Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 87, December 2013

by Neil Clarke (Editor), E. Lily Yu (Contributor), Rochita Loenen-Ruiz (Contributor)

FICTION
“Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel” by E. Lily Yu
“Of Alternate Adventures and Memory” by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
“Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“1016 to 1” by James Patrick Kelly
“The Pure Product” by John Kessel

NON-FICTION
“Druids Reconstructed” by Lee Beavington
“A Craftsman of No Small Skill: A Conversation with David Drake” by Jeremy L. C. Jones
“Another Word: Two and a Half Writers” by Daniel Abraham
“Editor’s Desk: Behind the Scenes Tour” by Neil Clarke

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

108 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2013

About the author

Neil Clarke is best known as the editor and publisher of the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine. Launched in October 2006, the online magazine has been a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine four times (winning three times), the World Fantasy Award four times (winning once), and the British Fantasy Award once (winning once). Neil is also a ten-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form (winning once in 2022), three-time winner of the Chesley Award for Best Art Director, and a recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. In the fifteen years since Clarkesworld Magazine launched, numerous stories that he has published have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, and Stoker Awards.

Additionally, Neil edits  Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us,  The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.

He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Estevam (Impish Reviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most stories are solid but the writing especially when it comes to the scenario descriptions are very lackluster, I read the first three stories and though they have good ideas the execution is not good.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sriduangkaew writes stories I wish I had written.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another magnificent outing by E. Lily Yu. “Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel” presents us with perhaps the most high-class soul-bargainer yet. The voice here is exquisite, the handling expertise. Yu is a powerhouse.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this issue. Once again, all the original fiction is by women. Yes!

Fiction:
"Daedalum, the Devil's Wheel" by E. Lily Yu - strange and clever tale, a dialogue of a deal between an artist and the Devil (only the Devil's side is shown).
"Of Alternative Adventures and Memory" by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz - artificial people ("alternates") struggling to keep the memory of their collective past alive. Nice.
"Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade" by Benjanun Sriduangkaew - my favorite story of this issue. A little snippet of what could be a larger space opera. I want to know more about this universe, please! (I don't know if her story "Annex" from an earlier issue is this universe, but I definitely like this story better)

Non-fiction:
Lee Beavington talks about druids and the fact that we really know very little about them at all.
Interview with David Drake. Never read his stuff. Interesting to hear about his writing process.
Daniel Abraham, in his column, talks about what it's like to writer under 2 (and a half) names.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel by E. Lily Yu - 3 Stars

Of Alternate Adventures and Memory by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz - 2.5 Stars

Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade by Benjanun Sriduangkaew - 4 Stars

10^16 to 1 by James Patrick Kelly - 2 Stars

The Pure Product by John Kessel - 1 Star
Oh joy, another middle-aged protagonist who acts like he's the first to discover the concept of nihilism. Also a 17-year-old girl falling all over herself to have sex with him for no reason other than women aren't characters, but sexual objects.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A military general (who may be a posthumous clone) is sent on a mission to try to convince her ex-wife to reconsider her goals and actions as a seditionist leader. Gradually, the reasons that the woman has decided to rebel against the power structure that her former partner belongs to are revealed - with complex implications as far as ethics and interpersonal relationships... The point here is to raise questions, but I did wish the ending was more conclusive...

[Jeremie · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel (****)
An animator bargains with a muse

-Of Alternate Adventures and Memory (**)

-Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade (***)

-10^16 to 1 (****)

-The Pure Product (***)

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite ended up being the James Patrick Kelly reprint. All the others were ok. The non fiction work on Druids and the interview with David Drake were both interesting.

[Jeff Hitchcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only read "Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade".

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got on with it better than the "Bees in her Heart" one, but I just don't think I really like his writing style.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some brief spoilery thoughts here:
http://ciaracatscifi.blogspot.com/201...

[Jasmine]

Beautiful, but I don't really know what happened.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was solid, but the story didn't interest me.

[Wes Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

some interesting ideas but confusing in execution and no real payoff.

[Alex! · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dense, but I guess fitting such a colourful world in such a short story, that’s a consequence to be expected. Sick as hell, though.

[Sidsel Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggest this story was about memory, but perhaps more accurately it is about the act of remembering as a society or choosing to forget. Throughout the story it is never said what it is that that should be remembered or forgotten. The event is before our PoV character remembers. I think that is a really powerful move by the author – not to reveal what the event was. The reader just knows that it was different before, something happened and we slowly learns how it is now. That the PoV character, Adventure Boy, is not in fact human, he is an alternative, an artificial person. Not born but made, somehow. Another piece of worldbuilding that er just hinted at, not explained. The story is totally devoid of exposition, we have to figure everything out our self. I am not sure anyone are human in this story, there are Makers and Alternatives and the metal men. I think it really works. Nobodies but the Mechanical’s appearances is ever mentioned in the story. The Father’s clothing is described but I have no idea what colour his hair or skin is or for that matter if he is thin or fat. That of course leave the images entirely to the reader’s imagination.

Read the rest of my review: http://www.mackat.dk/book/2013/12/day...

Merged review:

As with most of Clark World's stories the writing was beautiful. It is a story about art and the bargains we might be willing to make when inspiration is low or the career is not what we imagined. The muse is a really harsh mistress in this story - as she should be.

Read my full review: http://wp.me/p40HVI-c0