Short Reviews of Short SFF
Review of Abigail Koury, “The Piano Made of Fingers,” Flash Fiction Online 150 (March 2026): 16-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a curious and engaging read, but I spent the entire story thinking “Why fingers?” — there seemed little about the piano that was specific to the fact it was made of fingers. They could have been carrots, or snakes, or stones, or sticks.
Review of Beth Goder, “Moss Senses,” Flash Fiction Online 150 (March 2026): 11-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The FFO editors described this story as “science fiction,” but in my opinion it leans much more to the “horror” side of spec fic than the “SF” side — partly because there is very little science involved, and partly because of its inherent creepiness, which leaves the reader feeling displaced. The fact that the story could have been rewritten with pretty much anything other than moss and it would still work only enhances how odd and strange and unsettling it is.
Review of Christine Hanolsy, “A Thimbleful of Need,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 15-18 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Addiction.
This story of unequal desire and unmet needs left an unhappy taste in my mouth at the end.
Review of Christopher Degni, “Me an’ Streeter (an’ Vince) Chase a Comet,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story features not your average astronauts on not your average space journey (of course not, the journey started as a dare…), and it was a lot of fun.
Review of Christopher Blake, “In Brightness and in Darkness, We Sit,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 27-29 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death.
I love it when authors play with language, but love it less so when I can’t tell if they are, or if there’s just been poor proofreading. The lack of definite articles in this story is definitely evidence for the former; the first occurrence of “peerson” made me wonder if it was the former, until “peeple” turned up as well; however, the occurrence of “discretely” where one would normally expect to see “discreetly” seems much more plausibly a typo or editorial error than a deliberate choice.
Setting this matters aside, there was a wistful sadness to this story that I found quite endearing.
Review of Thomas Price, “A Lesson On Learning Your Place in the Universe,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 23-26 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There were so many layers to this story, so many routes it could’ve got that it didn’t, all resulting in a lesson that felt more like a reward than a punishment. What a well put together, enjoyable read!
Review of Elijah J. Mears, “Everyone Hates It When the Alien Shows Up At the Club,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 19-22 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I loved the narrative POV of this story. It was self-described “the collective hivemind of the club’s patrons” (p. 19), full of spiraling conversations and overlapping trains of thought, but it also reads exactly the way it sounds in my own head, just me. I know many people would find the endless tangents annoying and frustrating, but to me, this story just felt comforting. Highly recommended reading for other neurodivergents out there.
Three words to describe the story? Hilarious, bitchy, romantic. And three more: So much fun.
Review of Samantha Murray, “This Blue World,” Flash Fiction Online 149 (February 2026): 11-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story immediately presented me with two hurdles to get over: One, it’s 2nd person POV; two, it’s about ghosts. Neither of these narrative choices are my particular favorites, and I wasn’t sure that I’d get over both (or even either) of them. But Murray managed to pull it off, even if she waited until the penultimate two sentences!
(First printed in Fantasy Magazine September 2022)
Review of Wen Wen Yang, “In This Exchange of Names, I Say Please,” Flash Fiction Online 148 (January 2026): 32-34 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a beautiful and powerful story of immigration, integration, and intercultural heritage. It feels both autobiographical, but also curiously universal, at least for anyone who has ever had to bridge a divide between countries, languages, cultures, heritages, anyone who has ever been the foreigner, the displaced, the out of place.
Review of Cressida Roe, “The Memory Swap,” Flash Fiction Online 148 (January 2026): 28-31 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Have a memory you no longer want? Want a memory you no longer have? Roe’s memory swap story has the solution: Post an ad to a Craig’s-list-like forum, and see who takes you up. Of course, the fun part of the story is: Who would want the memories that someone else doesn’t want? And who can bear to give away the kind of memory that someone else might want? The result is an excellent mix of humor, sorrow, and more than a little a bit of horror.
SFF Reviews