Best poem: Recent Notifications From Smarterfridge 8000 by @elismontgomery.bsky.social : fridge will “tell us how many humans we have in stock at any one time” . Too smart by half aliens take over appliances. Eery

10) The Bag of Holding by Liz Westbrook-Trenholm: former war hero now destitute, former royal servant, and queen end up tied together by sentient, evil bag. Hard to follow

9) An Unsparing Harvest by @stefthescribbler.bsky.social: people-eating tree kindly allies with human to get more food. Gentle start, chilling end, very smooth throughout

8) The Superposition of Ramen by Jed Looker: Supragalactic entity gives the reader guidance on how to help a specific yet unidentified person reach out to alien race on other end of galaxy and as such save both races. Cute; does not cross line into annoying.

7)Les Guérisseurs by Jonathan Simmons: Acadian miqmaq healers who across generations transmit supernatural healing powers exercise their craft at D-Day landings and beyond. Good tone such

6) The Years Between the Stars by Al Onia: explorer put in cryo sleep, sent to scope out distant planet for habitability. Comes back centuries after humanity nuked itself. AI remnant of humanity tries to destroy him then reconsiders. Good tension, sacrifice

5) The Serene Hospice of the Sisterhood of Baba Yaga by Lorina Stephens: unemployed consultant pitches his services to peculiar palliative care hospice run by BY and her two witch friends. Tale meets serenity objective, thoughtful

4) When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears by John Park: alien race of unknown malevolence destroys Earth military but does not invade. Some humans reach out by having alien satellite fall into ocean. Bewildering at times but good tension and plot unfolding

3)Two Voices, One Song by @davidjonfuller.bsky.social : hikers in Iceland park with strained past relations forced to work and sing together to outsmart a troll. Good dynamics

2)Some Are Rather Quiet and Some Are Really Loud by Kristopher Galbraith: man avenges his brother killed by smugglers on interstellar vessel. Good flow,all comes together

1)The Love Song of house and lake by @gilliansecord.bsky.social:boy sent to cabin over summer and, in his dreams, falls in love with man spirit of house and mermaid spirit of lake.He morphs into ground as his human self apparently dies and they live HEA as a threesome.Over the top, yet it works well

Onspec #133 vol 35, no 3 Ranking of stories follows

Etienne Fletcher à Vancouver. Intime, passionné et passionnant. Il enchante l’auditoire, commençant avec L’intrus, continuant sur sa lancée avec Homestead et enchaînant avec d’autres cris du cœur et réussîtes, de Jeu de mémoire à À quoi on joue? Poète en fin de prestation génial.

Coup de coeur francophone à Vancouver avec @bibiclub.bsky.social . Le duo lance sa soirée avec Parc de beauvoir suivi du matin, et survolte la salle avec Le feu. Quelques titres plus tard surgit le dernier né Amaro. Concert dérape et devient soirée dansante. Super. Revenez nous voir!

Best nonfiction: Memory, Loss, and Memory Loss: A Conversation with Rich Larson by Arley Sorg: great overview of the writer, his thoughts, and his path

7)Cancer Wolves by Fiona Moore:in post apocalyptic world, rogue bots guarding ancient wolf study facility go slightly off-program due to rogue human sedentary nomad’s presence and cause wolves to attack livestock. Ends badly for all. Morag figures it all out, saves day.Series novelty wearing thin

6)Giant Grandmother Liu Maijia trans Blake Stone-Banks: certain factions of humanity have learned to evolve into animals or other life forms. Ji-Yue, on the day of her programmed evolution, meets her grandmother who evolved into an elephant, then evolves into Gaia-esque entity. Innovative

5) Crabs Don’t Scream by H.H. Pak: mighty self-quantum-adjusting time hopper, mere cog in bureaucracy, tasked to document various catastrophic ends of humanity across time streams while battling evil giga worms.Mission accomplished,semi-retires as crab on beach. Over the top, yet sticks the landing

4)The Job Interview by @carrievaughnco.bsky.social : Lisle, comms supervisor, battles red tape and bureaucracy on space station beset by glitches. Turns out that level headed guild leaders launched an invasion that feels a lot like a liberation. On point, approachable

3) Wire Mother by @isabel.kim: Cassie’s dad creates AMY, a digital trophy wife and tries in vain to get Cassie and Amy to get along. Cassie’s abusive apparent boyfriend twists the plot. End seems almost inevitable but riveting, gripping read nonetheless

2)In Luck’s Panoply Clad, I Stand by @phoebebarton.bsky.social:FTL Future. Humanity joined a galactic United Nations. A giant from distant planet battles difficult Earth physical conditions &bureaucracy to volunteer to help Earth recover from a nuclear war. Strong sense of duty. Great moral compass.

