REVIEW: “Zig and Zag’s Guide to Crash Landing” by Harklin Ashe

Review of Harklin Ashe, “Zig and Zag’s Guide to Crash Landing,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 107-122 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Such a sad story this was, woven through with death and grief and loss, so many events conspiring to leave Miral alone with only echoes to help guide her through landing Turulla on a deserted island. It’s also very tense: 15 pages is a lot of pages to land a flying machine! I spent the entire story on the edge of my seat, wondering how it would all resolve. The ending did not disappoint.

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REVIEW: “Hazard Pay; Competence; Wyrms” by Catherine George

Review of Catherine George, “Hazard Pay; Competence; Wyrms,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 89-104 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

As a union caseworker myself, I had a lot of fun reading this series of grievances between unions and employers — it reminded me that no matter how bad employer/employee relations get, at least I’m dealing with university vice chancellors and not basilisks! However, I will note that the most fantastical element of this story, in my opinion, was not the basilisks, wyrms, hamadryads, etc., but the fact that so many of the resolutions to the grievances were, in my opinion, fair and reasonable and appropriate! If only reality were like that…

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REVIEW: “The Grass is Pinker on the Other Side” by Kelley Tai

Review of Kelley Tai, “The Grass is Pinker on the Other Side,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 206-210 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Predation, exploitation, ruthless slaughter…all characteristics of this story which is not at all pleasant, not at all uplifting, without any happiness at all. It’s short, but that doesn’t make it any easier to read.

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REVIEW: “Spaghettification” by Lauren Ferebee

Review of Lauren Ferebee, “Spaghettification,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 195-205 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Death of a parent.

As a story of negotiating grief and memory of a dead parent, I found this eerie and a bit creepy and full of sucker punch lines like: “This is about omission and lies and what is rightfully ours from our ancestors” (p. 200). It’s a story that demonstrates the power of fantasy fiction: It provides us with a way to navigate the unfathomable.

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REVIEW: “Time Surfing” by Isabel McKeough

Review of Isabel McKeough, “Time Surfing,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 135-140 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

While overall I enjoyed this meditative little story, I felt like it was a bit of a bait and switch: the opening paragraphs set up a promise of tapping into the temporal magic of books and libraries, but in the remainder, while there was definitely temporal magic, it was rooted in dreams, uncoupled from anything bookish. Still, I can’t criticize a story too much for not being the one I would’ve written from the same premise.

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REVIEW: “As Per My Last Email” by Eleanor Rasor

Review of Eleanor Rasor, “As Per My Last Email,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 47-80 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I loved every aspect of this story — from the recalled library books to the students moaning to each other about homework via text to the magical disaster — but mostly I loved the library romance (since my very own 20+ year marriage started as a library romance!). Want a wonderful pick-me-up? Read this story!!

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REVIEW: “Two Nights at the Doll House” by Maggie Slater

Review of Maggie Slater, “Two Nights at the Doll House,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 19-24 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Miscarriage/baby loss.

I feel like I’ve been reviewing a higher number of 2nd person POV stories lately — both more horror stories written in that POV, and more 2nd person POV stories which are horror. Maybe I’m noticing this because 2nd person POV is very rarely my thing, and I also tend to be quite choosy about my horror.

All that to as a preface to say: I really wonder what this story would have been liked in either 1st or 3rd — I suspect, distinctly more disturbing.

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REVIEW: “Tongue” by Denman Netherland

Review of Denman Netherland, “Tongue,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 179-187 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is one of the most bizarre stories that I’ve ever read while reviewing for this blog. Parts of it were so normal, so natural, I had to keep reminding myself that this is a spec fic story. Parts of it had eerie resonances with psychological horror. But that ending? What the hell was that?! Just, wow.

Don’t read if body stuff and/or medical malfeisance isn’t your thing!

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