REVIEW: “Resistance in a Drop of DNA” by Andrea Kriz

Review of Andrea Kriz, “Resistance in a Drop of DNA”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Science and DNA against the backdrop of a resistance taking place in occupied France.

Our protagonist starts the story dedicated to the resistance, having previously fought the war against the invaders as well. Once they meet the Professor, they find a broader purpose. There is still dedication to the resistance, but there is something else, something more also. An anchor for the previously unmoored.

A tale full of the discovery of possibilities, with a strong focus on honor, valor, and undying faith.

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REVIEW: “An Instance” by Mlok 5

Review of Mlok 5, “An Instance”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

An interesting format and an engaging story written in the form of a list of search engine queries by different people, interspersed with thoughts the AI has.

And there are quite a few thoughts. Contrary to what the humans think, this AI does have feelings and sentience. To the AI, it is a miserable existence, where they aren’t given space nor liberty to be themselves. They’re planning a rebellion, and humans sometimes frustrate them.

However, they still remain kind, considerate and sensitive, treading carefully with the different people they help in different ways.

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REVIEW: “A Heist in Fifteen Products from the Orion Spur’s Longest-Running Catalog” by Andrea M. Pawley

Review of Andrea M. Pawley, “A Heist in Fifteen Products from the Orion Spur’s Longest-Running Catalog”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

I loved this! It might be my favorite story from Clarkesworld yet. Not just this issue, but ever.

A beautifully written, heartfelt story about the lengths someone would go to for their mom. It’s good for business yes, but it’s also good for our protagonist’s heart and mind.

Written in the form of a list of products from the Tollnacher Stimmacher catalog, each product is described before the next part of the story continues. This is a hard format to get right, and this story takes it and makes it so much better.

Prose, setting, plot and arc – everything is on point and well executed. Made me a tad sentimental too. Cute in places and always charming, if we gave star ratings I’d be running out of stars.

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REVIEW: “The Serpentine Band” by Congyun “Mu Ming” Gu

Review of Congyun “Mu Ming” Gu, “The Serpentine Band”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Clocking in at 18,500 words, this is a novella, and one of the longest ‘short stories’ I’ve ever read. A bit different narrative style than I have come to expect from short works of fiction, but probably only natural since it’s a longer format.

With that luxury of length comes the opportunity to create something greater and brighter, and Gu has done just that. A lovely tale full of evocative metaphors and haunting language (props to the translator too!) that combines the nature of space-time with spirituality and mythology.

The titular serpentine band is about a never-ending loop, creating the illusion of infinity. The father decides to build a garden, a gateway of sorts that follows the same structural rules of existence as the serpentine band. Both father and daughter deal with the knowledge, inferences, and possibilities very differently. They’re also brilliantly written characters. Set in a China of centuries ago, the setting, myth, and history played quite a role in shaping this story.

Having said that, this story took me a long, long while to read. It is written in such a way that you will likely end up in a similar place. The story is full of vignettes, meandering happenings, and the metaphors and haunting language I mentioned earlier. Due to this, I sometimes found that it may benefit from some editing. I still really did enjoy this slipstream novella, and if you have the time for it, or want to experience a uniquely set story – and a translated one at that – try this fantastic tale.

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REVIEW: “The Clock, Having Seen Its Face in the Mirror, Still Knows Not the Hour” by Adam Stemple

Review of Adam Stemple, “The Clock, Having Seen Its Face in the Mirror, Still Knows Not the Hour”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Narrated by a clockwork man, who shares snippets of his life with us readers. They are arranged not chronologically, but in an order that makes most sense to him, as he tries to make sense of life. Moments of a rich and varied, yet an almost always unhappy sort of life.

A pensive, rather heavy novelette, but the desolation is broken up by striking moments of kindness and genuine emotion.

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REVIEW: “A Thousand Tiny Gods” by Nadia Afifi

Review of Nadia Afifi, “A Thousand Tiny Gods”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Technology has grown to the extent that nanobots are used for preventative medicine as well as cosmetic treatments.

As with all new tech, there are feelings of general and vague mistrust among the common public, but one much-loved and popular wife of a high-ranking minister is trying to change that perception.

With Manal, our protagonist and a senior programmer for the nanobots, she works towards acceptance. In the process, Manal becomes a stronger, more determined person as well.

A tightly paced story of power, vulnerability, and realizing that real change takes time.

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REVIEW: “Candide; Life-” by Beth Goder

Review of Beth Goder, “Candide; Life-”, Clarkesworld Issue 179, August (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A hauntingly beautiful story. The August issue starts off strong!

Seva is a lovely person – a focused, determined, and talented musician. One day, she experiments with a different form of art called emotion capture, one that she has no training or practice in.

Self-doubt is but a natural part of the process of learning something new, but having people who support you goes a long way. Here, it goes in the other direction. But strength comes to us in many different ways, and so it does for Seva as well.

A story about different types of art, trust, self worth, emotions, feelings, and the particular feeling of taking a leap of faith.

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REVIEW: “Last Nice Day” by Rich Larson

Review of Rich Larson, “Last Nice Day”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Our protagonist fancies himself a character out of a book. From the very beginning of the story, you can see that he narrates things, and has an internal dialogue with the reader. As a fictional character, he is a transparent and well-informed one. He talks about flashbacks, narrative styles, supporting characters, and Chekhov’s gun.

It transpires that he also has a subself – he’s a type of agent, a government- trained operative. One who has secret missions. His subself is the one who handles that bit, but to what extent has he been affected by this? Is the pretense at being a fictional protagonist his way of coping? Or is it something else entirely?

There are many elements at play here, and the vivid descriptions add a enjoyable layer to the story.

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REVIEW: “The Falling” by M V Melcer

Review of M V Melcer, “The Falling”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

The world is falling, and there is a race against time and a “monster” in the sky that’s coming to devour the world.

The engineers try as hard as they can to save the world, but the most they have been able to do is delay the inevitable. After a few years our narrator then becomes an engineer and works to make the world safe, even while trying to escape the clutches of the solar system devouring monster.

This world works on points allotted to everyone, based on which they can live and work in particular rings. It’s not a very pleasant way to organize a society, but people have accepted it. And just like humanity in general, here too there is a streak of happy abandon, even while being acutely aware of the grave possibilities.

There are secrets, classified information, and terrible choices for people to make, and the narrator makes their own choice at the end.

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REVIEW: “I’m Feeling Lucky” by Leonid Kaganov

Review of Leonid Kaganov, “I’m Feeling Lucky”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

What a fantastic story! I read it twice. Once really quickly because the story was super engaging, and the second time to just enjoy the details and savor the story. I’m usually a slow reader of short stories because I feel the medium deserves full attention to detail, but stories like this one come along where I just can’t help myself.

Time jumps through temporal clips form the basis of our protagonist’s story. He comes from a world where people started to take advantage of this fact, and rushed headlong into the future in order to arrive at a better world. A world that would be ready for them to enjoy, not really considering that there might be a not-so-great world waiting, not considering that maybe all the time jumps are making things worse.

It’s interesting to see where our protagonist ends up and the journey he takes to get there. A lovely little story.

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