Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 221, February 2025

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Rocío Vega (Contributor), Sue Burke (Translator)

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction, articles, interviews and art. Our February 2025 issue (#221)

Fiction
"Bodyhoppers" by Rocío Vega
"King of the Castle" by Fiona Moore
"We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue
"A Planet Full of Sorrows" by M. L. Clark
"The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen
"Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall
"Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen

Non-Fiction
"Rolling the Tabletop Adaptations of Speculative Fiction" by Kyle Tam
"Special Arrangements: A Conversation with Sean Markey" by Arley Sorg
"Weird and Queer: A Conversation with dave ring" by Arley Sorg
"Editor's Desk: 2024 Readers' Poll Finalists" by Neil Clarke

Cover Art
"Deploying for a Mission" by Hamish Frater

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction

150 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2025

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

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bodyhoppers" by Rocío Vega - (4*) Solid SF, a good heart and comfortable upload-tech. The point is the heart, though. Reminds me port stories of old.

"King of the Castle" by Fiona Moore - (4*) A rather perfect title for a bunch of kids (or at least hard-off) kids being a kids after the fall of civilization. Who knew rugby could be just about everything? Oh, right, it IS.

"We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue - (5*) Easily my favorite story so far. It's rather pastoral and sweet and interesting despite all the broken bones. Indeed, it's so grounded and personable, I hardly need to focus on the light SF aspect.

"A Planet Full of Sorrows" by M. L. Clark - (4*) This started out as an easy great story--mostly because I love the language and the density of ideas, the worldbuilding. Unfortunately, while the ending was kinda funny, it didn't entirely blow me away. Still, for a tale of alien exploration, it was pretty fascinating.

"The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen - (5*) For the sheer nostalgia and pathos. Hell, for the depression it brought upon me. It, like everything, dies--but to have a double whammy like this? Come on...

"Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall - (4*) There's hardly anything SF about this, but perhaps there is with Fantasy... at least in the sense of fake kingdoms. That being said, it's a cool micro-inspection of a brutal world from the eye of a coin-maker. Very interesting.

"Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen - (5*) A great little extra-solar corp0-migration that has ALL the feel of a really bad job and the exegesis of living up to your parent's wishes--and choices gone wrong. Well, now, isn't that rather universal?


Solid collection of stories this month. I was surprised so many of them were river-themed or named. Cute little thread by the editor, if true and not just serendipity.


For my synesthesia, I'll just say it was a decent, if not brilliant, 7 course meal. All decently cooked, if not searing my tongue.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

Come check out my new covers!

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bodyhoppers by ROCÍO VEGA, translated from Spanish by SUE BURKE, 5280 words, ⭐️⭐️⭐️½, a consciousness hopping to a new body in search of a loved one.

King of the Castle by FIONA MOORE, 6280 words, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½, back in a post-apocalyptic Wales with Morag. I read another story with her in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 217, October 2024. The King of the Castle could have had a nice life with Morag and the other villagers, but he couldn‘t adjust to the new reality. Morag is a recurring characters—there are several more stories with her on Clarkesworld. I might catch up one of these days, Morag and her robot Seamus are a fun duo.

We Begin Where Infinity Ends by SOMTO IHEZUE, 9270 words, novelette, ⭐️⭐️½, Nigeria, about friendship and saving fireflies, with a touch of romance. Fairly quiet story, despite one dramatic event. I took a look at some reviews and most people liked this story a lot. It didn’t do anything for me. I thought the pacing was uneven and I didn‘t connect with the characters.

A Planet Full of Sorrows by M. L. CLARK, 13110 words, novelette, ⭐️⭐️¾, another one that didn‘t really do much for me. Spacers coming to a new planet with alien structures. Finding something exceptional and figuring out how to protect it. Some commentary on our present. It was ok, I liked the ending, but I did not really enjoy reading this and skimmed a lot. It was too slow and didn’t have not enough plot progression.

The Hanging Tower of Babel by WANG ZHENZHEN, translated BY CARMEN YILING YAN, 6380 words, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, interesting take on the connection of space exploration, radiation exposure and Alzheimers. A son cares for a father that has been an absent parent, a space elevator is to be dismantled and the past is remembered. I liked this one.

Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents by LOUIS INGLIS HALL, 3560 words, ⭐️, couldn‘t get into this at all. Roman coins and emperors, riots and a final coin minted for someone unexpected. Didn‘t do anything for me.