1)Understudies by @gregegansf.bsky.social : impossibly brainy but otherwise normal kids engage smart AI-augmented kids in over-the-top complex battle of wits. Chalk up a w for the humans. Geek heaven, hilarious yet deep. Love it

Clarkesworld 229. Ranking of stories follows

Best nonfiction: Beauty and Whimsy: A Conversation with Martin Cahill by Arley Sorg; good overview of the writer and his approach. Love the even keel and the optimism

7)Wireworks by Sheri Singerling: daughter grieving over dead mother uses mind device to feel better, then uses same on apparently callous father/widower. Good tale, but question of consent could have been handled more clearly. And who can claim righteousness? Dubious

6)The Fury of the Glowmen by David McGillveray: government creates powerful military AI but it goes rogue and conquers the world via implants in people’s heads. Good start but straightforward

5) A World of Their Own by Robert Falco: in post apocalyptic world, humanity has left Earth and various hybrid mechanical organic creatures have taken over. Refreshing take on post end of world

4)Aperture by Alexander Jablokov: settlers reoccuppying formerly inhabited but now abandoned asteroid deal with people issues. Good parallels between ancient tribal rivalries and recent individual quarrels

3) Five Impossible Things by Koji A. Dae: terminally ill and suffering patient offered a chance to live out her days in digital world, away from her family, provided she can pass test. She hesitates then chooses. Raw emotions heartfelt.

2) Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins by Louis Inglis Hall: slave dancers with short Mayfly-like lives, tired of exploitation, conspire through thought inheritance across generations to break free. Bewildering, yet thread can be followed. Illuminating

1) Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It For You by Claire Jia-Wen: designer torn between her love for robot death match fighter whose opponents she sabotages and designer’s sister who smells a rat. Bizarre but coherent, entertaining

Clarkesworld 228. Ranking of stories follows

Best Poem: Looking Back by Arthur H. Manners: “when they look back at us… will they distinguish our grandest theories of quantum gravity from red ochre bison painted on the walls of Lascaux caves” yes, time compresses and flattens all

Best nonfiction: The Solar Storm That Nearly Created Armageddon by Richard A. Lovett: fascinating look at how a solar storm which blinded radars and jammed radio communications almost led to the unthinkable.Great details and analysis

19)You Are Hereby Notified that You Are the Future of Art by Anya Markov: hybrid machine-human minds consider future options for defining and making art. Ponderous

18)Girl with the Tattooed Soul by Mark W. Tiedemann: on large cylindrical space station, Salya, waste management technician, is haunted by undefined memories. She meets a man who reveals her past of disposing broken bodies following an uprising. Edge of suppressed bitterness

17)Scarecrow by Timothy Quinn: private cop transfers from moon job back to post global warmed earth, keeping migrants out of sensitive areas. Good feeling of weariness, gritty life, but plot hard to follow

16)Boys and Girls Together by Larry Niven: youth, exposed to treatment that prevents death but freezes age, discuss quasi-immortality. Good premise but plot thin

15)The New People by David McGillveray: grumpy old settler on distant planet colony clings to primitive lifestyle until son talks a version of sense into him. Good attempt at reconciling different visions

14)Temple in the Night by Louis Evans: commanding officer reprimands subordinate pilots who claim to have seen mythical temple while flying in slipspace hypertrance, until CO also accepts reality over myth. Ethereal, not unenjoyable

13)Carried on the Wind by Steven Mohan, Jr.: Marine Corps General on mission to escort alien ambassador receives lesson on cross-species reproduction. Novel take; unexpected

12)Analog Equivalent Foodstuffs by Kate MacLeod: food replicator on long haul spaceship breaks down, forcing crew to eat real cooked food. Nice light, breezy tone

11)Donacon by Paul E. Franz: founders of genetic engineering company make fortune after successful launch. Great twist on meaning at the end

10) Seedlings by Al Onia: spacefarer crash lands on planet undergoing terraforming and finds strangely mutually incompatible fauna and flora. Original premise, good survival story

9) A Shot in the Dark by Avery Parks: doctor repeatedly volunteers to go on highly dangerous missions in tiny lifeboat spaceship to rescue colony swept by disease. Heartwarming

8)Ontario Lacus by Pauline Barmby: Jordan, safety tech on Titan moon forced to ensure safety of his ex, a highly popular thrill seeker, as she swims across an ethane lake. Cute; innovative situation and location.

7)Not in My Valley by ML Clark: mining tech driving over difficult road on distant moon deals with aggressive rogue probably self-driving truck. Good pitting of man vs beast

6)Suspended Animation by Jay Werkheiser & Julian Michael Carver: asteroid crash in Alaska releases alien molecules that may form into all-consuming blob. Scientists and techies race against clock to understand. Good gripping tale of action and science.

5) In a Desolate Garden by Auston Habershaw: trophy wife is given distant planet by older billionaire husband, but planet harbours ancient sentient gaya-like entity that convinces her it understands her feelings better than hubby. Vivid, risky tale but successfully pulled off

4)Elector by @stephenrcase.bsky.social : god-like AI minds coexist with humanity across the galaxy. A new supreme human is elected to mind-meld with them, and during election dark truths are revealed. Complex, rich, deep