Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 230, November 2025 by Neil Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"The Stone Played at Tengen" by R.H. Wesley -- (4*) Monolithic power and the importance of playing through -- life as Go. Interesting.

"Jade Fighter" by D.A. Xiaolin Spires -- (5*) Honestly delightful friendship in unusual circumstances. I actually rather love this story.

"The Apologists" by Tade Thompson -- (5*) Tade rocks some wonderfully weird tales. Murder mystery gone hard SF. Totally my kind of mystery.

"Trees at Night" by Ramiro Sanchiz -- (4*) I got a very Roadside Picnic vibe from this one. Only for a librarian. :)

"Prerequisites for the Creation of a Possible Predicted World" by Chisom Umeh -- (5*) On-target tale of perception and reality-building. Doubly current for our own amusement park we call life.

"Ratlines" by Brent Baldwin - (3*) While I like the idea of a brain-in-a-box being forced as a starship getaway driver, I think I might have preferred a slower, more detailed story. Alas.

"The Fire Burns Anyway" by Kemi Ashing-Giwa -- (5*) This was a massive gut-punch to me. As a writer, myself, facing the same issues, it feels like death... and yet we all still keep going, if in despair.


Decent collection this month. I prefer Jade Fighter and Apologists the most, but The Fire Burns Anyway hit the hardest.

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