Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 130, July 2017

Forever Peace #0.5 - Forever Bound

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Zhang Ran (Contributor), Andy Dudak (Translator)

FICTION
"An Age of Ice" by Zhang Ran, translated by Andy Dudak
"Travelers" by Rich Larson
"The Significance of Significance" by Robert Reed
"The Bridgegroom" by Bo Balder
"Last Chance" by Nicole Kornher-Stace
"Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman
"The Oracle" by Lavie Tidhar

NON-FICTION
"Impossible Colors of an Infinite Universe" by Matt Jones
"Dystopian Murder Mysteries and a Vampire Historian: A Conversation with Carrie Vaughn" by Chris Urie
"Another Word: Invisible and Visible Engineering in Science Fiction" by Fran Wilde
"Editor's Desk: Listening to the Universe" by Neil Clarke

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2017

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

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories in this online SF magazine, free here at Clarkesworld magazine. Full reviews below first posted on Fantasy Literature:

3.5 stars - "Travelers" by Rich Larson: A woman unexpectedly wakes up from coldsleep on a decades-long starship journey to a new world. The equipment shows her that she was thawed on an emergency basis for health and safety reasons, but she doesn’t understand the reasons. As she makes her way through the deserted ship to the medbay, she hears a man playing guitar. He’s tearfully grateful when she appears, telling her that he’s been awake for two months because of a similar emergency thaw. They can’t get into the medbay to try to get placed back into hibernation, and there appear to be several malfunctions on the ship. But something doesn’t ring true for the woman, and as she begins to investigate, danger takes the place of confusion.

“Travelers” has some initial similarities to the movie Passengers, where a couple on a starship awakes early from hibernation, but Larson takes this story in a different, more ghastly direction. In fact, I think it’s safe to suggest that Larson likely meant it as the story that Passengers should have been. It’s a straightforward and fairly brief horror story that would have benefited from a little more world-building and character development, but it has some effective and chilling moments.

2.5 stars - The Bridgegroom by Bo Balder: Alois is enjoying a visit home from the university, until an old man walks unsteadily into town, keels over and dies of a heart attack. The old man was the Bridgegroom, and Alois is politely but firmly informed that he is to replace the dead man as the new Bridgegroom ― an irrevocable appointment, a lifelong sentence to a solitary life in a cottage near a glacier, guarding a huge red metal Bridge that spans the glacial gorge. Alois isn’t sure what the Bridge really is or why it needs to be guarded, but he knows that he doesn’t want to stay there in isolation for the rest of his life. And then the Bridge speaks to him.

The Bridgegroom has an intriguing if somewhat familiar premise. It flows smoothly and it engaged me fully while I was reading it, despite a few questions that the plot raised in my mind (How was Alois chosen as the next Bridgegroom? Why wasn’t he better informed about and prepared for this contingency?). But after I finished the story, more questions came thick and fast. For example: Why did the humans who set up the Bridge leave a method for it to escape, and why was the Bridge aware of that method? Why is the caretaker necessary, if he doesn’t know anything at all about the Bridge or why he’s there? If the Bridge was responsible for the apocalypse, why is it now offering more technical knowledge and information to Alois?

None of these questions is insurmountable, but Balder didn’t deal with the many logical holes in her plot. Considering this is a novelette and not just a short story, it falls sadly short on the world-building, which is a shame because this tale has some real potential.

Mini-reviews:

3.75 stars - "The Oracle" by Lavie Tidhar: mystical, thoughtful SF, one of the stories that's part of Central Station. Not my favorite, but worth reading.

3.5 stars - "Last Chance" by Nicole Kornher-Stace: Post-apocalyptic travails of a young girl who's kidnapped by slavers and used to search ruins for pieces of old technology. Rather harrowing. The girl's voice is interesting; very childish (it's not clear whether she's a little slow or just young).

3.33 stars - "Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman: A novelette about the "soldierboys" from Haldeman's The Forever War series. People are drafted by the military to remotely control robotic soldiers; kind of like they do now with drones, but much more intense, and the soldiers have to join together their minds in groups of ten. Imagine nine other people knowing your every thought and secret! There are some interesting repercussions. I really enjoyed the first half, but not so much the anticlimactic ending. It flows logically but just wasn't to my taste.

2.5 stars - "An Age of Ice" by Zhang Ran, translated by Andy Dudak: the issues that can come up if cryonics ever becomes a mass practice. A little cliche, but some interesting thoughts, and the Chinese point of view adds an unusual element.

