Review of Stephen M. A., “Short Swims From Great Heights,” Fantasy Magazine 84 (October 2022): 8-10 — Read here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There’s a lot of fish in this story, and I can’t tell if they are sentient/anthropormorophic, or just ordinary fish. This uncertainty lends a surreality to the experience of reading the story.
Review of Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí, “The Road,” Fantasy Magazine 84 (October 2022): 25 — Read here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a poem of longing and loss, with a hint of hope at the end.
Review of Abu Bakr Sadiq, “Wolves’ Heaven,” Fantasy Magazine 84 (October 2022): 24– Read here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There is a lovely ambiguity to this poem, which manages in a short space of time to explore an unusual character. I’m not normally one for werewolves, but this was interesting.
Review of Jennifer Hudak, “Sturgeon Moon Jam,” Flash Fiction Online 130 (July 2024): 20-23 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The “folk tale” subgenre is one that isn’t as often seen in speculative fiction, but that’s what I’d classify this story as — not a retelling of an old story, but a genuinely new folk tale. It’s a sweet little story, perfect for summer time.
(First published in Fantasy Magazine December 2022).
Review of Vivian Chou, “Perfect Vaca, No Filter,” Flash Fiction Online 130 (July 2024): 15-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
We all have read stupid online hotel reviews, so the genre that Chou chose for this story is perfectly familiar. However, I think we can all agree: Hotels that experience alien invasions maybe deserve at least one 1-star review!
Full of humor and wickedly realistic, this was a fun little story to read while traveling.
Review of Tess Lloyd, “Salisbury Confederate Prison, North Carolina, 1864,” Flash Fiction Online 130 (July 2024): 12-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this story. It was more a vignette than a story: An artful depiction of a specific time and place, but without enough for me to sink my teeth into to really get in to it.
Review of Rich Larson, “Ascension’s Eve,” Flash Fiction Online 130 (July 2024): 7-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
On Ascension’s Eve, 88 takes 99 on pilgrimage. What kind of pilgrimage would a digital identity need to make? Not only do I as the reader have this question, but it’s also clear as the story goes on that 99 doesn’t really understand this either. But 88 does, and through the story shows both me the reader and 99. It’s a weirdly mundane story, and also very sweet.
Review of Anna Dallara, “The Sibyl,” Flash Fiction Online 131 (August 2024): 22-24 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This, opened with a quote from the Aeneid to put the reader into an appropriate state of mind, was a lovely story of the limits of foretelling. There was a breath of love and a whisper of hope and an eternity of sadness, all packed into a neat, efficient little package.
Review of Sarah Jackson, “In the Path of the Giantess,” Flash Fiction Online 131 (August 2024): 19-21 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
So little happened in this story that it felt like the encounter between the narrator and the giantess was a metaphor for something — but what, I’m not really sure.
Review of Maya Dworsky-Rocha, “Godiva of the Broken Shell,” Flash Fiction Online 131 (August 2024): 16-18 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Inspired by the real-life Godiva and the events for which she is best known for, Dworsky-Rocha has created a weird SF story that trades shame for intimacy in a really effective and unexpected way.
SFF Reviews