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Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 234, March 2026
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 March 2026 issue (#234) contains:
Fiction
• "Bend Like the Palm" by David D. Levine
• "First Human Ghost on Mars" by R.L. Meza
• "Crosstalk, Elysium" by Carolyn Zhao
• "Scion" by Thomas Ha
• "Scion: Afterword" by Thomas Ha
• "Those Who Left History" by Wanxiang Fengnian
• "You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION" by Thoraiya Dyer
• "Person, Place, Thing" by Marissa Lingen
Non-Fiction
• "The Hands and the Brain: Complementary Dominance" by Benjamin C. Kinney
• "Anatomy of a Novel: A Conversation with J.M. Sidorova" by Arley Sorg
• "Fluidity, Desire, and Survival: A Conversation with Rebecca Roanhorse" by Arley Sorg
• "Editor's Desk: The Best from 2025" by Neil Clarke
Cover Art
• "Long Distance Call" by Pascal Blanché
Fiction
• "Bend Like the Palm" by David D. Levine
• "First Human Ghost on Mars" by R.L. Meza
• "Crosstalk, Elysium" by Carolyn Zhao
• "Scion" by Thomas Ha
• "Scion: Afterword" by Thomas Ha
• "Those Who Left History" by Wanxiang Fengnian
• "You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION" by Thoraiya Dyer
• "Person, Place, Thing" by Marissa Lingen
Non-Fiction
• "The Hands and the Brain: Complementary Dominance" by Benjamin C. Kinney
• "Anatomy of a Novel: A Conversation with J.M. Sidorova" by Arley Sorg
• "Fluidity, Desire, and Survival: A Conversation with Rebecca Roanhorse" by Arley Sorg
• "Editor's Desk: The Best from 2025" by Neil Clarke
Cover Art
• "Long Distance Call" by Pascal Blanché
215 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2026
8 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Neil Clarke
405 books404 followersNeil 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 15, 2026
An average issue, with interesting stories by Thomas Ha, Wanxiang Fengnian and Thoraiya Dyer.
- "Bend Like the Palm" by David D. Levine: an island is threatened by a storm and its inhabitants have to decide what to save and what to sacrifice. But as tension mounts at the discussion, one person reminds them of the principles their island is based on.
- "First Human Ghost on Mars" by R.L. Meza: a human ghost is transported to Mars. But upon arrival, it gets involved in a life and death situation.
- "Crosstalk, Elysium" by Carolyn Zhao: a story set in a system where spaceships need to be 'encouraged' to operate.
- "Scion" by Thomas Ha: the scion of a family wakes in his family house, and discovers things are not right. As he struggles to get to the heart of the house, from where his father is controlling the house, he discovers some truths about the 'servants' in the house, his relationship with them, and what must be done to bring things back to normal; or perhaps to move on to a new way of living.
- "Scion: Afterword" by Thomas Ha: a series of journal entries set long after the previous story, which reveals more about the world that "Scion" is set in.
- "Those Who Left History" by Wanxiang Fengnian, translated by Stella Jiayue Zhu: pocket universes have been invented, and those who enter them are forever 'gone' from our universe, although those inside can still see what is happening outside. The story is a series of journal entries over ever-increasing time spans showing the effect the discovery has on the world, and whether the people in the universes should be forgotten or not.
- "You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION" by Thoraiya Dyer: on another world, its lifeform, which apparently live on internal radioactivity make contact with a human ship that arrives, but is damaged. While waiting many years for a rescue ship to arrive, they interact and learn about each other, with the humans showing off a spring celebration. But the celebration is tinged with regret with the alien lifeform discover that rescue may never come.
- "Person, Place, Thing" by Marissa Lingen: an alien, which is a colony organism makes contact with humanity, although humanity is not aware of its colonial nature. When the alien's human contacts are replaced with other that make different demands on it, the alien colony decide to take matters into its own hands to regain contact with the original humans.
- "Bend Like the Palm" by David D. Levine: an island is threatened by a storm and its inhabitants have to decide what to save and what to sacrifice. But as tension mounts at the discussion, one person reminds them of the principles their island is based on.
- "First Human Ghost on Mars" by R.L. Meza: a human ghost is transported to Mars. But upon arrival, it gets involved in a life and death situation.
- "Crosstalk, Elysium" by Carolyn Zhao: a story set in a system where spaceships need to be 'encouraged' to operate.
- "Scion" by Thomas Ha: the scion of a family wakes in his family house, and discovers things are not right. As he struggles to get to the heart of the house, from where his father is controlling the house, he discovers some truths about the 'servants' in the house, his relationship with them, and what must be done to bring things back to normal; or perhaps to move on to a new way of living.
- "Scion: Afterword" by Thomas Ha: a series of journal entries set long after the previous story, which reveals more about the world that "Scion" is set in.
- "Those Who Left History" by Wanxiang Fengnian, translated by Stella Jiayue Zhu: pocket universes have been invented, and those who enter them are forever 'gone' from our universe, although those inside can still see what is happening outside. The story is a series of journal entries over ever-increasing time spans showing the effect the discovery has on the world, and whether the people in the universes should be forgotten or not.
- "You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION" by Thoraiya Dyer: on another world, its lifeform, which apparently live on internal radioactivity make contact with a human ship that arrives, but is damaged. While waiting many years for a rescue ship to arrive, they interact and learn about each other, with the humans showing off a spring celebration. But the celebration is tinged with regret with the alien lifeform discover that rescue may never come.
- "Person, Place, Thing" by Marissa Lingen: an alien, which is a colony organism makes contact with humanity, although humanity is not aware of its colonial nature. When the alien's human contacts are replaced with other that make different demands on it, the alien colony decide to take matters into its own hands to regain contact with the original humans.
Displaying 1 of 1 review