Review of Sarah McPherson, “Shadow and Ash,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story combined two narrative techniques that I generally dislike — 2nd person POV with a vagueness of setting and characterisation — with the result that I never really found anything to sink my teeth into. This one just wasn’t for me.
Review of E. N. Díaz, “Just One Step and Then the Next”, Clarkesworld Issue 183, December (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A story about quiet resilience. Sometimes you have no choice but to take those small steps of courage. Sometimes the fear is so much, that a little more unfairness can push you into fearlessness. That’s what happened to Doña Chuy.
Dictatorial setups never work long term – you simply can’t win people over with a militaristic approach. This story takes us to the heart of a regular person’s life. We get to see, up close, Doña Chuy’s strength, because what can you be in such situations if not strong?
What else do you possess? A thought-provoking story.
Review of Wang Yuan, “Other Stories”, Clarkesworld Issue 183, December (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A fascinating novelette about fiction and time travel and how it comes together in lovely, strange ways. This is a story I read twice, simply because it had so much depth that I had to go back. After the first read, things are revealed, and I immediately started it again, knowing the plot and hence being able to connect the dots better, seeing phrases in a new light.
You can tell that this was quite intricately written, and it’s one of those stories you can keep revisiting. Highly recommend.
Review of Elana Gomel, “The Mother Tree,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Non-consensual sex, non-consensual pregnancy.
This was definitely not the sort of story I was expecting, veering off from fantasy to flirt with horror — the horror of pregnancy as your child takes over your body and then your life; the horror of losing a mother; the horror of being trapped in one place, unable to speak, unable to escape.
I loved it.
Review of Keira Reynolds, “The Wee Folks,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a proper fairy tale, where the wee folk are armed and dangerous and ready to laugh at human suffering, with a good dose of folk knowledge in the background.
Review of Maria Paige Brekke, “Beech, Please,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
After a decade of running a body-carving shop for dryads (basically the tree equivalent of tattoos), Rhiannon comes to realise that she’s become…normal. ordinary. part of the establishment. the “safe” option. Better that than burning childish designs into their bark like her competitor Eric, or so she tells herself. Anything is better than leaving her customers to Eric’s services. So of course, we the readers are not surprised at all when Rhiannon and Eric get thrown into a fix that they can only solve together.
This story wins the “best title” award for this (tree-themed) issue of LSQ, so of course I had to start with it. I’m delighted to say the story itself lived up to the promise of its title — snappy, full of humor, putting a smile on my face in every paragraph.
SFF Reviews