Review of Emma Schmid, “Light Keepers,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 80-106 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I really enjoyed this lovely little story about lighthouses and stories, a gentle, peaceful read. It reminded me in essence of Natasha Pullman’s The Kingdoms, which was my book of the year the year I read it, so that’s an extremely high compliment.
Review of Fija Callaghan, “Real People,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 70-78 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Before the story starts there is a note about the author’s inspiration, a note which definitely made me nervous about what would be coming. But, I shouldn’t have been: This story took the best part of its inspiration, rather than the worst parts, and turned it into something new and magical. It’s a story about the things we love as children and what comes after we’ve grown up. It made me think of my own baby girl doll, Catherine, who when she was inherited by my daughter remained Catherine but somehow ended up a he instead, and wonder who she might be if she’s inherited by a grandchild.
Review of Diana Deverell, “Clean and Godly in Denmark,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 184-200 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I picked this story to start the issue with because it has just the best title — full of humor and giving nothing at all about the story away. I don’t want to spoil the fun for the reader of discovering for themself what kind of a story it is, which makes reviewing it difficult! I’ll only say that the relationship portrayed in it is beautiful, and the story itself was both fun and sobering to read.
(First published in Fiction River – Hard Choices, 2018).
Review of Emma Burnett, “Plastic-Eating Fungus Caused Doomsday [2][3],” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 12-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is the first time I’ve encountered a story written in the form of the talk page of a wikipedia article. Burnett constructed this brilliantly, right up to the ending that made me laugh Two thumbs up, recommended reading even if you don’t like fungus!
(First published in Nature: Futures June 2024).
Review of D. A. Straith, “A Year in the Life of the Drowned Wastewater Plant East of Bellmarsh Village,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 27-29 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
For a story set in a post-apocalyptic setting, this was surprisingly peaceful and serene, and even almost hopeful. A lovely little gem in this issue!
Review of Tina S. Zhu, “Why I Quit Teaching at the Villain Academy,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 17-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Maybe it’s just because I’m an academic at the end of term, but you can totally read the first page of this story replacing “villain academy” with “university” and “villain” with “academic” and it is so, so, depressingly true. Doesn’t get much better on the second page, even if the substitutions no longer really work, because it’s full on climate depression.
Basically, don’t read unless you’re in a mood to get really bummed out!
Review of Malda Marlys, “Bone Birds Fly,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 20-22 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a story about living after the end of the world, when everything else is dead and dry and gone, and yet just because we’ve killed the world doesn’t mean that we ourselves aren’t still struggling along in the aftermath. Pretty bleak.
Review of Liz J. Bradley, “A Soft and Silent Glow,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 23-25 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I love it when I get to read an author’s debut story! Bradley’s dystopian future has more than a hint of magic about it — a lovely contrast carefully blended. There’s nothing especially hopeful or happy about the story, but there is something beautiful about it.
Review of Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, “The Caged Budgerigars,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility.
This was a well-put-together story but upon reading it I knew I’d have difficulty reviewing it because it’s not really speculative in any way (FFO has the occasional non-spec story). But I was curious about what the issue’s theme was, to see if understanding how it fit into the theme would reveal something more than what was in the story itself. The theme for this issue is “eco-futures,” and knowing that didn’t actually clue me in any more; this story is very much rooted in the present. So I delved into the editorial to see if I could understand why the editors chose this particular story for this particular theme, and Halsey’s comment piqued my interest: “I went with this portrayal of a woman struggling with her inability to have children because it mirrors the intimacy of another mother’s story within this issue” (p. 6). Guess I’ll have to read that one next!
Review of Rachael K. Jones, “Five Functions of Your Bionosaur,” Small Wonders no. 4 (October 2023): 40-43 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story is unutterably sweet and desperately sad, and left me crying in my office.
(First published in Robot Dinosaurs, 2018.)
SFF Reviews