REVIEW: “Passive Aggressive” by Narrelle M. Harris

Review of Narrelle M. Harris, “Passive Aggressive”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 270-274. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

So much drama in fiction (and in reality, if we’re being honest here…) relies on people who say one thing but mean another, hidden, thing. In this story, Harris turns this technique on its head — people say one thing but what they mean is not hidden, it is known to everyone. As a result, there are always two layers of conversation going on, the what-is-said and the what-is-meant, and between this double layer is a layer of tension that continues to build and build until you know it must explode, and how it must explode, but not exactly how. Those exact details are a surprise that makes the story worth reading to the end.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Skeletons in the Closet” by Susanne Hülsmann

Review of Susanne Hülsmann, “Skeletons in the Closet”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 312-314. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Probably everyone who reads this has one — a skeleton in the closet, that is — and they are far from being mere inert dead remains. Hülsmann’s story explores the power these skeletons have over us, the power that we give them by feeding them upon our secrets. And when they’ve eaten enough of our secrets to break free of the closets…what then?

This is a short, creepy tale, with an intensely personal voice that makes it feel as if you are sitting and chatting with the author. Thumbs up, would read again.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Six Jobs” by Tim Pratt

Review of Tim Pratt, Six Jobs, Podcastle: 497 — Listen Online. Reviewed by Heather Rose Jones

My expectations for this story were turned around several times in the course of listening to it–which is perhaps more a commentary on my tendency to set up expectations that on the story. From the title, I was first expecting a listicle story–a format I’m not entirely fond of. But although the six jobs of the story did provide the overall structure of the narrative, the through-line of the plot wasn’t the usual listicle structure.

Kayla has an unusual skill: the ability to see things that others can’t, especially connections between things. This brings her to the attention of various folks who are interested in making use of those skills, and the main thrust of the story is how Kayla turns her talents not only to making a living but to making a difference in the world as she understands it. The climax of the story depends on her rather naive tendency to believe what those other people tell her about their own purposes and goals. This is where the story expectations turned a few more times–or rather, turned one fewer time than I expected.

In the end, I wasn’t sure that Kayla had learned the right lesson about being skeptical of mysterious strangers offering her jobs, and rather than being a story about challenging first impressions, it settled for being a rather simpler quest resolution. I wanted one more twist at the end that I didn’t get. A good story, but not quite surprising enough to be a great one.

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REVIEW: “Saturday Night Science” by Michael M. Jones

Review of Michael M. Jones, “Saturday Night Science”, Broadswords and Blasters 1 (2017): 37-52 — Purchase Here. Reviewed by Yana Shepard.

This one is humorous and easily my favorite so far. And sapphic relationships! I’m all about f/f relationships! I was so happy to read this.

The main character, Camille, shows some fire when needed and a huge nerd, showcased via locations in the story. There’s also disability rep. Camille has no feeling in her legs so must rely on a wheelchair to get around.

Daphne, the other character, gave me a Doctor Who vibe. I love Doctor Who. Love that show. So it was no surprise to me that I fell in love with Daphne just as much as I fell in love with Camille.

“Saturday Night Science” had so many nice surprises.

I recommend it to any who enjoy SF, multiverse shenanigans, humor, and happy endings.

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REVIEW: “Sometimes People are Monsters” by Kaleen Hird

Review of Kaleen Hird, “Sometimes People are Monsters”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 308-310. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Warning: If animal abuse is not your thing, then this is not the story for you.

This is a tight little story with a distinctive voice and distinctive worldbuilding — the sort that makes you want to read more. And my sympathy is on the side of Sima and Corin from the very start, because they are the ones who fight on behalf of the monsters against all the people who are monsters.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Gorgon’s Deep” by Mike Adamson

Review of Mike Adamson, “Gorgon’s Deep”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 208-223 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

What horrors lie within the deeps?

This is a story of gorgons, gorgons with tentacles and gorgons who paralyse their prey. But for all that, these gorgons are not the gorgons of Greek mythology. Adamson’s take on the classical mythological creature reinvents them as another type of monster, one which has quite a bit more currency in recent speculative fiction than the classical ones themselves. These gorgons are the true heirs of the sea god.

