Clarkesworld Magazine, #20, May 2008

“A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antartica” by Catherynne M. Valente was a very difficult read. I had a hard time figuring out what the story was even about until after I was halfway through, and the temptation to skip whole paragraphs accumulated as I read. If anything, read this to see why it’s so important to have a hook at or near the beginning, for if I had merely been a casual reader, I would have stopped reading after the third confusing paragraph. Valente had a great idea behind the story-and perhaps it would’ve been a great story-but it suffers from poor execution, which obviously has more to do with the chosen format for the tale than Valente’s writing skills.

“Birdwatcher” by Garth Upshaw, while much less confusing than the first tale, still suffers in its own way. In this case, an utter lack of motive behind what’s happening in the story is compounded by a lack of necessary background information to help the reader understand the bitter relationship between Doyle and his mother. I did not care one whit about any of the characters. My sympathy was more for the poor crows than any of the humans. Again, a great story idea that sadly ends up lacking in execution.

Most of the former issues of Clarkesworld Magazine have shown a healthy balance between genre and literary. But issue #20 seems to have broken that emerging tradition by swinging a little too far toward the literary spectrum. Hopefully, later issues will return to the balancing act I’ve grown to enjoy in this magazine.