REVIEW: “Technical Magic” by Samantha Carr

Review of Samantha Carr, “Technical Magic,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Cheyanne’s mother is ill, and her sister Tricia wants to put her into a care home; after all, the two sisters have been caring for her for five years, and there’s a limit to how long Cheyanne can be expected to put her life on hold.

But Cheyanne doesn’t want her mother in a home, and is willing to go to extreme measures to prevent this. Unfortunately, technical magic only works when you follow all the details and instructions properly. This not particularly happy story had a not particularly happy ending, but there was never any reason to think it would.

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REVIEW: “Fittonia” by Libby Feltis

Review of Libby Feltis, “Fittonia,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

There were so many little bits and pieces in this story that are things I love — an emphasis on the importance of names, throwbacks to classic literature, sass, innuendo, writers writing stories as a means of currency, and happy endings. It was such a fun read. It was always an extremely realistic and believable account of the life of a highly sensitive and empathetic person.

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REVIEW: “Hedwig Eva” by Victory Witherkeigh

Review of Victory Witherkeigh, “Hedwig Eva,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 43-47 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a particularly odd time travel story — I’m not entirely sure what the motivation was for this specific combination of fictional character and
historical person, or what I was supposed to get from it. It was, nevertheless, compellingly told with beautiful details.

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REVIEW: “Ophelia’s Song” by Rebecca Birch

Review of Rebecca Birch, “Ophelia’s Song,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 37-42 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Death.

Kathleen has buried seven of her crewmates and now there’s no one left to bury her when she dies. The colonisation of this new planet is a failure. You’d think, from this, that this is a sad story — and while it definitely tugs at your heartstrings, there is just a little bit of hope at the end.

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REVIEW: “Afterlife” by Lucy Zhang

Review of Lucy Zhang, “Afterlife,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 25-28 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

One of my favorite parts of reading SFF and speculative fiction is when in the middle of something entirely fictive I get something that is so entirely real. In Zhang’s story, that comes via this killer line: “Anger and self-perceived injustices are a product of overstimulation.” And that’s just one excellent portion of this rich story full of a deeply different imagined world. High quality stuff!

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REVIEW: “Champion of the People” by Henry McFarland

Review of Henry McFarland, “Champion of the People,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 21-24 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I was of two minds about this story. On the one hand, it’s basically about a boy who is bullied but the experience is the catalyst for making him a hero. On the other hand, it’s basically about a boy who is bullied and the experience is the catalyst for making him a hero.

I don’t really like “abuse is okay because it makes you stronger” stories, but I do like “you don’t have to let other people define you stories.” So I’m very much on the fence with this one.

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