1.5 stars - "The Significance of Significance" by Robert Reed: Wow, the disjointed writing style in this one did not appeal to me at all. How would you react if you found out our entire world was virtual, like the Matrix? Intriguing idea but the execution left me cold.

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite issues. I did enjoy "Travelers" by Rich Larson (so totally a riff on Passengers, right? except acknowledging the real horror of the situation), "The Bridgegroom" by Bo Balder, and the reprint of "The Oracle" by Lavie Tidhar (which is one of the stories from Central Station).

The reprint of "Forever Bound" by Joe Haldeman is set in the same world as Forever Peace, which is one of the rare Hugo/Nebula winners that I could not get through. The soldierboy units and jacking into each others' brains, plus the whole men/women sexuality thing, just really turns me off. Oh well!

[Eric Mesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome series of stories compiled by Mr. Neil Clarke. I loved all but the last fiction story and enjoyed the non-fiction. Here's what I thought of each story/article:

An Age of Ice (a translated story): A story involving a multi-generational family and a world in which cryonics are realistic. About how the world changes because this exists. It's a very short story, but quite poignant.

Travelers: Another cryro story. This one seems to be starting with the trope of being awakened too early on a spaceship. I was wondering if it was going to end up being horror or not. Don't want to spoil, but Mr. Larson does some really good plotting.

The Significance of Significance: The way that discovering that the universe is a simulation affects various people in the world. Written in a quirky and fun prose that is a delight to read. Pretty much a perfect ending.

The Bridgegroom: On a visit back to his village, Alois finds himself saddled with a job he doesn't quite understand, but is of utmost importance. Because so much of what makes this story great is in its unfolding, I don't want to say more. But I *DO* want to read more in this universe.

Last Chance: OH MAN, SO AMAZING! A Post-apocalyse story told from the point of view of someone a little too young to understand a lot of what's going on, but old enough that its not too annoying to read from that POV. I WANT MORE IN THIS UNIVERSE!

Forever Bound: Haldeman doing what Haldeman does best - military SF and awesome world-building that makes you wonder at how the world got to that point. Also, always slightly reminding the reader of the untrustworthiness of the military aparatus. I really, really enjoyed this story.

The Oracle: A story that jumps back and forth in time and is a bit confusing at first. The origins of an AI society and the fringes of how their existence has affeected the world.

Non-Fiction

Impossible Colors of an Infinite Universe: A discussion of the colors we can and can't perceive in reality and how authors of SFF use that metephorically.

Dystopian Muder Mysteries...: A look at how Carrie Vaughn decided to create the world in Bannerless.

Another Word: Invisible and Visible: Engineering in Science Fiction: Where are the engineers in SF? For most writers they are in the background, not even supporting characters. The author does mention a few stories that feature engineers. But modern SF does not have too many. (The article doesn't mention it, but I think they were more common in Golden Age SF)

Editor's Desk: Listening to the Universe: Five years from his heart attack, looking back at what Neil Clarke has accomplished.

[PAR · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars! This review is for Forever Bound by Joe Haldeman… Just listened to this on Clarkesworld Magazine’s website. It really is a nice prequel and backstory to Forever Peace. Check it out! Link below…
Read: 5/23/22

4.5 Stars! Excellent novelette that I wish I read prior to Forever Peace but I didn’t know existed. This should be #1.5 in The Forever War series. It covers Julian’s background and military enlistment. Enjoy!
Read: 5/23/21

Link:
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hald...

[Munsi Parker-Munroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying, if you Patreon these guys they'll send you an e-magazine of short science fiction every month, and it will all be basically excellent. What were you going to spend three bucks on? I promise this is better...

[Michael Whiteman · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Age Of Ice - Zhang Ran **
Comfortable tale of cryogenic freezing in near-future China. Touches upon issues of the frozen being awoken, now younger physically than their children, mostly leading to a simple point about people missing out on living life when freezing is easily available.

Travelers - Rich Larson **
Rushes through a familiar story of a woman being woken up early during a space voyage and finding out why. Never establishes much tension, although the whiny self-justifications of the man also woken ring reasonably true.

The Significance Of Significance - Robert Reed ***
Imagines the consequences of finding out the universe is a small-scale simulation, and further that each individual person is proved to be their own miniature universe. Deals with the solipsism - almost nihilism - following this discovery in one woman, although the growth and lessons learned are more mundane "the world doesn't revolve around you" type, but the literalisation of these ideas keeps it interesting enough.