Celestial Migrations by CLAIRE JIA-WEN, 3090 words, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, a mining planet and megafauna traveling through space. Has a Hard SF feel to it. I liked the beginning, but got lost with the latter half.

This edition and the stories can be found here:
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/issu...

This was not my issue. Not sure if it was the stories or me, but this was really up and down. I might look for more from Fiona Moore.

[Pontus Doverstav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty high highs in this issue, but also pretty low lows.

The one story that stood out to me most was We Begin Where Infinity Ends, but The Hanging Tower of Babel was also very good. They both managed to pack in some emotional moments, though with differing stakes and mood.

Bodyhoppers and Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents were also pretty good! Bodyhoppers mostly for being some solid sci-fi and Numismatic Archetypes for having an interesting format and playing off the guesswork involved in studying history.

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite stories were Ihezue's "We Begin Where Infinity Ends, " Hall's "Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents," and Vega's "Bodyhoppers."

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at myreadinglife.com.

As I continue to transition to reading more short fiction (short stories and novellas), in addition to reading Clarkesworld Magazine each month I am trying to read at least one short story a day. As I am very interested in encouraging others to get into reading fiction regularly, starting in March I am going to do my best to post a review every day of the highest rated stories I have read. Some will be old, some more recent. Most will be speculative fiction of some kind. In addition to posting them here, I will also be posting them on my Facebook group, Instagram, and BlueSky. Now, on to my reviews of the fiction in this month's Clarkesworld.

"Bodyhoppers" by Rocío Vega, translated from Spanish by Sue Burke (5,280 words) — A person wakes up in a new body and races to find their lover before they are both caught for pirating a body. The story starts in 3rd person point of view then transitions to 1st person before ending in 2nd person. It is so smoothly done you almost can't see it. And it works seamlessly. An excellent blend of starting in the middle of the action and revealing the world as the story unfolds without losing or confusing the reader. (My rating: 5/5)

"King of the Castle" by Fiona Moore (6,280 words) — An angry, violent young man threatens his community while they search for a way to bring him back into the fold. The story takes place in the same world and after the events "The Spoil Heap" by the same author. I thoroughly enjoyed that story and the world. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. (My rating: 3/5)

"We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue (9,270 words) — Kids work to save fireflies by toning down the brightness of streetlights and learn the power of love and working together. This one has the depth and feel of a novel. It also has the feel of 'eighties childhood like in Stranger Things or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial where kids have their own space to do things without adults constantly hovering around. (My rating: 5/5)

"A Planet Full of Sorrows" by M. L. Clark (13,110 words) — When evidence of a dead alien race on another planet starts a space race to get there, the discovering scientists try to figure out how to stop it. The race is between three proselytizing religions that all have tacit government backing. A look at how capitalism complicates scientific efforts. (My rating: 4/5)

"The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen translated from Chinese by Carment Yiling Yan (6,380 words) — A son cares for his father with Alzheimer's disease who was mostly absent from his life due to his work in deep space. Reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise, which I read in high school. It too had an elevator to orbit like the Stairway to Heaven in this story. Poignant, heartbreaking, and bittersweet. (My rating: 5/5)

"Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall (3,560 words) — The history of six regents told through the coins minted for each. It is descriptions of six coins interspersed with the "history" around them. It is a clever premise, but not much is done with it. For me, it is not quite a story. But it does have a clever twist. (My rating: 3/5)

"Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen (3,090 words) — Miners who ride celestial rays home for the lunar new year to see their son learn how the space creatures reproduce. The writing is not very clear for me. It's like jumping into the midst of the story without enough being explained within the text. Despite the defect in the storytelling, it is a poignant tale of parents sacrificing for their son. But that is a big defect for me. (My rating: 2/5)

Average Rating: 3.86/5

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This issue of Clarkesworld has a collection of seven stories about riding the waves of whatever life throws your way, from Alzheimer's to the apocalypse to giant space rays. There are also interviews with dave ring and Sean Markey.

"Bodyhoppers" by Rocío Vega, translated by Sue Burke is a transhuman romance about two lovers trapped in the digital world who steal other people's bodies to go on dates. 4/5

I know I've left the gentrified neighborhood when the ads stop offering me bodies. They offer me money in exchange for mine.

