REVIEW: “The Mirror” by Alice Paige

Review of Alice Paige, “The Mirror”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The titular mirror is located inside the Black Box, part of a long-running particle physics experiment run by Dr. Fredric Vasquez. Viv has been working for Dr. Vasquez for a few years, mostly doing data analysis, but now it’s her chance to do something more — to be the thirteenth person to enter the Black Box. Viv is in the box because she believes that there is magic inherent in the study of the universe, and she wants to contribute to that study in the most personal of ways: Her girlfriend Anna is missing, and this might be the only way to find out what happened to her.

This was a good solid story; while the basic tropes involved were familiar, the details of the execution were distinctive.

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REVIEW: “Vegoia” by Patrice Rivara

Review of Patrice Rivara, “Vegoia”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a story richly full of entirely foreign tradition and ritual. I really enjoy it when a story can nail the sense of the world being written about is not ours, not just because it is “ours but tweaked” but because it is wholly different. This can be hard to do in a short story; but Rivara does it, and the skill with which this is done makes the ending all the more unexpected!

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REVIEW: “Poubelle” by Robert Reed

Review of Robert Reed, “Poubelle”, Clarkesworld Issue 177, June (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

This was set in a very imaginative, aesthetic and detailed world, and for me the world building was the best part of the story.

Caste and class differences play an important role, as does the inherent greed and avarice of humanity. I especially liked Fret, and would definitely like to read something elaborating on the history of the Family.

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REVIEW: “The Voiceless of Shalott” by Jennifer Shelby

Review of Jennifer Shelby, “The Voiceless of Shalott”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I didn’t dare tell them that I wanted to be more than my virginity or someone’s wife.

Tasilinn is taken by her parents to Shalott where she will be kept under guard for the seven years of her adolescence, to ensure her purity is maintained. She has no say in the matter — literally, for before they leave her on the island, they fill her throat with scriptures and burn them until her voice is burned away as well.

I really enjoyed Shelby’s story of which focuses on how silence is used to control women. It is a sharp, harsh commentary on modern misogyny, and well written.

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REVIEW: “Mother Haskell” by Maeghan Klinker

Review of Maeghan Klinker, “Mother Haskell”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I feel like this story needs a warning, do not read if hungry! Mother Haskell tends an orchard that always bears, and bakes the best apple pies from the fruit; and after reading all the descriptions, now I want pie! Pies so good, you could almost bribe Death with them…and that’s exactly what Mother Haskell tries when her trees start to die.

A fun, yummy, sweet, story. (I was a bit surprised, though, by “the sweet maple syrup she’d collected herself when the maples were vibrant and blushing with fall” — I thought syrup was collected in early spring!)

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REVIEW: “Swallows (Or How the Men Lost Their Magic)” by E. A. Fowler

Review of E. A. Fowler, “Swallows (Or How the Men Lost Their Magic)”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The parenthetical in the title sums up the gist of the story: But what’s distinctive about it is whose viewpoint Fowler has chosen to portray the events through. The result is raw and powerful and more than a little disturbing. Thumbs up!

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REVIEW: “Little Animals” by Nancy Kress

Review of Nancy Kress, “Little Animals”, Clarkesworld Issue 177, June (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A beautiful, arresting story with lovely imagery. It expertly combines love, microbiology, clinical depression and quantum entanglement. Our researcher, Elena, is currently focusing on studying the life of Maria van Leeuwenhoek, and she finds startling similarities that she did not anticipate. She can empathize with Maria and wants better – for Maria and for herself. She handles both the past and present – not as well as she would like to in either case – and her quiet yet loyal personality shines through. A tale of empathy, longing and wanting better.

A lovely and powerful novelette.

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REVIEW: “The Notary of No Republic” by J. Byrd

Review of J. Byrd, “The Notary of No Republic”, Luna Station Quarterly 46 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

“Lucy Carvell had a degree-shaped hole in her heart” is a great opening line — it immediately makes Carvell someone I want to know more about. How do you go about filling such a hole? In Carvell’s case, it’s through forgery, and forging her own diploma was the first step into becoming the titular notary: When the government collapses and the state fails, “it turned out people still needed their milestones marked” — even the milestones that haven’t happened yet.

This was such a fun, hopeful, helpful story, which an ending that made me go “awww”. Loved it.

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