Clarkesworld #212, May 2024“Fishy” by Alice Towey
“In Which Caruth is Correct” by Carolyn Zhao
“The Texture of Memory, of Light” by Samara Auman
“The Weight of Your Own Ashes” by Carlie St. George
“The Portmeirion Road” by Fiona Moore
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha
“The Blinding Light of Resurrection” by Rajeev Prasad
“Our Father” by K. J. Khan
Reviewed by David Wesley Hill
This month Clarkesworld opens with a silly bit of whimsy, “Fishy” by Alice Towey, in which the titular character, a semi-intelligent “Fisherman’s Buddy” given as a birthday present to Dr. Peretz by his daughter, Ada, has been transformed by its owner into a working prototype of a device that filters forever chemicals from water. Unfortunately, Dr. Peretz dies before sharing “the technology free of charge” with humanity, and now his greedy partner, Richard Murphy, plans to sell Fishy to the highest bidder, believing the “chemical industry would pay millions” for the device…. As I said, a charming story—if you assume scientists are idiots who would fail to hire a lawyer to vet a contract before signing it. Not even crazy Doc Brown from Back to the Future would be so negligent. Such an inexplicable lack of due diligence compromised the story for this reviewer, and made the tale unbelievable to me, although I have to say I was charmed by the naive little fish-like thingy.
It’s been forty years since I took Psychology 101, and I remember little of the course, so let’s agree I’m no expert on the subject. Back in my day, Freud was the heavy hitter, but now, apparently, a new generation of theorists has taken his place, among them Cathy Caruth, who is specifically referenced in the title of the story, “In Which Caruth is Correct” by Carolyn Zhao, although the psychologist’s name is never mentioned in the text. This subtle clue alerts the attentive reader, such as (ahem) this reviewer, that what follows will be a thought experiment exploring the application of Caruth’s principles, and so it is. In the milieu of the story, trauma creates the physical manifestation of a psychic black hole, a closed loop of ruefulness and regret, into which traumatized people can be sucked, never to return. As a matter of fact, in this world, “walking into a loop is the fifth-highest cause of disappearances in the U.S.” and there are hot lines of certified “tempo-therapists” on call to help those in danger of falling into such a singularity…. Ultimately, an intriguing story that, unfortunately, required far too much Googling to enjoy. On the other hand, maybe a more traumatized reader than this reviewer may be (cough,cough) sucked into the tale. Could that be you?
Next in line is another example of pointless prose, close to ten thousand words worth, the novelette “The Texture of Memory, of Light” by Samara Auman, in which we are introduced to a near-future dystopia very much like our own world. Here, depending on their class and on what they can afford, people are augmented with implants of varying sophistication. Vallaria’s mother, for instance, a factory worker, had an artificial arm that allowed her to be more efficient on the production floor, while Vallaria herself saved up to buy a “Nimi” implant, which “enhanced each moment I lived into a scintillating memory” and allowed Vallaria to live the life of a middle class creative worker. Unfortunately, her mom dies of cancer, possibly triggered by “some chemical leaking in that bronze arm of hers” and her artificial limb ends up in a trash heap, where Vallaria finds it, a coincidence so improbable that this reviewer could no longer suspend his disbelief and enjoy the story, not that there is much story here, just a lot of tormented maundering more suitable to a college creative writing class than to a professional SF publication. Honestly, I wish I had a “Nimi” implant of my own to cast the memory of what I just read in a better light.
Thankfully, the issue returns to readability with the next story, “The Weight of Your Own Ashes” by Carlie St. George. Although born and raised on Earth, and culturally American, the protagonist “Yonder” is a member of an alien race, a “Myriad.” The thing about Myriads is that a single consciousness shares many bodies, an intriguing concept that the tale—as good science fiction should—explores rigorously. Unfortunately, one of Yonder’s four bodies dies in an accident, which traumatizes their human girlfriend, Alice, forcing her to confront the fact that her beau is really not just a funny looking human but something quite alien indeed… Not your everyday Harlequin romance but still … recommended.
The fifth offering this month, “The Portmeirion Road” by Fiona Moore, takes us past an undefined catastrophe into a future world where people are just starting to put civilization back together again. Old Morag ekes out a living on a small farm, and as a side gig repairs ancient tech like broken washing machines, her only companion the decrepit robot Seamus, who had “started out as a security walkbot of some kind.” Sadly, a local orphan girl, Maya, is dying of asthma, the cure for which has been forgotten, so Morag and her robot protector set out for the city of Portmeirion, hoping that the sagacious inhabitants will provide a cure for the sick child, in this rather generic addition to the Post-Apocalypse canon… An unobjectionable story, but it’s not Earth Abides or even Daybreak 2250.
Next up is the novelette “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha, in which we are introduced to a future New York where everything is being continuously optimized. People wear smart glasses to make each other look handsomer. Books and videos are constantly updated to improve the story and artwork. Then the protagonist—a “freelance re-writer” is left a “dead” book by his recently deceased mother … a hardcopy that cannot change, its words immutable, its ending forever ambiguous. The protagonist is fascinated by such a permanent object … and soon learns that others want it for their own, too, in order to destroy it…. A parable that should chill any writer to the marrow, the technology already too close for comfort, I am updating and improving this review to a … recommendation!
The penultimate offering of this issue, the novelette “The Blinding Light of Resurrection” by Rajeev Prasad, has a plot as old as the genre of science fiction. An obsessed doctor, using miracle technology he invented, will do anything, anything to save the life of his dying wife. He’ll even (gasp) murder his best friend to save her! That’s it. That’s the story … except for the twist ending, which is, of course, anything but unexpected. I cannot hazard a guess how this one got through the slush pile.
Clarkesworld #212, to my relief, ends on an uplifting note with a poignant short story, “Our Father” by K. J. Khan, which recounts an incident aboard a slower-than-light spaceship when a cohort of frozen embryos is accidentally decanted. Some of the crew—who make the voyage in suspended animation, waking every five years or so to attend to their duties—suggest flushing the unwanted fetuses. Others propose the resident android be put in charge of raising the soon-to-be infants until the ship makes planet-fall. Javier Hernandez, however, has another idea in this bittersweet paean to the pleasures of parenthood, which being a parent myself, I can only … recommend.