -- (4 stars) This turned out to be a pretty cozy, even-headed SF archeology tale. Sometimes these really hit the spot. I really think we ought to have a lot more of these in general.

A world of Milk and Promises -- (4 stars) A short, strange little story about family. Really, really close family. :)


Non-Fiction:

A Genetic Recipe for Future Baby-Making -- A decent super-quick primer for genetics leading to -- you guessed it -- babies. With good SF biblios.

Disaster Queers and Romance: A Conversation with Aliette de Bodard -- A quick interview with the author.

Mashing Tropes: A Conversation with A.C. Wise -- Interesting short interview for a short fiction artist. :)

Editor's Desk: On Being Weightless -- A big Yay! for Neal. :)

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