REVIEW: “This Is an Emergency Broadcast” by R.S.A. Garcia

Review of R.S.A. Garcia, “This Is an Emergency Broadcast”, Clarkesworld Issue 238, July (2026): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Oh my. What a story. This one will surely be collecting some nominations, I think!

I have been reading this very slowly amidst a busy few weeks, and it was so so worth it. 

Even when I only got to read a few minutes at a time, it was immediately arresting. So many moments in this story that evoked many different kinds of reactions and feelings in me. 

At the end of the story, when I tell you I got literal chills and scrolled all the way back up to check something again (you’ll know what I mean if you read the story).. this one was a pure pleasure to read. 

Do yourself a favour and read it. 

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REVIEW: “Iron & Garlic & Salt & Blood” by Nico Martinez Nocito

Review of Nico Martinez Nocito, “Iron & Garlic & Salt & Blood,” Flash Fiction Online 153 (August 2026): 15-16 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a story of how we as parents no matter how much we might want to protect our children, we cannot do so at the expense of letting them be alive. I think maybe we were supposed to sympathise with the narrator; instead, all I felt was joy for her daughter.

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REVIEW: “Pomegranates” by G. M. Mitchell

Review of G. M. Mitchell, “Pomegranates,” Flash Fiction Online 153 (August 2026): 3-5 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

For once, a pomegranate story that isn’t about Persephone! Instead, it’s about unicorns, and while reading it, I couldn’t help but think that after generations and generations, I’m pretty sure unicorns eventually figured out that virgins are always only there to lure them into a trap — and yet even knowing that, they still go willingly.

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REVIEW: “Fractal House” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor

Review of Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Fractal House,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 110-133 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I found this story somewhat annoying to start off with, but the moment at which it stopped from being annoying to being horror was the moment at which I realized we were supposed to find the story annoying up to that point.

Horror, yes, but also: kinda hilarious. I was properly amused by this story by the end.

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REVIEW: “Last Edit to THE ALL BANGERS LIST Made By Your Sex Robot at 11:39 A.M.” by Natalie Zutter

Review of Natalie Zutter, “Last Edit to THE ALL BANGERS LIST Made By Your Sex Robot at 11:39 A.M.,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 152-161 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

In this very interesting piece reflecting on how sex with a sex robot — especially one who has some level of personhood or at least the capacity to simulate falling in love — compares with sex with a person, the one thing that I found most interesting was the lack of any consideration of consent.

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REVIEW: “All Under Heaven” by Marie Brennan

Review of Marie Brennan, “All Under Heaven,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 9-26 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I loved the way this piece of historical fiction went back and forth between omniscient viewpoint, telling the truth that everyone knows, and an unreliable narrator, questioning the truth that everyone knows. It was a very effective technique that made me wonder just what was fact, and what was fiction — a question any historian knows we can never really know the answer to.

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