Short Reviews of Short SFF
Review of Tehunka, “An Obituary to Birdsong,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 11-12 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The ecology of this story may be unfamiliar, but watching its collapse is not. The obvious sadness of the story is the loss of the birdsong and all it entailed, but the smaller grief of how Sangeetha died I found more poignant.
(First published in If There’s Anyone Left, 2023.)
Review of Meagan Kane, “What a Name Does is Let You Leave,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 55-69 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m very deeply not a fan of 2nd person POV; unfortunately, that dislike is compounded when the POV is that of someone who is so obviously not me that the cognitive incongruence of being continually told that it is me overwhelms everything else.
Which is a shame, because I think told in a different perspective, I might have really enjoyed this story. Instead, I enjoyed it more in spite of itself, rather than because of it. There was a beautiful depth of longing threading through all of it which kept me reading on.
Review of Catherine Taveres, “Hunter Mother Sailor Wife,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 114-119. — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
As a fellow mother who flat-out refused to give up her pre-motherhood identity upon having a child (and who strongly feels she’s a better mother because of that refusal…), my heart went out to Cara in the opening pages of this story. I was so pleased by the outcome, and the way it was facilitated by the people around her.
Honestly one of the best stories I’ve read in ages. Gold stars all around, for Cara, for Jothi, for Taveres, for every lucky reader who gets to read this story.
Review of Sarah Grace Tuttle, “A Place to Grow,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 121. — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Short and sweet and strangely hopeful, this story was a perfect little dose of a pick-me-up!
Review of Katlina Sommerberg, “To Devour Your Own Name,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 110-113 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I found the central metaphor in this story a bit too strong, a bit too overt. But there are probably other people out there, still struggling to come to terms with how their identity clashes with what people say their identity should be, who would appreciate the power of the message of this story.
Review of P. A. Cornell, “The Soundtrack of My Afterlife,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 26-47 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: attempted rape.
“Then I died and became a car” (p. 26).
Sometimes, all it takes is one sentence in the opening page to make me know I’m going to love a story. That was this sentence for this story!
And I did love it. I’m of an age where the soundtrack of the narrator’s afterlife was also the soundtrack of my childhood, and of the songs I’m sharing with my own kid. Nothing like a good dose of nostalgia! But I also loved Cornell’s delicate touch in this coming-of-age story, and how realistic it felt. Honestly, this should be a movie!
Review of Abigail Guerrero, “This is Why Magical Realism
and Family Tree School Projects Shouldn’t Mix,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 19-25 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’m not sure if this was a ghost story, a fantasy story, a slipstream story, a magical realism story, or something else altogether, but I am sure it was A LOT of fun to read! And I loved the thread of something deeper and more serious that ran through it all: That we are not bound by our pasts and we are free to decide what our futures will be.
Review of Louis Inglis Hall, “The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods”, Clarkesworld Issue 236, May (2026): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A story that started off quite cute (if somewhat suspicious) and turned into something deeply unsettling that made me quite emotional by the end. A rollercoaster of emotions (in the best way) in under 4000 words!
Review of Ryan Cole, “Macaroni Art in the Age of Filtration”, Clarkesworld Issue 235, April (2026): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
It is difficult to breathe. In this story set in the indeterminate future.
But also in many places around the world even today.
Reading this story about gritty air and noxious gases and particulate matter will likely make you want to take deep breaths of gratitude.
More than once I was sharply reminded of this setting already being a reality for many. Many things in our world today reflect dystopian stories in various ways.. but the power of love and humanity is always what makes these stories so impactful.
Humans can do many curious, difficult, strong things – all for a sliver of hope.
Review of Stacie Turner, “Recording of Professor Elizabeth Boucher’s Opening Lecture on Death Ages Novels, University of Presque Isle, March 32, 2667,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 10-18 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: References to rape.
This is the story of every archivist’s worst nightmare: Late 20th/early 21st C literature and culture lost for ever because we thought electronic storage was stable and accessible. It’s also the story of at least one archivist’s best dream: That centuries from now, what our ancestors will remember of our society is fanfiction. I adored this story, and want to attend all of Dr. Boucher’s lectures.
SFF Reviews