REVIEW: “Leavings” by Shira Musicant

Review of Shira Musicant, “Leavings,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The story comes with a content warning for suicide, but what I found most difficult to read was how eerily and uncannily accurate it was at representing the feeling of displacement that comes with being (in my case) neurodivergent. In a world of neurotypical stories, finding a character whose interactions with his universe come at a slant is not only surprising but also surprisingly difficult. There is a reality to this story that many stories don’t have, and I don’t mean this just in the sense that it was billed as “literary” rather than “speculative”. Worthwhile read, but also worth heading the content warning.

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REVIEW: “Cedar Glen” by Alicia Adams

Review of Alicia Adams, “Cedar Glen,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 222-239 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story had an eerie, slightly surreal quality to it — you can tell from the start that something is wrong even if you can’t tell what. It sort of feels like the two characters are the only people in the world who missed the memo about Covid lockdown.

We never get any answers, just a growing sense of doom. It was gripping, and really sad.

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REVIEW: “A Pound of Flesh” by K R Samp

Review of K R Samp, “A Pound of Flesh,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 246-257 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Oooh, this was a good story. First, the basic premise: Sometimes the witch is the one who is cursed rather than the one who curses — amusing and clever, right? It starts off with all the basic haunted-house tropes, but not too many that the reader gets bored or irritated. And then there are a hint or two dropped so that there’s a point where I suddenly sucked in my breath and went “OH, I know what kind of story this is!”, and then gulped in the rest avidly to see if I was right or not.

AND I WAS. If you want a joyful, glorious, witchy, trans-positive story, read this.

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REVIEW: “Lost Souls” by Rae Maybee

Review of Rae Maybee, “Lost Souls,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 240-245 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

There was something about this story that really took me, sucked me in and made me love it, even though a lot of its external trappings are things I don’t ordinarily like. Maybe it was the combination of 2nd person with the subjunctive — instead of the narrator telling me how I do feel, they told me how I might feel — if only I did the right things, went the right places, asked the right questions. So this story allowed me to inhabit a “what if,” which is, honestly, what we want our stories to do.

It was short, it offered me a few minutes escapism, and it delivered on that — equal parts fairy tale and a tale of how we’d want people to respond in the actual world. All in all, it was really good stuff.

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REVIEW: “Souls on the Open Plane” by Remy Welch

Review of Remy Welch, “Souls on the Open Plane,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 176-195 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story, told through alternating diary entries, introduces us to Lyre, a human scientist on an expedition space ship, and Bob, a Ragak who works in her lab. The entries are distinctive in voice in a way that conveys Bob’s alien-ness very effectively, and there is a rich sense of development. This was a strong debut publication for Welch — I look forward to reading more by her!

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REVIEW: “The Fish Who Dreamt of Dragons” by Lilia Zhang

Review of Lilia Zhang, “The Fish Who Dreamt of Dragons,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 156-175 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Xinyue is the last member of the Crescent Moon sect — more than that, she is the Crescent Moon sect — and while other warriors discount her at first, her prowess earns her fame as she travels the world. When a fisher village is beset by a deadly spirit, Xinyue meets Wanyue and takes on her first disciple. Xinyue and Wanyue then travel together, until Xinyue’s fame catches the attention of the emperor and fate catches up with her — a fate that only Wanyue can rescue her from.

I don’t get to read much Wuxia in English — so I really enjoyed this!

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REVIEW: “Open Your Eyes” by Allie Marini

Review of Allie Marini, “Open Your Eyes,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 124-139 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: miscarriage, death of a parent.

This is a two-part story, switching viewpoint half-way through. The first half I felt dragged a bit; there was a lot of prose at times, which I’ll admit I ended up skimming because it seemed primarily to just spend time, rather than push the story forward or tell me more about the character. But things picked up in the second half, and it ended strongly.

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