Clarkesworld Magazine, #13, Oct. 2007

Clarkesworld Magazine is an online ‘zine that’s been running for thirteen issues as I write this, although I must admit I haven’t previously read it. Coming across it for the first time, I had no preconceptions, and I found some intelligent and literate fiction which I admired, but also found myself wanting more.

In “A Dance Across Embers” by Lisa Mantchev, a young girl, Milena, and her friend, Ventsei, endeavour to find the answers as to why ghosts take people away from their village during the night. Set in a frozen, snow-filled Bulgaria, the story is littered with metaphor and description which mostly works but occasionally feels cluttered.

The writing is very good:

All the rain that had fallen during Grandmother Bear’s wedding had frozen in glittering rainbow-orbs that rolled and crunched underfoot as they picked their way through the forest. The trees were no longer bedecked with flower-garlands but reached skeletal arms toward the dour, gray sky.

But it sometimes detracts from the strong story line which hints at either political or spiritual unrest while allowing the reader to form their own conclusions.

The story meshes myth, dreams, and harsh reality to a convincing if not surprising effect, and the overall feeling at the conclusion is one of satisfaction. Mantchev has succeeded in nailing the ambiguity of growing up without becoming too sentimental in the telling. However, considering the age of the main characters—both around nine years old—some of their inherent wisdom is a little convenient, merely a plot device rather than completely realistic. Ventsei’s knowledge almost appears out of nowhere, and Milena’s innocence seems more than a little naïve. I think this is because the characters are metaphors in themselves, rather than being fleshed out, and I would have preferred more internal questioning of their actions rather than being flooded by the scene-setting.

The second story is “Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang” by Kristin Mandigma. Mandigma draws on Filipino folklore; an aswang is one of the most feared supernatural creatures in the Philippines. They can enter the body of a person and through that person inflict harm on whoever they dislike, often appearing as ugly old women during the course of the transformation. Although that isn’t implicit in the story, therefore requiring a little background research to make sense of it, here, it isn’t so much that the letter-writer is an aswang, but that she is also a socialist who has been asked to write a “speculative fiction” story for an SF magazine. The aswang contends that just because she is a supernatural entity, that doesn’t make her equipped to write such a piece, and she prefers instead to focus on politics which are more “real.”

While it’s a clever piece in some ways, it also contains a condescending edge to the writing which—while capturing the main character’s voice—does spill out and colour the story. Perhaps it’s because it’s a little twee for me, of the take-two-opposing-ideas-and-see-what-happens-to-them type of fiction, that its artificiality left me a bit cold. As an amusing slice of fiction it works well, as a discourse on the nature of fiction and fantasy it also has merit. However, it doesn’t leave a lasting impression, being the sum of its parts and no more. Having said that, I’m sure other readers will adore it.

As well as fiction, this issue of Clarkesworld contains non-fiction by Chris Garcia and a very interesting interview with Steph Swainston conducted by Jeff Vandermeer. The cover artwork by Naomi Chen is excellent.