Review of E. M. Linden, “Fragments Recovered From the Wreck of the Seaglass,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (July 2026): 17-23 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Speculative historical botany! Who wouldn’t love a story about speculative historical botany — I definitely did. And this story nailed the ending: the final sentence was an absolute chiller.
Review of Laura Duerr, “A Perfect Light,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (July 2026): 12-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
It’s amazing how claustrophobic the deep sea can seem — which is why it makes such a great setting for insidious, unsettling horror. I found that part of this story perfectly tuned, just right to send a shiver down my spine. The ending, I found, didn’t quite match up to the rest of the story, taking this from potentially excellent to merely “a good read”.
Review of Nick Badot, “Kingdom of Steve,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (July 2026): 8-11 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Awww, this story was really sweet. At the started I wasn’t sure where/how it would go, or if I would like where/how it did, but I found the ending really heartwarming.
Review of Sarah Gane Burton, “For the Birds,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 26-28 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
What an odd little story. I honestly have no idea what I was supposed to take away from it.
Review of River S, “Sad Mecha Girls,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 22-25 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Drug use, military conscription.
This is definitely a “what it says on the tin” story — the title tells you pretty much all you need to know. Sad mecha girls aren’t the sort of thing I’d seek out myself to read about, but if you want a dose of depressed fatalism, you could do worse than give this story a go.
Review of Aimee Ogden, “What Any Dead Thing Wants,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 72-109 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was exceptionally long, meaning I kept putting it off whenever I’d sit down to read and review a story because I didn’t have the time.
I finally did today, and the story completely repaid what I spent on it. At the end, I find it hard to know what to say about it, other than echo Hob when he says that “he would have known what to do, if there were obvious bad guys” (p. 103). It’s a story where there’s no good moves, even when there are moves that are right, and it ends up being really, really sad.
(First published on psychopomp.com, 2024)
Review of Annie ZH Sun, “The Right Hand of Justice,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was wildly fascinating. My only complaint is that it was too short. I want the epic version of this story, I want to know all about this world, I want to know how the main character got how they did, I want to know more about the woman who knows about the noodle shop.
I want to see the law get changed.
Review of Joshua Jones Lofflin, “Flekke,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Infertility, infidelity.
After having spent many years now review speculative fiction on this blog, I’ve learned that there are many things that I will forgive in a story if it is in a speculative genre. When the speculative overlay is missing, I’m much, much more judgemental. In the case of this story, I honestly don’t understand what the point is — why tell an ordinary story about ordinary life and ordinary sins, when there are so many extraordinary stories that could be told instead?
This one was definitely not for me.
Review of Christine Hanolsy, “Festival,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a story of both regrets and hopes, and the fact that by the end, the hopes and dreams outweighed the regrets and sorrows made me very happy.
(First published in Small Wonders September 2023)
Review of Tehnuka, “An Obituary to Birdsong,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 11-12 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The ecology of this story may be unfamiliar, but watching its collapse is not. The obvious sadness of the story is the loss of the birdsong and all it entailed, but the smaller grief of how Sangeetha died I found more poignant.
(First published in If There’s Anyone Left, 2023.)
SFF Reviews