January 2018 – Page 4

One reason why I (Sara) don’t put too much stock in long term plans is that some of the best parts of my life have happened with very little advance plotting. This site is one. How could I have ever planned to encounter that one tweet that sparks an “I could do this” thought that leads to a “let’s do this” FB post that leads to finding a new friend and co-conspirator (Sarah). How could I have ever known when we kicked things off for real in the middle of September, that by the end of the year we would be hosting 25 reviewers reviewing nearly 30 magazines and journals as well as a number of anthologies and serials.

Since September 15 we have published over 80 reviews of short science fiction/fantasy/speculative stories, and had more than 5,000 hits on the blog. We’ve got another 110 reviews in the publishing queue, and to keep up with them all, we’re tentatively moving to a twice-per-day schedule starting next month. There is so much short fiction out there to read, and I’m sure I speak for all the reviewers when I say how much fun we’re having reading it. But there’d be no point in reading it and writing about it if there weren’t also readers out there for reviews, and not just stories. So, thank you all for reading, for sharing, for tweeting, for commenting, and for supporting us. Onwards and upwards! To aleph-naught and beyond! Ad astra per aspera! Bring on 2018!

Review of R. L. Martinez, “Hunting the Blue Rim”, Luna Station Quarterly 31: Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The story opens with quite a bit of scene and history setting: We are told much about the geography, and about physical aspects of Spur herself, but what is most interesting are the references to “What Came Before”. It is clear that this is intended to be what we are familiar with today in our ordinary world and lives — oceans, cities, etc. — but what is intriguing is the question that is left unanswered at the start: Before what?

This question is never answered.

There are other aspects of the logic of the story that I find perplexing. “Hunting was not a sport or game,” we are told, but when Spur kills her first quarry, she does so to obtain favor from the Green Lady, not from any need. Though she eats the heart and the liver, she then leaves the rest to be despoiled. As we are told her purpose in searching for her true quarry, we find it is not for any bodily need but a social one — unless she kills her quarry on this, her third attempt, Spur will “spend her life in perpetual childhood and servitude while her magic remained asleep and caged until it shriveled and died inside her”. It is hard to see how this doesn’t make the hunting a game or sport, albeit one with important social consequences; even with these, it is still a game to be played, to be won or lost.

In the end, I felt like I was never quite as invested in Spur and her hunt as I should have been; nor was there any final twist at the end to surprise me in the climax. It was a solid story, but not sparkling.

Month: January 2018

Thank you for a great 2017!

REVIEW: “Hunting the Blue Rim” by R. L. Martinez