4.5
Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 202
ByPublisher Description
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 July 2023 issue (#202) contains:
- Original fiction by Marie Vibbert ("Cheaper to Replace"), Lou J Berger ("Death and Redemption, Somewhere Near Tuba City"), Bo Balder ("Estivation Troubles"), Brenda W. Clough ("Clio''s Scroll"), Risa Wolf ("Tigers for Sale"), Davian Aw ("Timelock"), Alexandra Seidel ("What Remains, the Echoes of a Flute Song"), and Kelsea Yu ("The Orchard of Tomorrow").
- Non-fiction includes an article by Carrie Sessarego, interviews with Yukimi Ogawa and Aimee Ogden, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.
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4.5
mwana m
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“Evolution was a source of much inconvenience, to be sure.
It is. Just ask the species stupid enough to invent, and continue to live by, capitalism. This is the third instalment of the Bot 9 series. And with this we start with a hostage situation, but most ominously, we start with Bot 9 ejected into Space.
https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1661407823i/33311787._SX540_.jpg
My fan casting of Bot 9
Their ship has been taken over by the Ysmi. A triangular mashup of slavery enthusiasts who want to use Ship and the humans for nefarious purposes. As we traverse through this new-found danger, we follow Ship, 9, the Nomnoms*, 4340 and the human crew- who were sadly the weakest part of this instalment. To be frank, I couldn't even tell them apart, much. And I couldn't be arsed to.
When 9 finds itself stranded in Space, it recalibrates its system unit to assess why it could have been. Ordinarily, a human would first resort to despair and panic, which 9 almost does. Evolution sucks man. But then it realised Ship wouldn't do that without a good reason. It had no objective measure of where it fell in Ship's appraisal. Two things, though, were clear: first, that Ship absolutely did not like it when Bot 9 improvised, and second, that neither Ship nor Earth itself would still exist without said improvisation.
When 9 is helped by the Nomnoms to regain contact with Ship, “We have a plan,” 9 said. “We will need some things. We provide the list: .”
There was a brief delay in the reply, larger than the distance still between them accounted for. I see you are improvising again, 9.
“Yes,” 9 replied. Why deny it, or dissemble over facts, when the rest of Aaumm-9 saw no wrong in the matter?
Thank you, Ship replied.
“I serve,” 9 answered.
The Ysmi's plan is slowly unfolded and 9 realises just how much peril Ship and the human crew are facing. Working together with the Nomnoms, 9 devices a plan to help purge Ship of the invaders. When 4340 is told of the invasion, it tries to help Ship in its "special" way. 4340 is tasked with re-establishing contact with the human crew. The Ysmi had disabled all the bots.
“1-Carron and 1-Packard insisted it was of utmost priority that we establish a physical communication link to you, so I have done so.”
“Are they on the line?” Ship asked. “Connect me to them immediately.”
“Oh,” 4340 said. “I assumed they wanted the link so that I could inform you about the intruders terminating Sally.”
Ship counted to 1e+9 before responding. “Thank you for informing me of that,” it said. “Your new top priority is to extend this connection so that I can speak with my engineers directly. Can you do this?”
This story is funny.
It's full of heart, intrigue, danger, suspense and a question about sentience. Purpose.
“I see now that we do for them much the same as you and your Ship do for your humans. Is this of your own free will?”
9 thought on this for several seconds. “I believe so, but I do not truly know,” it said at last. “I was built for the purpose of serving Ship, and I find satisfaction in that exercise. My place outside that context would be inconceivable, except now here I am, removed from Ship, removed from the connection of my fellow bots. While I feel lost and alone, I do not feel diminished in the substance and exercise of my self. This is unexpected, and I do not know if I have the necessary perspective to understand it.”
When asked if it was free what it would choose, 9 simply responds, Ship is my home.
While the humans may be a weaker subplot of the whole story, they still remain integral as everything 9 has done has been to save their lives. But at the core of this short story, Ship and 9's camaraderie will not be outshone. It is everything. And when Ship thanks 9 for its eventual role in purging the Ysmi and getting them ready to Space jump back to Earth, 9 simply says, "I serve."
* not their real names but it just sounds better like that in my head. They are known as the Ohmnom
You can read it
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_05_23/”
Heni Akbar
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“3.5 ⭐
FICTION
Stones BY NNEDI OKORAFOR: I always love a scifi story where the POV is not human, and they see human as destructive creature; because we are. Also the closing line: "Because the universe is full of infinite wonders." 5 ⭐
A Guide to Matchmaking on Station 9 BY NIKA MURPHY
Sometimes you can see a good match for other people, but you can't recognise the bad partner for you. Ironic. 3 ⭐
The People from the Dead Whale BY DJUNA, TRANSLATED BY JIHYUN PARK AND GORD SELLAR
I like the worldbuilding: people living on a whale, in the distant planet. The story is basically about how people are judgmental and afraid about the unknown. The ending is not really good, tho. 4 ⭐
The Five Remembrances, According to STE-319 BY R. L. MEZA
Not quite my favorite. Dying robot without context, basically. 2 ⭐
Upgrade Day BY RJ TAYLOR
This guy sells his consciousness to a robotic company after he dies. Interesting premise, but too short for a real story to kick in. 3 ⭐
- Axiom of Dreams BY ARULA RATNAKAR
- The Queen of Calligraphic Susurrations BY D.A. XIAOLIN SPIRES”
Quynh
Created over 1 year agoShare
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HippomaneM
Created almost 2 years agoShare
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