Short Reviews of Short SFF
Review of Leah Callender-Crowe, “The Blue Woman,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 14-19 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Between the rather prosaic info-dump intro and the present tense, which felt oddly unsuited to the story, I struggled a bit to get into this one. But the central message — that no matter how much we sacrifice ourselves to our employers, they will never reward that sacrifice — is an important one to read.
Review of Michelle Kaseler, “Rebirth,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 5-13 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: References to suicide, murder, and sexual assault; forced labor and enslavement.
The process of rebirth takes criminals and turns them into mining drones, an endless supply of prisoner labor. Rebirth is supposed to erase all memory of previous life; people don’t even know that rebirth has happened to them.
Unsurprisingly, one person does find it, and infiltrates a work crew, and attempts to help people remember.
The detail that struck me the most in this story was how even though all the prisoners had been given labels (“A7”, “B9”, etc.), all these labels eventually gave way to nicknames that became names. You can try to erase the individuality out of a person — but it’s much harder than people think.
Review of James Redfern, “confessional,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 57 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I was going to scroll back up through the issue to find a story to review today, but then I glanced at the first stanza of this poem, and it sucked me in and I’d read the entire thing before I realised it. It’s both hilarious, and hilariously on-point commentary on labor in the era of capitalism.
Review of Thomas Mixon, “The Problem Is,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 55 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem nicely encapsulates the existential angst that comes from living in a digital world where everyone is reachable all the time and no one is ever in sync with anyone else, and offers a plea to return to simpler times. On the one hand, I’m sympathetic; on the other hand, I think we’re better off going forward, rather than retrograde.
Review of Avra Margariti, “Eight Dwarfs on Planet X,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 52-53 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’m never quite sure if I like SF poetry, but if all SF poetry were like this poem by Margariti, then I definitely would. It struck the perfect balance of poetry and story, and was very definitely SF without needing to rely on spaceships or stars. The fact that it’s a retelling of a classic fairy tale is just an added bonus.
Review of Vera Brook, “If You Love Him, Hide the Grave,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 1-4 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story has all the parts of a a classic SF story — consciousnesses uploaded to harddrives, prosthetic replacements of limbs and organs, military motivations lurking in the background — and combines them in a way that asks interesting questions. Short, but satisfying.
Review of Premee Mohamed, “Worldbuilding with Legs: Incorporating Insects into Your Stories,” Fantasy Magazine 72 (October 2021): 31-32 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an excellent little how-to guide: Practical, straightforward, and readable even if you aren’t a huge fan of our six-legged companions.
Review of Pamela Rentz, “Obstruction,” Fantasy Magazine 72 (October 2021): 18-26 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an #ownvoices story of a woman of the Karuk tribe and the impact of colonisation on her people, their land, and their religion. The thread of fantasy running through it was slim and fine and almost forgettable, and it did not end as I thought it would.
Review of Stewart C. Baker, “Halsing for the Anchylose,” Fantasy Magazine 72 (October 2021): 29 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem managed to tell a complex story in a compact fashion. Reading it, I felt that it hinted at so much more than it was able to say, and I wondered if the title held clues to what the “more” was. Unfortunately, no dictionary shed any light on either term, so I remain intrigued, but baffled.
Review of Lorraine Alden, “Ceres 7”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February (2023): 118–123 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.
This review may contain spoilers.
Ceres 7 is on its way to the planet Esperance with a mission to preserve the human race after Earth has presumably suffered nuclear Armageddon. Ruth and Jill, the youngest members of the all-female crew, are uncertain about their chances to survive the whole trip. With the cryogenic module half broken, only some of the members are destined to survive.
Alden’s story reminded me of Tom Godwin’s “The cold equation,” presenting yet another variation on the classic unwinnable scenario in science fiction (albeit far more plausible than Godwin’s version). I appreciated the tight economy of the prose, revealing just enough about the story’s background without drowning it in exposition. The final twist is genuinely surprising, but somewhat Deus-ex-machina for the protagonist. All in all, a great story.
SFF Reviews