catlarks | 2019 Short Fiction Reading List [Quarter 2]

This year, I decided to do something a little different in my literature consumption. I've been reading more novels each year for the past few years but I don't read very much short fiction and I wish I did, because short fiction is what I prefer to write. So I subscribed to several literature magazines.

I now have subscriptions to Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Uncanny Magazines. As it turns out, three magazines may have been one magazine too many, because I absolutely cannot read that volume of stories each month and am piling up a hefty backlog of things to read, but... There's no reason I can't keep chewing through what I've bought as time allows. It's really satisfying to see my collection of magazines grow as the months roll by!

In light of this, I will now be keeping a list of the stories I've read from these magazines, along with very brief notes on my impressions of each story. I originally created the list in the order I read the stories, before shuffling them to be in alphabetical order by title. If you would prefer descending order by how highly I rated my enjoyment of the stories, let me know.

I've genuinely really, really enjoyed the things I've read and they are all available to read online and linked below; I recommend checking some of these works out as suits your interest!

Short Fiction Read in 2019
[quarter 2: April-June]

The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim in Lightspeed Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Alternating POV, third person and a plural second person, terraforming and discovering an alien species after the fact. M/M background relationship.
Blur by Carmen Maria Machado in Lightspeed Magazine || ★★★☆☆ ||
Notes: Fantasy. First person POV, F/F relationship but it's an abuse narrative, very well done and therefore understandably upsetting.
Confessions of a Con Girl by Nick Wolven in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, fun play on what "con" means in universe, fascinating worldbuilding, compelling narrator.
The Dead, in Their Uncontrollable Power by Karen Osborne in Uncanny Magazine || ★★★★★ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, generational ship headed for paradise, F/F relationship, powerful narrative.
Empress in Glass by Cory Skerry in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Fantastical science fiction. Third person POV, unreliable narrator and freaky body horror body modifications, which I loved.
The Flowering by Soyeon Jeong translated by Jihyun Park and Gord Sellar in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★☆☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, unfolds like an interview, outsider POV on the resistance authored by the narrator's sister.
Gaze of Robot, Gaze of Bird by Eric Schwitzgebel in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★★ || ☁ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Third person POV, robot and its stuffed monkey terraform a new planet for millenia, made me cry.
Gundark Island, or, Tars Tarkas Needs Your Help by Matthew Corradi in Lightspeed Magazine || ★★★☆☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, meeting an alien, a love letter to science fiction media as a genre.
In Search of Your Memories by Nian Yu translated by Andy Dudak in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★★ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, involves a digital afterlife and themes of personhood and identity and hit me right where those themes hurt.
Insaan Hain, Farishte Nahin by Arula Ratnakar in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★★ || ☁ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Third person POV, F/F relationship, fascinating worldbuilding, themes of personhood and identity executed to make me cry.
The Last Eagle by Natalia Theodoridou in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, trans male main character, M/M relationship, interesting worldbuilding, story unfolds like a mystery revealing itself.
To Market, To Market: The Branding of Billy Bailey by Cory Doctorow in Lightspeed Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Third person POV, humorous, the concept of having a "personal brand" taken to the extreme complete with sponsors and rebranding.
Massively Open by Maria Cecire on Medium || ★★★★★ || ☁ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Not technically from a lit mag but made me cry really hard. Third person POV, the digitization of education, explores themes of identity and personhood and the evolution of technology.
Move Forward, Disappear, Transcend by A. T. Greenblatt in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ || ☁ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, F/F relationship, themes of humanity and transcending physical form, made me weepy.
Ripen by Yukimi Ogawa in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Fantasy. Third person POV, includes a F/F relationship and a fascinating fantasy race.
A Sharp Breath of Birds by Tina Connolly in Uncanny Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Fantasy. Second person POV, fantastical, fairytale narrative, F/F relationship.
The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin by Michael Swanwick in Lightspeed Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, interesting worldbuilding, fascinatingly dark execution.
Skyscrapers in the Sand by Y. M. Pang in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★☆☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Third person POV, kind of post-apocalyptic, interesting worldbuilding.
Social Darwinism by Priya Chand in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. First person POV, human modification, very sexualized and sensationalized content, narrator biohacked to need attention taken to the maximum extreme.
Stet by Sarah Gailey in Fireside Magazine || ★★★★☆ || ☁ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Experimental format; written as a chapter in a textbook with conversation taking place between the in-story editor and author via the revision notes. Self-driving cars, death of a child, made me cry.
The Sun from Both Sides by R. S. A. Garcia in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★★★ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Third person POV, excellent world building, two main characters from two different, fascinating space-faring societies, organic, plant-based spaceships.
Tick-Tock by Xia Jia translated by Emily Jin in Clarkesworld Magazine || ★★★☆☆ ||
Notes: Science fiction. Unconventional use of POV involving third, second, and first person voices, to interesting effect.