The story starts slowly, and the two main characters are introduced to us in such a way that holds them at arm’s length — two perfect, naked figures making love on a foggy beach. (All I can think of as I read this is “damn, that must be damp and uncomfortable.”) Once it gets going, though, it’s a pretty classic futuristic horror story, ratcheting up on the tension until the very end.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Gristle” by Jay Knioum

Review of Jay Knioum, “Gristle”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 258-259. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Warning: If you don’t want to read about mutilated children and/or cannibalism, then this is not the story for you.

Ordinarily, those two things would mean that this wouldn’t be the story for me, either, but the way Knioum takes an unusual perspective on a relatively usual horror genre was both intriguing and well done — and in this particular case, the quite short length of the story was a plus rather than a minus. At two pages, it was exactly the right length.

Sara L. Uckelman2 Comments

REVIEW: “Cunning” by Laurel Lanthrop

Review of “Cunning”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #36 Early Autumn pp. 32-37. Purchase here. Review by Ben Serna-Grey.

This story is a fairy tale about a man who has lost his wife, and the witch he meets after saving her from drowning. The witch offers him a single wish and in his grief he wishes either for his wife to come back from the dead, or a woman who would be such a good wife to him that he would no longer remember his sorrow. Of course the witch offers to become his wife, beautifying herself with magic and going home with the man to meet his daughter and housekeeper, taking her place as the new woman of the house.

Like any fairy tale worth its salt, it has a moral or two to teach. Also like any fairy tale worth its salt, it isn’t dumbed down in order to be “kid-friendly.” “Cunning” keeps up the level of quality present throughout this entire magazine, though it was slightly harder for me to latch onto partly due to the dialogue in the story being peppered with thees and thous, seeming just a tad off. Don’t let that keep you from reading this story, though, because it’s great, and I’m very interested to see what other work Laurel comes out with.

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REVIEW: “Running Straight” by E. K. Wagner

Review of E. K. Wagner, “Running Straight”, Luna Station Quarterly 32 (2017): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is a story of dreams, of strength, and of slavery, told in beautiful colors. The story draws you in and draws you along at each moment becoming more and more fraught. Brilliantly written, and a brilliant story. The ending that happens is the ending you want to happen, and yet it is still quite a kicker when it comes.

One thing I really enjoyed about the story is how little details can have such a big impact. Sometimes, all that is needed to set a story in a foreign and unfamiliar place is to change one simple thing that is familiar, one thing you would never expect to change. That one thing in this story is the length of the years. Some years are longer than others, some shorter, and because Cinti’s culture, like ours, revolves around the length of a year, this one small difference has a dramatic effect on how strange and foreign the story setting feels.

This one was a good one — best in the issue in my opinion.

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REVIEW: “For the Love of Snow White” by Delilah Night

Review of Delilah Night, “For the Love of Snow White”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 36-68 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

It takes a lot of guts to start off a story “Once upon a time”, but Night should have every confidence in herself: This is one of the most satisfying fairy tale retellings I’ve read.

Fairy tales are rife with shadowy evil step-mothers whose sole purpose in the story seems to be to provide a bad guy. We never find out why they are evil, or what happened to the hero/heroine’s first mother. We do in this story; the narrator here is Snow White’s step mother, and we learn about how she came to the kingdom, ensnared the king, and, ultimately, cast Snow White into a sleep like death.

But the story isn’t just “Snow White told from another perspective”. It is a story of the clash between pagan druidic religion and the coming of a new god, a mix of classic myth/fairy tale with Christian religion and druidic rituals. It is a story of love and familial bonds. There is a very happy and cheerfully ordinary F/F romance.

Only two things slightly detracted from the story. There was some slightly overt erotica, which doesn’t in principle bother me but which felt rather out of place in this story particular story, and there is also one count of attempted incest, which, eugh, but in this case it did work in the story.

Part of what makes the story so successful is its length, one of the longest in the volume. I’ll be very curious to see if any other story can oust this one from its current spot as my favorite.

Sara L. Uckelman2 Comments