"King of the Castle" by Fiona Moore is a post-apocalyptic story about a community weathering a megalomaniacal bad neighbor. 3/5

"This man tried to take over your town? Threatened you? Tried to kidnap you, personally, at least once? Pulled a knife on a kid? And you tried to make him your sports coach? Wouldn't it be better to just drop him down a sinkhole?"

"We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue is a nerdy ecological coming-of-age story following three teenagers who are trying to save the fireflies. 3/5

"A thing isn't beautiful because it is perfect."

"A Planet Full of Sorrows" by M. L. Clark is a well-written story about an old group of spaceshippers that come to a planet. The plot unfortunately got lost somewhere and I pushed through it. 2/5

It’s common for spacers to talk to themselves—or to the ether, or to a bunch of little ghosts inside their heads that vaguely remind them of people they once knew—but in this case, it’s more than that. I think I’m trying to explain to myself why I’m still alive.

Why me, and not him.

Why now, and why here.

Why did we have to be the ones to find this place?

Why did anyone?

Why couldn’t it have remained obscure, untouched, forever?

Why did I have to leave Clorus-5?

Why couldn’t I be dozing right now in the shade of the family’s grazing cattle, on a ranch where my parents’ generation hybridized the local wildlife using a grant and special resources from Interplanetary, with nothing but a clean wash of pink-orange skies above me, and the faint sound of community chatter on the comms helmet buzzing at my side?

"The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan is a beautiful story about the death of dreams and memory. The main character's father worked on a space elevator that was the cornerstone for humanity's push into outer space. Now he has dementia and the world no longer needs him or the project he dedicated his life towards. 5/5

The china cup fell, shards scattering across the floor. Coffee ran along the cracks between the floorboards. My father stared at the mess on the floor in bafflement, as if trying to comprehend the existence of gravity. Suddenly he realized: this was Earth, not space. Surprised, I started to rise to clean it up, but he lifted a hand to stop me. He made the mess, so he should do the cleaning. He considered it a matter of personal dignity.

...

After some days, the people, dates, and cause-and-effect in the stories began to unravel as well; he rearranged and recombined them into many different versions. Every time he told the story, he’d leave some details out, and fill in new details. I felt like I was watching the dazzling Milky Way slowly distort into Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, then into a mere mass of colors, and finally into the undifferentiated gray-brown of the water used to rinse an artist’s brushes. By the end, he would repeat a sentence over and over, or get stuck on an adjective for ages, without realizing it was happening at all. When he finally did notice, he’d grow very agitated, thumping his fists furiously on his thighs, or the table, muttering obscenities, until, moments later, he forgot the failure.


But no matter how hard he tried, he could no longer tell a complete story.

"Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall is the story of a revolution from the perspective of a coin maker. The prose is a joy. 4/5

They cut off Auréle’s head and they put it on a pike above the city’s third best bridge. To me, that seemed a shame. I had only just got his nose right.
...
They let me be, after that. They had no quarrel with the gasp and twitch of dying fish. I watched as they stripped my world to the bone. Every coin, every sheet, every disc. They laughed and they joked and then they stepped outside to win a war and bring peace and they even closed the door behind them when they went.

"Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen is about a migration through the celestial domain atop space manta rays. A commute is a commute. 4/5

The unskilled stay where they land. They’d have better luck finding rinocrand ore in zero light than navigating the back of a beast, dappled with infinite blemishes like a holocopy of the stars it came from. So these unskilled, unlucky, latch themselves to the speckled skins like rock climbers, like barnacles. Nothing to do but brace themselves. Pray the atmo-suit keeps adhesion, pray asteroids are kind and avoidant. But barnacles survive the currents of the world too.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great issue! Again, Kate Baker gifts us another set of superb narrations.

