Status Updates From Clarkesworld Magazine, Issu...

The nonfiction: an article about bees and SF, two interviews (Donna Scott and China Mieville), and Clarke's editorial that got me to resubscribe to Clarkesworld after several years away.

Stellar Evolutions in Pop Idol Artistry - Liu: Space-idol learns an unsettling piece of history.

Aktis Aeliou, or The Machine of Margot's Destruction - Theodoridou: Greek god in space.

The Happiness Institute - Curtis: Bizarre post-war story of human connections.

Born Outside - Blake: Pod people are trying to help us, actually.

Every Hopeless Thing - Tashiro: A scavenger ship finds life on Earth.

I Will Meet You When the Artifacts End - Singh: Dating is hard on generation ships, but what a tragic ending.

The Best Version of Yourself - Collier: Thinking about a future where you can control your own brain with nanobots (or are you?), with a side of mother/daughter issues.

born outside - 4.5 stars - how is this six pages. staggering amount packed in here given the brevity. smth smth change and neurodivergence and empathy. really enjoyed this one.

happiness institute - 2 stars - just so on the nose I couldn't get invested! idk I'm not interested in what's being served up here. there's no meat to the world to make it compelling. the writing didn't do anything for me, either. literal two stars, it was okay.

margot's destruction - reads like a parable in the best way. I wrote a short story v similar to this but a lot less romantic a few years ago, so I always love star people - but it's a good take on godhood and mythology. my favorite of the romance-oriented short stories so far. love it when an author just Tells and you're so absorbed it's fine. delicious writing as well, delightfully sensory

stellar evolution - 2.5/3 stars - not my bag. the twist brought it up a half star or so, but it's clearly written by someone who enjoys idol culture and I.... do not. not bad but not rly thought provoking. I would not be surprised if the author read a lot of danmei.

best version of yourself - 4.5 stars - once again, I stalled after this one bc it was so good I wanted to sit with it for a while. didn't bowl me over so bad like molum in 215 but I wanted to chew on this world (ew). compelling bad guys always get me, and the big bad here is just doing what comes naturally to it, in the end, horrifying as it is. genuinely complicated look at the ethics and morality of a weird sitch.

when the artifacts end - 2 star - I didn't abjectly hate this but I seem to rly dislike the ones focused on romance and relationships so far. just bland. the worldbuilding could have been interesting but the pov character is uninvested in the world around her so how can we rly explore it? did not give me a good view of the world in my mind's eye, didn't like the characters, solid meh.

every hopeless thing - 3.5-4 stars - I have a soft spot for sentient tech. warm, tender little story. nice characterization in few words; worldbuilding didn't fully grab me but I could suspend my disbelief. very murderbot-inspired to my eye (not a complaint). I liked it.