The December issue of Clarkesworld came out on time at the start of the month, but I was rushing around the country at the time and I decided not post about it over the weekend as I get a lot less site visits then. Now it is Monday I can get back to work. Here’s what we have for you this month.

This issue has a science fictional air to it. The lead story is “Sirius” by Australian author, Ben Peek. It is a fairly grim tale, but very pointed. The excellent Kate Baker provides an audio version.

Story two for December is “In Which Faster-Than-Light Travel Solves All of Our Problems” by Chris Stabback, who also hails from Sydney (I have no idea whether this is by accident or design). This one is more creepy than grim. It will be available on audio later in the month.

Finally in the fiction we have the final part of Catherynne M. Valente’s novella, “Silently and Very Fast”. I’m hearing very good things about this one from various short fiction experts, so do check it out.

Jeremy’s column this month is an interview with French writer, Aliette de Bodard. I gather from her Twitter feed that she’s very pleased with it. It sounds like she needs Scrivener.

My final column for the magazine is “Where No Human Has Gone Before: Visiting Sci-Fi’s Exoplanets on Earth” by Brenta Blevins. It is a tour around various bits of eccentric geography in the USA that have been used as settings for alien planets in science fiction TV episodes and movies. Brenta has visited these places herself and provided some great photos to go with the article. The only one we got from elsewhere was the shot of White Sands, and that’s because Brenta only had print photos.

There’s no editorial this month, but Neil did make a Happy Holidays card. It has indeed been a great year.

The cover for December is “Reactor” by Berlin-based artist, Folko Streese. The detail is fantastic.

That’s my last issue of Clarkesworld. I’d like to wish Jason the best of luck with the non-fiction column. I’m sure he’ll be buying some great articles.

As always, the issue is available from the Wizard’s Tower Store. Yes, you can read it online for free, but buying a copy helps Neil pay for the material we publish. Your support is always appreciated.

Also in the store are the December issues of Lightspeed and Fantasy. As you are probably aware, John Joseph Adams is taking over the publication of the magazines from Prime, and I understand he’ll be merging them, carrying both SF and fantasy fiction.

And on the subject of magazines, congratulations to Lynne M. Thomas for her first issue at the helm of Apex. It includes an article on “The Australian Dark Weird” by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Who knew that Aussies could be so creepy? I blame the drop bears myself.