Celestial Migrations
This story hits home as it's so familiar to my background. Though short at 3090 words, there are layers to the story. The journey of these migrations touches the fibers of honoring parental sacrifice and the strains of following one's own life. I've never been comfortable with the red pouch; it carries a weight I'd rather do without. I've learned over the years that the journey home is a journey of a past that tenderly pulls at responsibility while also reflecting on how far you've come into a New World, one your parents may not understand. I think only some readers will be able to tap into what Claire Jia-Wen is writing about. But for those who do, this story reminds us we are not alone.
Rating: 5/5

The Hanging Tower of Babel
This story has major nostalgia vibes. The metal box is a device well-worked into the beginning and end. Sometimes, a good story isn't much about the plot but leaving you remembering a feeling.
Rating: 4/5

A Planet Full of Sorrows
This story was one of the longer ones of this edition. I quite enjoyed the unveiling of the alien city to the reader. The mist that kept everything clean was an interesting concept. I found the theme of corporate greed to be timely yet trite. It doesn't say anything good about humanity that we would find it all too predictable for corporate tourism to ruin even a faraway world.
Rating: 2.5/5

We Begin Where Infinity Ends
When I read the line "just like fireflies", a smile crept up on my face and I knew I had to keep reading. Childhood desires come rushing back and allow one to naturally connect with the three main characters. The ending is touching and reminds us that sometimes after it all ends, a whole new life can sprout up in an unexpected way. The imagery of fireflies added such a nice touch to the story.
Rating: 4/5

Bodyhoppers
Though this concept of body-hopping and mind-uploading is not new, this story still felt fresh. This gives me hope for old ideas. I cared about the two characters finding each other in the physical world so much that I became relieved the moment I realized the woman on the bike was her lover, Beam. In a span of ~5000 words, Rocio made me care about River. Many short stories are fit for their short format, and though Bodyhoppers does just that, I also felt an urge for the world to play out more. For instance, Rocio tantalizingly juxtaposes their lives, bouncing back and forth between the virtual and physical ones. A further exploration of this would have been interesting.
Rating: 4/5

Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents
This story features a series of numismatic descriptions. While this device is somewhat clever, the story never evoked much from me. Perhaps other readers will take more to this story.
Rating: 1/5

King of the Castle
Maybe some stories just aren't for everyone? The world-building in this one wasn't interesting to me at all. I recognize that other readers may really like this type of thing, considering this story takes place in a world this author is continually building.
Rating: 1/5

[Anurag Sahay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I subscribed to this magazine and I'm currently trying to read everything they publish, but given the volume it publishes I don't think I'll be able to say something about every story -- especially since I often read the stories at different times and by the time I finish the issue (and hence get around to reviewing the whole thing) it's been weeks since I read my first story. That's not even mentioning the fact that sometimes I neglect writing the review for weeks after finishing a book...

In any case, I read all the stories in this issue and the following stood out:

"Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall.
The central conceit -- the story is told by interspersing museum records of coins minted during a time of turmoil with vignettes of the life of man who mints these coins -- is solid, but the vignettes themselves are not as compelling as the author wants them to be. 10/10 concept tho.

"We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue.
That was an extremely solid novelette. The characters were almost all pitch-perfect, and I really enjoyed the arcs of both the environmental project as well as the individual characters, even if it was slightly bittersweet.

"The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan.
I think by far the most compelling thing I've found in Clarkesworld are the amazing quality of the translated stories from Chinese. I don't know what it is about these stories -- maybe the different cultural assumption, maybe the plain yet striking prose, maybe the focus on pure science and less of an obsession with identity politics -- but suffice it to say that these are the ones I usually enjoy reading the most. This story is particularly compelling. I feel like this has something larger to say about parents who live during a boom period in a government-backed industry which kills them, but for me the emotional core of the main character's grief on seeing his mostly-absent father go through dementia was very moving.

"Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen.
I loved this story. The whole principle of sacrificing so that your children have a better life seems to be a prevalent theme in Asian cultures (not that I'm suggesting it doesn't happen in non-Asian cultures, simply that it's not something seen as integral to the act of parenting elsewhere), and the exploration of that in the context of workers forced to work abroad while their children live at home was very compelling, as was the exploration of how the child feels in this situation. I also really enjoyed the discussion of the biology of the manta rays.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Rocío Vega, Somto Ihezue and Wang Zhenzhen.

- "Bodyhoppers" by Rocío Vega, translated by Sue Burke: in this story, a person's consciousness can be stored while they bodies are 'rented'. But some personalities get deprived of their bodies by a company and become outlaws, hopping into stolen bodies. One personality hops into a body and immediately runs away for a secret rendezvous, hoping to meet up before the company finds them, again.

- "King of the Castle" by Fiona Moore: set in a post-civilization collapse world, one person still seeks to become a leader to be feared in a village. But can this be done, when the village has moved on and prefers cooperation among its members.

