REVIEW: “Our Last Celebration” by Susan Webster

Review of Susan Webster, “Our Last Celebration,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 215-225 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Euthanasia.

There was something about this story that didn’t sit right with me, that felt a bit “off”. I couldn’t help but read about the celebration and wonder: How rich did one have to be, in this post-apocalyptic setting, to get to have a last celebration? (Rachel drives a BMW, so: rich enough, at least!) What about all the others — the young cadet who guards the gate, the two women whose responsibility it is to ensure the celebration is a success? What will happen to them? Do they ever have the chance to escape for a celebration, or are they fated to only serve the ones who are rich enough?

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REVIEW: “Asra’s Magnificent Emporium of Clockworks and Curses” by Madalena Daleziou

Review of Madalena Daleziou, “Asra’s Magnificent Emporium,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 291-301 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I always enjoy fantasy stories (which this definitely is: cursed objects! divination! witches!) that are nevertheless set in SF settings (Europa!) — there’s something about the cross-genre blending that tickles me. This was an enjoyable tale, no deep thoughts, no big moral, just some slices of Asra’s life and a peak into her very magnificent indeed emporium.

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REVIEW: “Lentils for Breakfast” by Maroon Stranger

Review of Maroon Stranger, “Lentils for Breakfast,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 113-125 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This charming story, of a girl growing up and spreading her wings at the most important institution in the country for her particular brand of magic, starting off such a feel-good story that I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it never did!

Not that there wasn’t anything that went wrong, that Deepika didn’t face any challenges or that everything was sweet (in fact, quite the opposite), but Stranger addresses the racism that Deepika faces head on, and gives Deepika a way out. A truly magical little story.

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REVIEW: “Silver and Silt” by Lydia O’Donnell

Review of Lydia O’Donnell, “Silver and Silt,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 175-184 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I don’t often come across stories featuring male selkies, so that was an interesting novelty in this one. But as with many stories about forbidden love, this one wasn’t really about whether the narrator and her selkie would have their happy ever after, and more about one girl’s path to finding what it is she really wants.

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