Science Fiction & Fantasy

The problem with sentient battle tanks is their drivers.
Realizing this after (unfortunately not before) the Battle of Kuching, the military quietly shifted their AI strategies toward botnets and other nonsocial intelligents that can take down the utilities and welfare systems of entire regions without worrying too much about the consequences. Sentient battle tanks quietly joined [...]

This episode features “The Lori” written by Fiona Moore. Published in the August 2020 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_08_20

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 167 - The Lori by Fiona Moore [26:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (14440)

Ambient lights dimmed throughout the starship. The arbitrary definition of nighttime on the Bakunawa. Buried within a confusion of workstation alerts was a flashing red distress beacon. Transitioning from mimetic, eye-sensor controls to standard, manual controls gave me a headache. I left the beacon for Captain Onome to find.
We were on our usual route home, [...]

I knew I was mad. It had to be so. No one would volunteer to do what I did. I wore a biohazard suit every day, sealed tight from head to foot, and it didn’t bother me at all. Actually, I was quite at ease suited up. A normal person wouldn’t be so calm. No [...]

It’s 1607 (according to some calendars) and a falling cone from an elderly Pinaceae sitchensis catches on the rotting bark of a nurse log that sprouted while Al-Ma’mun founded the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. On this particular north Pacific island, the days are cold, and the water in Kaatza—the big lake near where this [...]

“Ogua-Lik is Kevinsberg’s true name.” Breeze Frame panned their cameras up from the beach, capturing a scaffold of industrial build clamped to the rough-hewn island cliffs. The tide was in, obscuring the submarine roots of the settlement’s forest of upthrust pipes, power mains, and chimneys climbing to the plateau. Following them to the top, Breeze [...]

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There was no stepping inside until his caution was disabled.
So that was what he did to himself.
Then, unburdened by worry, he made himself quite narrow in order to pass through what only pretended to be a conventional fuel line.
Quality minds had studied the spherical artifact, but always from respectful distances. The reigning consensus was that [...]

This episode features “The House That Leapt into Forever” written by Beth Goder. Published in the July 2020 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/goder_07_20

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 166 - The House That Leapt into Forever by Beth Goder [10:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10290)

This episode features “The Oddish Gesture of Humans” written by Gabriel Calácia. Published in the July 2020 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/calacia_07_20

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 166 - The Oddish Gesture of Humans by Gabriel Calácia [15:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (9604)

This episode features “Strange Comfort” written by Tegan Moore. Published in the July 2020 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_07_20

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 166 - Strange Comfort by Tegan Moore [58:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (15234)