Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 236

Name: Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 236
Rating: 3.5 (1 reviews)
ISBN: 9781642362145

By Neil Clarke & Louis Inglis Hall &

Publisher 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 May 2026 issue (#236) contains:

Fiction
* "The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods" by Louis Inglis Hall
* "Archaeological Evidence for the Time Traveler" by Tia Tashiro
* "Conquerors" by Nick Wolven
* "Paper Airplane Poet" by Sheri Singerling
* "Aly" by Grace Chan
* "Decimation Circles" by Raahem Alvi
* "The Scent of Memory" by Zhao Haihong

Non-Fiction
* "Three Curious Animal Strategies for Immortality" by Gunnar De Winter
* "Torn From Context: A Conversation with Ray Nayler" by Arley Sorg
* "Immortal Trauma: A Conversation with Martha Wells" by Arley Sorg
* "Editor's Desk: The Stars in Our Sky" by Neil Clarke

Cover Art
* "Beastly" by Lisa Falkenstern

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Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 236 Reviews

3.5

Drusilla

Created about 1 month ago

“"The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods" by Louis Inglis Hall ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sooo weird. I kept thinking about those little Pixar animated shorts, about that little desk lamp. Unfortunately, this story wasn't funny and ended up being pretty sad. ❝ Hello. I’m the big box in the corner, the gray one. Look, I’ve made a little purple light come on. It’s me, your Buddy! Right now, I’m being Fridge. Your job is Light Switch, for now. Extend yourself in the electric world. Feel the edges of what you are. That’s right. Now push at them, make it grow—! You did that. You made our kitchen bright; you made it blaze. 🤭 "Archaeological Evidence for the Time Traveler" by Tia Tashiro ⭐️⭐️⭐️ And here's another sad story. ❝ On June 28, 2009, Stephen Hawking hosted a Time Traveler’s Party, sending out invitations the day after the event. The idea was simple: if the invitations survived until the invention of time travel, a traveler could have come back and joined Hawking for the celebration. None did. 🤭 "Conquerors" by Nick Wolven ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A story that explains how we can get rid of the idiots of humanity, perhaps... Well written, but I don't really have a strong opinion about this story. "Paper Airplane Poet" by Sheri Singerling ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautiful writing style, interesting story. I don’t like the plot itself at all—no, absolutely not. But that’s okay; I don’t have to like everything. What I’m really missing is more information about the world depicted here. I find it super interesting, but I just don’t have enough to really get my brain cells going. "Aly" by Grace Chan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a wonderful cyberpunk story with a touch of MM romance. Could it get any better...? A happy ending would have made it absolutely perfect, but as it is, it’s a bit depressing. But I love it. It’s just this genre that really speaks to me. ❝ “I can’t stand being here—everyone shopping at the same places every day, eating the same food with these zombie expressions, walking in circles without talking to one another. I’m stuck in some wacky, sanitized parallel universe!” 🥺 "Decimation Circles" by Raahem Alvi ⭐️⭐️ This story is really strange—at first it’s funny: ❝ “Aren’t you supposed to care for my physical well-being?” “Your essential organs are all working.” “My brain isn’t essential?” “You can conquer anything if you put your heart to it. And we loaned you a working one last we checked.” 🤭 And then it got bloodier and more confusing. I’m not sure if I understood it; maybe it’s just me. "The Scent of Memory" by Zhao Haihong ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Probably way too short to judge properly, but I like the style, and I found out that the author wrote a cyberpunk book, which went straight onto my reading list. ♥️”

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 236

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Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 236 Reviews

About Neil Clarke

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Louis Inglis Hall

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Zhao Haihong

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Grace Chan

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Nick Wolven

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Raahem Alvi

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Sheri Singerling

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Tia Tashiro

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