Review of Brent Baldwin, “Dave the Terrible,” Flash Fiction Online (July 2023): 7-10 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story of the merging of real life and fantasy life was simultaneously deeply hilarious and deeply saddening. I really enjoyed it. The excerpt of the author interview included in the issue is worth the read, as it adds another layer to the story.
Review of Tania Fordwalker, “Lapis Lazuli,” Flash Fiction Online (June 2023): 18-20 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Enslavement.
I love it when an author can successfully take all the typical elements of a fairy tale, and turn them into some new, which is exactly what Fordwalker does in this story.
(First published in Andromeda Spaceways 58, 2013.)
Review of Daniel Galef, “The He-Bear,” Flash Fiction Online (June 2023): 14-17 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There was a lot of adjectives and dependent clauses in this story. Not necessarily a bad thing: But certainly something that requires a lot of effort and attention.
Review of Dafydd McKimm, “A Tiger in Eden,” Flash Fiction Online (June 2023): 6-9 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was beautifully enigmatic in the way it integrated fantasy and reality.
Review of Rich Larson, “To Rise, to Set,” Flash Fiction Online (June 2023): 10-13 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Rich Larson is one of those authors where whenever I see him in a journal line up, I get excited. His stories never fail to deliver — though what they deliver is different every time! This one gave me a strong character willing to speak up for her beliefs and for the protection of others. I will never not want to read stories that give me this.
Review of Marc A. Criley, “The Paleoneirologist’s Dreams,” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 29-31 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
If you don’t know what a paleoneirologist is (and are frustrated that no dictionary seems to know either), that’s okay, because Criley deftly tells you everything you need to know in this weird, waspish, biting little story. I really enjoyed it!
Review of Ai Jiang, “Behind the Tree,” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 35-37 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a very simple story — mostly dialogue, a little bit of characterization. It left me feeling like there was something I was missing, that I didn’t quite catch its purpose or point.
Review of Marissa Lingen, “The Plasticity of Youth”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
Jess is pregnant, and going to her scheduled doctor visit. She is stopped because of a raven that decided to eat her tires. Her daughter, when born, seems to be a bit different, but healthy. Over time, we learn that it’s not just tires; it’s just not ravens. A lot has started to charge.
I really like this type of story, where the world sort of changes without it having been done by humans. The humans are simply trying to navigate this world, just like everyone and everything else does.
It was strongly emotional, and I say this in the best possible meaning of the phrase.
Review of Léon Othenin-Girard, “Dark Night by the Sea” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 33 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: contemplation of suicide.
This story illustrates the best of what flash fic can be — incredibly compact and yet bursting with character and history.
Review of Isabel J. Kim, “The Massage Lady at Munjeong Road Bathhouse”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A well-structured story about Jinah, who works at the bathhouse. She has the ability to see and scrape off the scales on her clients’ bodies – scales that show the effect of choices.
These translucent scales turn opaque over time, at which point they cannot be scraped off, signifying the calcification of the choices they make.
At one point in the story, Jinah needs to make a choice. Does she think scraping off her own scales would be worth it?
An insightful, well written story. The characters have a lot of depth, too.
SFF Reviews