REVIEW: “The Family Proof” by Arianna Reiche

Review of Arianna Reiche, “The Family Proof,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 1-44 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Sexual assault/violence.

At 44 pages, this is almost a novelette than a short story. But the length worked: It allowed Reiche to feed the reader small bits and dribs and drabs, the hints that let us know that things are not as they seem. It’s a story that sits in the uncanny valley: It’s almost just an ordinary story about ordinary people, and just enough not that to make for an incredibly rewarding read. (I also think it would make a fascinating short film.)

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REVIEW: “Rain Town” by Mary J. Daley

Review of Mary J. Daley, “Rain Town,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Lyn and her parents live in a Rain Town — something we, the reader, never quite find out what it is, and yet Daley gives just enough details to allow us the piece together an intricate backstory to this world that feels both incredibly familiar and yet altogether foreign. Is it a vision of what our world might be in the future? Is it an alternate past? Or is it entirely it’s own thing? Again, none of these questions are answered, but instead provide a backdrop for what is, at the heart of it, a simple story: A stranger comes to town, works for room and board, and when he is able to, leaves again. Yet there was also so much more to it than that, making for an extremely effective and satisfying read.

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REVIEW: “Hell’s Bells” by Cass Sims Knight

Review of Cass Sims Knight, “Hell’s Bells,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Sexual harassment, physical assault.

Annie’s a telepath whose abilities tend to get herself labelled as a witch. When her horse throws a shoe, she is forced into town to find a blacksmith to replace it.

What a curious little story this was: No grand narrative, no momentous goal or quest arc, no moment of discovery. Just the story of a woman and her horse who came into town, got into trouble, and got themselves back out of trouble again. And, yet, I really enjoyed it.

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REVIEW: “A Unicorn’s Horn is Proof Against Poison” by Clare Packard

Review of Clare Packard, “A Unicorn’s Horn is Proof Against Poison,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Assassination plots! Intrigue! Spies! Unicorns! True love! All in the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. This story had just enough history and just enough fantasy to hit a sweet spot, for something really fun and enjoyable to read.

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REVIEW: “Horse Girls Til the End” by SK Marre

Review of SK Marre, “Horse Girls Til the End,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’m not much of a horse girl myself, but I love a good story about an underrepresented mythological creature, and I loved the way Marre told this entire story through text messages. Modern, but extremely effective. This was just pure pleasure and fun to read.

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REVIEW: “High to Kolob on a Cosmic Clydesdale” by Katrina Carruth

Review of Katrina Carruth, “High to Kolob on a Cosmic Clydesdale,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Be wary what you wish for when you go to your friend’s new moon crystal party — the narrator of this story wished for manifest destiny and ended up with a cosmic Clydesdale in her livingroom!

For the most part this was a quick read despite being a long story, light and humorful, but towards the end it turned surprisingly deep, in a way that made it feel like more than fluff. It can be hard to shift tone midway through a story like this, but I feel Carruth pulled it off well. It all made sense, which feels like an odd thing to say about a fantasy story, but it’s true.

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REVIEW: “Hospitality” by Jennifer Skogen

Review of Jennifer Skogen, “Hospitality,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is the sort of story that I really love — quiet and intimate in its focus, but grand and sweeping in its backdrop, with characters that I can sympathise with and root for. Caroline’s longing for something other than what her little village can offer her tugged at my heart and made me hope for the best for her.

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REVIEW: “Rodney’s Request” by Mary Jo Rabe

Review of Mary Jo Rabe, “Rodney’s Request,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story about a Scottish unicorn visiting Iowa (a state I know well through my husband, also an Iowa State alumni!) made me laugh, which was exactly the tonic I needed amidst some dark times. Sometimes, I am incredibly grateful that short fiction is a thing, and that places like LSQ and authors like Rabe make it so easy for us to have.

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