GCL Boisset

Best nonfiction: The Wondrous Nature of Existence: A Conversation with Michael Swanwick by Arley Sorg:great advice and suggestions by an accomplished writer

Please keep writing. I want to see more of this.

Best nonfiction: The Wondrous Nature of Existence: A Conversation with Michael Swanwick by Arley Sorg:great advice and suggestions by an accomplished writer

7) The Iron Piper by Fiona Moore: further adventures of Morag in Caernarvon. She meets evil boss of primitive tech startup who wants to steal her pet dog robot’s IP. Convinces indentured underling to fight back. Concept originally novel but now getting stale

6) A Sleeper Ship Is Like a Game of Go by Claire Jia-Wen: generation ship passengers arriving on distant planet go in and out of virtual environments and interact with divinatory AI powered in part by CEO’s son’s mind. Good concepts but hard to follow

5) Chip by D. A. Xiaolin Spires: passenger takes sentient low-cost cab and gets taken for a long ride with many detours and advertisements to subsidize fare. Passenger talks cab into a form of emancipation. Good dialogue and extrapolation of current trends

4) Three Fortunes on Alcestis as Told by the Fraud Baeliss Shudal:by @louisinglishall.bsky.social charlatan soothsayer repeatedly risks getting in over her head but nonetheless consistently scrambles out of trouble. Rich, sweeping, delightful

3) Think of Me Before I Disappear by @alexinovae.bsky.social : Aniqa falls in love with her sexbot despite misgivings of her friends and family. Great exploration of agency, self. Prose flows so well

2) Painstaking by Rich Larson: mercenary inhabited by ravenous parasite that gives him quasi invulnerability via rapid regeneration flees paramilitary hunters seeking him and his clone brother. Intense

1) Remember Me in the Meat by @sarahpauling.bsky.social : cult member made forgettable in hypernet-neural connected world to assassinate megalomaniac corporate boss-formerly her lover- before leader commits risky gamble for so-called global pollution abatement. Brilliant mood,characters,pace. Tight

Clarkesworld 233. Ranking of stories follows

1) Mother’s Hip by @coreyjwhite.com and Maddison Stoff: Hynd is roped into a contract for Orinoco military drone delivery service against so-called anarchists who eventually break through her electronic neural handcuffs to liberate her. Music helps her recover. Wild, imaginative.

Best non fiction: Author Spotlight: Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe by A Humphrey Lanham:Good analysis of the story and the author’s thought process behind it

8) A Brief Public Announcement by Eli Brown: revisionist history of moon landings detailing how Apollo program failed to capture Moon King, who then turned around and avenged himself on Earth. Why not

7) Choose Your Own Damnation by Kehkashan Khalid: grade 10 gets bad grade on test and chooses increasingly hazardous options up to and including underworld pacts. Honourable attempt to tackle old theme in novel manner

So sorry! Reposted...

6) Bots All the Way Down by Effie Seiberg: bots realize they’re talking to each other on internet and not to humans, and change their behaviour accordingly. Some cleverness but too straightforward overall.

5) Hunter, Hunter by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe: on generation ship to distant star, the lower levels are populated by evil mutants that hunters keep in check. Ship must be split in two to allow it to reach destination. Hunter Kari appointed to command slow half of ship. Good world but end too abrupt.

4) Where the Chicken-Footed Dwell by Marisca Pichette : woman enters forest, seeking enchanted houses and disappearing potions. She finds the former and possibly the latter. Enchantment holds; good take on BabaYaga

3) The Moving Finger by Adam-Troy Castro: force of destiny oblivion appearing as human erases existence of all he interacts with. Nihilistic yet creative

2) Academic Neutrality by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social : university pact with devil to enforce said neutrality leads to ghastly literal curse, including new football stadium but obliterated football team. A touch too transparent, but that’s the point. Nice

Lightspeed January 2026 Issue 188. Ranking of stories follows

Best poem: The Point of Measurement by Lynne Sargent: “why might not the physicists//seek out fey?” yes, why not? Let them seek

7) In Terms of Safety by Chris Scott: first contact with two different alien civilizations on Saturn and Jupiter. Earth military tries to impose its conflictual vision. Aliens not impressed. Good effort but a touch too facile

6) Root and Branch by Sylvie Althoff: artificial worker humans (SyLF) created but experiment shut down, leaving them stranded, both dangerous and in danger. Their architect despairs and hides in jungle with last SyLF. Valid take on possible future

5) The Senidade by Parker McIntosh: woman 1000 years old but looking young due to youth pills goes on date with true young guy. They discuss aging and society. Refreshing exchange of perspectives

4) The Alabaster Crown by @deborahldavitt.com : young man, who ended up keeper of the magic crown, joins band of refugees as they flee war torn country. Good grit and sacrifice

3) A Dragon's Hunger by @madalenadaleziou.bsky.social : young Greek girl sent to become a dragon killer to save her country from the ravaging beast. At fateful encounter she has to choose. Good mix of historical and fantasy

2) A Song of Return by @jimoloughlin.bsky.social : hive entity consisting of multiple people strikes a reluctant deal with disliked neighbours to harvest toxic crop in return for half. Tensions simmer as different cultures interact in residential and family setting. Well-paced

1) Westward I Reach by @mcardlejeanne.bsky.social : earth-connected young girl in potato-blight-stricken Ireland is sent to England for schooling as part of cynical ploy. She asserts her power to save part of the English land but risks her soul doing so. Powerful, grand.