- "We Begin Where Infinity Ends" by Somto Ihezue: a story about two boys and a girl who come together over a dream to save fireflies by using technology to make the environment better for the fireflies. Wrapped up in this tale is also a story of a blossoming relationship between them that leads to conflict and mixed feelings, but ends with a deeper and loving friendship between them.

- "A Planet Full of Sorrows" by M. L. Clark: a group of explorers discovers the remains of an alien city on a planet, sparking a race between different groups of human zealots eager to claim (and destroy) the city to further their on cultish agendas. The only way to save the city may be for the explorers to think out of the box, and consider what their recently dead and unorthodox crew member might do in this situation.

- "The Hanging Tower of Babel" by Wang Zhenzhen, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan: a son is taking care of his father, who was one of the people who helped build a space tether from the earth into space. But living in space has caused his father to suffer from an early form of Alzheimer’s, and an economic downturn has made the tether uneconomical and may now be partially dismantled. Now, the son has to figure out how to take care of his father's deteriorating mental state, while preserving his legacy.

- "Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents" by Louis Inglis Hall: a story about five minted coins and the person who made them during a time of upheaval and the (violent) changing of rules of the city.

- "Celestial Migrations" by Claire Jia-Wen: a story about the migration of celestial creatures, mixed in with the yearly migration of people studying creatures back to their homes.

[Thomas Wüstemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memorable Stories:

WE BEGIN WHERE INFINITY ENDS
A sweet and thoughtful coming of age story about a few kids that try to save the firebugs in their community, thus making good, what the adults did wrong. It's highly empathetic to its protagonists, that are greatly portrayed, but hindered a bit by the fact, that it didn't need to be a sci-fi story.

A PLANET FULL OF SORROWS
Great world- and character building. The main characters' memories and feeling directly correlate with the world, which makes for sophisticated read full of sorrows and hope.

NUMISMATIC ARCHETYPES IN THE YEAR OF FIVE REGENTS
Very clever story, that tells the history of a small kingdom through its coins and the people who made the coins. It is just beautifully written and hits very hard at the end.

[Matthew WK · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. Perhaps my favorite overall issue with a number of highlights, including the nonfiction article and interviews. Each of the 7 SF stories are definitely worth reading and I especially like Fiona Moore's "King of the Castle" (I actually purchased her short story collection & 2 back issues of Clarkesworld that have the same characters from this issue). I wouldn't hesitate recommending any of the SF stories, they're all worth checking out and I am following a number of the authors from this issue. This is why I subscribed to Clarkesworld - to find new authors and great stories!

[Jen]

Only read The Hanging Tower of Babel by Wang Zhenzhen so I won't leave a star review but wow. I haven't had a story fill me with such pathos in a long while. The themes of memory and family were really well done!

[Greg S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents by Louis Inglis Hall had an odd format but I enjoyed the story of the mint workers through the year of the 5 Emperors/Regents.

[Kerrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has 3 great stories: The Hanging Tower of Babel, Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents, and Celestial Migrations.

[Heni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bodyhoppers BY ROCÍO VEGA, TRANSLATED BY SUE BURKE
The concept of immortality is so unique in this one. You preserve your consciousness but not your body, so...yeah, the title. 4 ⭐

King of the Castle BY FIONA MOORE
Turns out this is the 4th story, no wonder I feel so lost in the world and the character dynamic. Other than that, it's pretty basic rebuilding in apocalyptic world. 3 ⭐

We Begin Where Infinity Ends BY SOMTO IHEZUE
this a character driven story and a slow burn romance between two boys who are trying to preserve fireflies. heartwarming. 3 ⭐

A Planet Full of Sorrows BY M. L. CLARK
So slow when we finally get to the end I was already sleeping. 2 ⭐

The Hanging Tower of Babel BY WANG ZHENZHEN, TRANSLATED BY CARMEN YILING YAN
the parallel between the degrading body of the Stairway (an elevator that reaches space) and the mind of the scientist who created it is depicted well here. 3 ⭐

Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents BY LOUIS INGLIS HALL
My favorite! The story and the content, which basically using coins to analyze the political upheaval and history from certain regents. 5 ⭐

Celestial Migrations BY CLAIRE JIA-WEN
Ya intinya mudik pulang kampung setelah kerja merantau deh. 3 ⭐