REVIEW: “The Nix Trial” by Emma Schmid

Review of Emma Schmid, “The Nix Trial,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

As a member of the Oreada clan, Ida participates in the Nix Trial, a series of gruelling climbs in search of Lady Helike’s blessing. When she succeeds in scaling to the very top of Mount Hellene, numb from the cold and nursing an old injury, she can only hope to be found worthy, that she will be reborn underneath the new risen sun.

Overall this was a strong story, only slightly marred at times by a bit too much info-dumped back-story.

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REVIEW: “Birds of a Feather” by Jenna Hanan Moore

Review of Jenna Hanan Moore, “Birds of a Feather,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I had to lolsob at the opening line of this story — “Today is the day. After months of lockdown, the Avalon Café is finally open for indoor dining” — because I read it the evening the UK voted to implement more stringent measures. There are days where I wish reality resembled fiction a little more…

But since I can’t do any of the things I want to be doing right now, I’m living vicariously through those who can, and that includes, Janice, who is back at the Café for the first time in far too long. That would’ve been good enough, but then it gets better: There’s an emu.

This was exactly the story I needed to read on a night like tonight.

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REVIEW: “Seven Beacons Burning” by Leanne Howard

Review of Leanne Howard, “Seven Beacons Burning,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Ah, I love me some aro/ace representation! Howard manages it both overtly and unobtrusively in this story. The tale itself is that of an old man and his daughter, who have escaped a life of drudgery in the laundries to serve a fifteen year spell as keepers of one of the seven beacons, always watching another beacon to see if it is lit, signalling that war has come to their people. They are three months away from the end of their term when the drums of war are heard, and the Jubilee Beacon is lit, forcing them to discharge the duties that have been laid upon them.

These duties turned out to be far more gruesome than I would have imagined, and I confess I don’t quite understand why the final sacrifice was necessary; surely there could have been another way. It’s always a bit dissatisfying when drama appears to happen only for the purposes of plot; I would have liked a bit more world-building to make the ending feel necessary or inevitable, rather than merely shocking.

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REVIEW: “The Ruin” by Sara Norja

Review of Sara Norja, “The Ruin,” Luna Station Quarterly 21 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Andanu and his teacher Taril are walking from their west-short town to the east-shore village where a great festival awaits them; but on their way through the forest, they discover a ruin that had never been there before — and a history that neither of them dreamt could have been true.

I was all set to really enjoy the story when it ended, suddenly and abruptly, with all the beautiful build-up for nothing. Alas, I’m left a bit dissatisfied.

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REVIEW: “A Guide for Lost Sailors” by Allison Har-Zvi

Review of Allison Har-Zvi, “A Guide for Lost Sailors,” Luna Station Quarterly 21 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’ve discovered that I love stories told by the figureheads of ships — this is not the first such one in LSQ that I’ve reviewed! So once I realised that that’s what the narrator of this story was, I settled in for a good time.

And I mostly got it; I say mostly because there is a small part of me that feels sad and let down when in stories even wooden women are subjected to misogyny. The “it’s only in fun” excuse doesn’t — pardon the pun — hold any water.

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REVIEW: “Indulgence” by Tammy Salyer

Review of Tammy Salyer, “Indulgence,” Luna Station Quarterly 21 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is a post-apocalypse story, in which the end of the world was heralded by the introduction of biotags, embedded under the skin of every person, containing their identity and all their health information. These biotags are scanned during food purchases, so that permission can be granted for the individual in question to purchase that particular food. It’s a great story premise: Enormously creepy because it is so damn believable that this could happen at some point in the future, and the way things unfold is all so plausible. And despite the premise the story is based on, one of the other great things about it is its enormous dose of body positivity.

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REVIEW: “Minotaur” by R.S. Bohn

Review of R.S. Bohn, “Minotaur,” Luna Station Quarterly 21 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a lovely mixture of modern archaeology and ancient myth, with an added layer of depth that comes from the fact Noani, the lead archaeologist on the dig, is facing the realisation that she is likely dying, of the same cancer that took her mother and her aunt. There was a deep aching sadness that grew and grew throughout the story; it was extremely finely crafted.

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REVIEW: “Last Nice Day” by Rich Larson

Review of Rich Larson, “Last Nice Day”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Our protagonist fancies himself a character out of a book. From the very beginning of the story, you can see that he narrates things, and has an internal dialogue with the reader. As a fictional character, he is a transparent and well-informed one. He talks about flashbacks, narrative styles, supporting characters, and Chekhov’s gun.

It transpires that he also has a subself – he’s a type of agent, a government- trained operative. One who has secret missions. His subself is the one who handles that bit, but to what extent has he been affected by this? Is the pretense at being a fictional protagonist his way of coping? Or is it something else entirely?

There are many elements at play here, and the vivid descriptions add a enjoyable layer to the story.

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REVIEW: “The Falling” by M V Melcer

Review of M V Melcer, “The Falling”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

The world is falling, and there is a race against time and a “monster” in the sky that’s coming to devour the world.

The engineers try as hard as they can to save the world, but the most they have been able to do is delay the inevitable. After a few years our narrator then becomes an engineer and works to make the world safe, even while trying to escape the clutches of the solar system devouring monster.

This world works on points allotted to everyone, based on which they can live and work in particular rings. It’s not a very pleasant way to organize a society, but people have accepted it. And just like humanity in general, here too there is a streak of happy abandon, even while being acutely aware of the grave possibilities.

There are secrets, classified information, and terrible choices for people to make, and the narrator makes their own choice at the end.

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