The Bridgegroom - Bo Balder ***
A striking central idea, the young man taken away from his life studying medicine in a post-collapse world to guard a sentient bridge, but the plot feels rushed again and the resolution weightless.

Last Chance - Nicole Kornher-Stace **
This could have done a lot more with using the child's POV as the daughter of a torturer, but descends into standard post-apocalyptic slaves and slavers wandering through the wastes and scavenging for old tech.

Forever Bound - Joe Haldeman *
In the same world as Forever Peace, conscripts are "jacked" together to link their consciousnesses and control remote humanoid soldiers. There is a war, because there is always a war, but there isn't anything to it and people falling immediately in love and having SF sex while "jacked in" (flying! in space!) is about the most boring use of one.

The Oracle - Lavie Tidhar ***
Juxtaposes the period leading up to the initial creation and spread of AIs with the future Joining of a young woman with one in order to become an Oracle. The world created is the main draw, a lush and contemporary vision of the reasonably near future, with a line drawn neatly from those formative days to the fully developed and all-encompassing Conversation.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fun nonfiction section: great-as-always article about color in SFF, a good Carrie Vaughn interview, and conversations about engineering, and a cool cover. BUT when I got into the stories, they really sagged. I've recently read Tidhar's Central Station, so i didn't want to reread The Oracle, but I'm glad it was included and expanded from the book form. But the others: ugh. "Forever Bound" lacked a conflict, and although the writing was swell and the organization of a 2054 military was motivation enough to keep reading, it needed a B-plot, or even just a stronger conflict. And then it ended, just as one developed! Zhang Ran's piece was really interesting in the ideas it presented, and I'm happy more Chinese SFF is getting translated, Dudak was good, but then it ended. Robert Reed's piece ended because I ended it, because I didn't like it. Too confusing and it wasn't motivating me to continue. This isn't the first time I've done that on a Reed Clarkesworld's story. Maybe I should just come to terms with the fact that our styles don't mesh. Last Chance had some nice things going for it, but, eh, a long child-slave narrative from the child's underdeveloped perspective didn't hold me, probably because of its length and the fact it was fictional.
The story I have the biggest problem with is Travelers. It read as a twisted version of Passengers, which is a great idea, but it came across in tone as pretentious. It's vision of abuse felt as developed as a Saw film with a voiceover constantly saying "see that? That's evil. Don't do that. Not even in space. I've taught you something about the human condition." Ugh.

Bridgegroom was pretty good! As with all of these, at least a bit unbalanced, but a cool story that made me smile. Unsure why the bridge was a bridge though. Overall, these were well-written pieces of fiction and nonfiction. Pretty sure I saw a typo or two. But the fiction was maddening at times. But that means I'm invested! And that has to count for something.

[Huginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for “The Significance of Significance” by Robert Reed.

Technological advances revealed the world as artificial, leaving people in search of “Significance.” For Sarah, the significance became the desire to be interesting and happy, to live life before the inevitable end. She presents an eccentric worldview, one in which her mind and opinions are the significance of the world.

We see the same thing with Sarah’s son, Honey. He is presented as a realistic and logical character, yet he is set on conducting an experiment that Sarah considers risky. His perception runs parallel to that of Sarah and her parents/grandparents, showcasing the similarity in thinking. The “significance” became an individual concern, confided in and defined by a single individual.

It is rather clear on the author’s stance, repeated through the grandpa’s words: “‘Universes are tiny. Always tiny.’”

[Anthony A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading science fiction short stories, by way of magazines or anthologies, for most of my life. Clarkesworld - which I just discovered last month - is the easily the best science fiction magazine I have ever read. It contains lots of great science fiction short stories. If you like science fiction, I cannot recommend this particular magazine enough.

[Elaysee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid issue overall, none that blew me away, but none that I disliked. My favorite story was Bo Balder's "The Bridgegroom." My favorite opening was from Nicole Kornher-Stace's "Last Chance:" "Mama was the very best torturer in all the Three Valleys. Everybody said so."

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for Last Chance by Nicole Kornher-Stace

[Baily]

Placeholder for "Travelers" by Rich Larson

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retroactive Review (12 Sep 2021): I definitely recommend "The Bridgegroom" by Bo Balder, which was excellent; "Travelers" by Rich Larson is probably how the movie Passengers should've gone.

[Jon]

Listened to the podcast of 'Forever Bound' by Haldeman (3.5 stars)