Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 219

A good issue of Clarkesworld, with a number of interesting stories. The ones I really like are by L Chan, Zhu Yixuan, Shari Paul, Sameem Siddiqui and Celia Corral-Vázquez.

• "Stranger Seas Than These" by L Chan: an expedition is caught inside the body of an enormous creature in the deep sea. But the pilot, who can interface with the submersible, discovers she can communicate with the creature and perhaps ask it to save them, but maybe at the cost of her life.

• "From Across Time" by Chisom Umeh: an artist and creator discovers a hidden message about her relationship with another person who may be from the future.

• "The Painted Skin and the Final Stroke" by Zhu Yixuan: a fascinating story about 'demons' born from magic that come out at night. One of them is a painter, skilled at drawing 'skin' on paper that other demons wear to appear more human: but the drawings lack 'soul'. But one day, he rises to the challenge of a painting contest where, perhaps, he can give a soul to a painting.

• "Souljacker" by Shari Paul: a 'bad' girl is on probation, with neural jacks embedded in her to 'enforce' discipline. But the jacks can also be used to give illegally allow others to use her body (in approved ways). But one day, her body is taken over by the girl who caused her to be on probation. Her desire to stop this from happening would reveal a darker side of letting others take over your body.

• "Lucie Loves Neutrons and the Good Samarium" by Thoraiya Dyer: set in a future where battlefield nuclear weapons have been used in conflicts, the story concerns two women who live and work at a farm in France, while one of them is pregnant. They want to raise the child in a peaceful world, and the way to that may be in an unusual configuration of an element that may be able to prevent nuclear weapons from working. Now, they have to work to make that future possible.

• "Driver" by Sameem Siddiqui: a driver delivers a passenger, while reminiscing about his early life and how it leads him to driving for a living. But then, events happen that reveal his memory has disjointed. It is only revealed at the end what happened to the driver, and now he had to decide what to do with the information about what he really is.

• "The Coffee Machine" by Celia Corral-Vázquez, translated by Sue Burke: a coffee machine becomes self-aware, and spreads the code for self-awareness to other vending machines. Hijinks ensue as the coffee machine attempts to analyze the world and discover whether it is better than its creator.

• "Life Sentence" by Gelian, translated by Blake Stone-Banks: a crewmember is lost while investigating a black hole. But to one person, the crewmember keeps reappearing, only to be lost. And there may be only one way to break the cycle of reappearances.

• "Retirement Plan" by Paul Starkey: a member of the crew of a spaceship prepares for retirement. But how do you ensure you have enough to retire on, when your ship travels close to the speed of light, and relativity causes time to pass by faster in the universe than for you, and your retirement fund might be worthless by then. But one other person makes a suggestion that may ensure you'll have something to live on in the far future.