Review of Archita Mittra, “The House Guest,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 147-155 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There’s something really sweet and gentle about this story, about a woman and her daughter and the abusive husband who finally left to never come back — and the houseguest that her daughter brings home, who brightens up their world even though he is only temporary.
Review of Elly McFadden, “The Grand Finale,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 109-124 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death. Lots of dead family members. And guns. And suicidal plans.
The basic premise of this story is simple, and true: When the apocalypse comes, not everyone can afford to escape it. McFadden’s narrator knows that she is one of those, and so decides to take matters into her own hands, to meet the apocalypse on her own terms. What unfolds is surprisingly lovely, and hopeful, even considering how it ends.
Review of Sarah Magaharan, “One, Sorrow, Two, Joy,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 37-54 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a weird, somewhat dreamy, slightly gruesome story, the dreaminess enhanced by the way it felt like a disjointed collection of incidents without any proper narrative thread. (This definitely felt intentional, not accidental!)
Review of Asa West, “Mothering Lessons,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 15-34 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Parental illness.
The background worldbuilding of this story is complex enough that it took me a bit of work to keep track of who was who, but the premise of it made the work more than worth it. Mostly sweet, often incredibly sad, and sometimes wretched, this was a wonderful story about learning how to be a mother — but also about sisterhood, and how complicated it can be, at any stage of life. Make sure you have tissues on hand while reading it. I haven’t cried so hard over something I’ve read for SFFReviews in years.
Review of K. J. Chien, “A Throne Fit for Two Kings,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 57-68 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Sun Wukong is 15, so he is small and therefore suited for the most dangerous jobs on the railway, usually those involving tight spaces and dynamite. One day a job goes awry and he ends up trapped — only to meet the most curious little character, whose sole purpose at first seems to be to tease and taunt him, but who eventually makes him an offer he can’t refuse.
This is a queer little story (in the sense of strange rather than straight). I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.
Review of Chloe-Lynn Russo, “Seven Days of Bleeding,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 270-273 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story traces one woman’s week of bleeding, and the effect of her blood upon the world each day. It’s quite short, and quite remote, in the sense that we only ever see the woman and her actions, never anything else. And yet, we never learn anything about the woman, who she is, where her power comes from, why she is doing all of this. So in the end, I felt I was wanting rather more than I got.
SFF Reviews