REVIEW: “The Direction of Clocks” by Jess Levine

Review of Jess Levine, “The Direction of Clocks”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Time-related stories strongly appeal to me, irrespective of actual plot. In this story, the protagonist travels in a starship solo, through time dilation. This means that she spent three years on the starship, while almost a century has passed in earth years. She left her friends, family, and relationship to escape through time.

**Spoiler:**
Once she reaches a space station, a stop on the way to continuing her journey rimward, she learns that relativistic journeys are no longer allowed, and she would have to spend the rest of her days on the space station.
**Spoiler ends**

Her journey of growth and self awareness make up a large part of the story, but I would have really liked it if the story explored more of her “why”, or how she grows through different situations. Or showcase her maturity. Not all characters need to be likable, so I’m not going to count that against this story.

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REVIEW: “Ophelia’s Song” by Rebecca Birch

Review of Rebecca Birch, “Ophelia’s Song,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 37-42 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Death.

Kathleen has buried seven of her crewmates and now there’s no one left to bury her when she dies. The colonisation of this new planet is a failure. You’d think, from this, that this is a sad story — and while it definitely tugs at your heartstrings, there is just a little bit of hope at the end.

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REVIEW: “Afterlife” by Lucy Zhang

Review of Lucy Zhang, “Afterlife,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 25-28 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

One of my favorite parts of reading SFF and speculative fiction is when in the middle of something entirely fictive I get something that is so entirely real. In Zhang’s story, that comes via this killer line: “Anger and self-perceived injustices are a product of overstimulation.” And that’s just one excellent portion of this rich story full of a deeply different imagined world. High quality stuff!

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REVIEW: “The Old Moon” by John McNeil

Review of John McNeil, “The Old Moon”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A robot who believes in spirituality meets a sentient plant that has faith in physics above all. An interesting concept, for sure.

The robot’s backstory gave quite a bit of depth to the story, and as a reader, I could understand their internal struggle to try and reconcile this new information with their existing belief system. Beliefs that had so far been taken for granted.

But knowledge brings power and sometimes the necessity of unfortunate choices. An unexpectedly emotional story.

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REVIEW: “Informed Consent Logs from the Soul Swap Clinic” by Sarah Pauling

Review of Sarah Pauling, “Informed Consent Logs from the Soul Swap Clinic”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

With an interesting concept of swapping your souls into other bodies, I was hooked from the beginning.

It was fun getting into the mindset of the technician, and the two swappers, RED and BLUE. While it was a good look into how people prioritize certain qualities and attributes, I ultimately felt it was an unjust and unfair conclusion, and I felt it could have been executed in a way that didn’t lead to one person getting misled into a disappointing existence.

Essentially, I liked the concept and prose, but not the unsatisfying conclusion that disregards the wishes of another human being on purpose, with no empathy shown towards their vision or goal.

** At the risk of a spoiler, I can only hope I misunderstood what happens to RED.

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REVIEW: “You’re Not the Only One” by Octavia Cade

Review of Octavia Cade, “You’re Not the Only One”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A very emotionally resonant story, and one that deserves to be read slowly and savored.

Set in the nebulous future, the story revolves around an astronaut and his friend, both dealing with their own disappointments. What I loved about this story was their sympathy for each other, and how they provided each other with space and dignity to handle grief in their own way.

I liked how the author portrayed in the children in this story as people capable of feelings, empathy, and curiosity. I genuinely believe that children are capable of a lot, and sometimes as adults we forget what it was like to be a child with questions and the burning desire for knowledge and understanding. I have rarely seen this level of respect for emotion and dignity in writing. For this alone, I want to read more of Cade’s work.

More than anything else, however, what I loved was how community-minded all the characters in the story were. For me, it was a dazzling display of humanity, and it felt both sad and natural that it would take a massive catastrophic event on a global scale for people to develop compassion towards each other. The people in this story truly understood that we’re all in this together. In this life, on this planet, in the decisions we take.

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REVIEW: “The Paleoneirologist’s Dreams” by Marc A. Criley

Review of Marc A. Criley, “The Paleoneirologist’s Dreams,” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 29-31 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

If you don’t know what a paleoneirologist is (and are frustrated that no dictionary seems to know either), that’s okay, because Criley deftly tells you everything you need to know in this weird, waspish, biting little story. I really enjoyed it!

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REVIEW: “The Plasticity of Youth” by Marissa Lingen

Review of Marissa Lingen, “The Plasticity of Youth”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Jess is pregnant, and going to her scheduled doctor visit. She is stopped because of a raven that decided to eat her tires. Her daughter, when born, seems to be a bit different, but healthy. Over time, we learn that it’s not just tires; it’s just not ravens. A lot has started to charge.

I really like this type of story, where the world sort of changes without it having been done by humans. The humans are simply trying to navigate this world, just like everyone and everything else does.

It was strongly emotional, and I say this in the best possible meaning of the phrase.

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REVIEW: “For Whom the Psychopomp Calls” by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko

Review of Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko, “For Whom the Psychopomp Calls”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

This story can be described by one of the few words that comes up in the story via the psychopomp: melancholy.

A story that keeps you on edge in a variety of ways. My only (minor) issue is that the human sometimes reacts in a heightened manner to things. A tad unrealistic, but then again, nobody’s perfect and maybe this particular human is like that? So, not really an issue with the story, just that aspect of the characters personality.

The writing style itself was on point for the kind of story it was. The great pacing added a lot, too.

Highly recommended. The ending is particularly heartbreaking.

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