Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 224, May 2025 by Neil Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Brainstem Disco, 2191" by Angela Liu - (4*) Future, music, longing. It's evocative, if simple and almost all emotion.

"The Library of the Apocalypse" by Rati Mehrotra - (3*) For as much as I want to love dark future SF library stories, this one's direction somehow left me slightly cold. Nothing I can put my finger on at the moment, but its despair seemed to derail me.

"We, the Fleet" by Alex T. Singer - (5*) At first I thought it was a bit like Leckie's work, but for all that, it still really hit me in the heart and I even teared up. Very cool story.

"Descent" by Wole Talabi - (4*) A pretty sharp moral tale with all the trappings of hard SF, with plenty of adventure to see us down--all the way.

"Oh Time Thy Pyramids" by Ann LeBlanc - (5*) This one really struck a chord with me, tickled my stony heart. Caught me by my throat and wouldn't let go.

"Proxima One" by Caryanna Reuvenm, translated by Sue Burke - (5*) I'm a sucker for silicon life and the theme of longing.

"Yarn Theory" by Marie Vibbert - (4*) Also a sucker for Contact/Arrival extraterrestrial puzzles. But this one was just too cute and fuzzy. :)



Solid collection this month. Nothing extremely outstanding, but good nevertheless.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

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