REVIEW: “Maiasaura Deifaeria” by Jennifer Lee Rossman

Review of Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Maiasaura Deifaeria,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Even dinosaurs deserve to have a fairy godmother (or so Rossman easily makes the reader believe); but what happens to the fairy godmother when all her species go extinct? Well, after sixty-five million years of grieving, she finds someone else to godmother.

With a lot of extremely dubious and humorous fantasy and just enough real history throne in to make me jump over to wikipedia, this is a story that feels like it shouldn’t have worked; and yet I’m not convinced it didn’t.

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REVIEW: “Other Lives” by Elizabeth Guilt

Review of Elizabeth Guilt, “Other Lives,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Oh, I loved this story.

Have you ever wondered how your life might have gone, if only one thing, one moment in your past had changed? Well, Rob, Emily, and their friend (the narrator) all find this out one trip the May Day Fair when they visit the seer who can see other lives. It’s fun and sad and poignant and wonderful, and the perfect premise for a quick bite of a story.

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REVIEW: “Daemonium Ex” by Hannah Hulbert

Review of Hannah Hulbert, “Daemonium Ex,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Everelda, demon hunter, is on a mission from Lord Fortescue. Lord Fortescue hasn’t told her, however, which demon to expect to find in the lair at the end of the sewer tunnel; and she probably would have refused the commission had she known.

Full of florid writing and purple prose (so full it’s even rubbed off on me!), this story felt in the beginning like it was trying to be Gothic without quite succeeding. But when it finally left off its self-conscious officiousness and started poking fun at itself, I began to enjoy it a lot.

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REVIEW: “State vs. Hades” by Altaire Gural

Review of Altaire Gural, “State vs. Hades,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Best title in the issue, so of course this is the story I started with! And the story totally lived up to it: A myth of a love story all wrapped up in notes from a proper Greek legal trial, with Demosthenes arguing for the prosecution and Aeschines for the defense (and a witness list that includes a therapist!). Maybe I’m just a sucker for Persephone/Hades tales, but I really enjoyed this, and the way it gave us a unique insight into Persephone’s motivations and her relationship with her mother. A gold star tale!

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REVIEW: “On the Anniversary of Your Passing” by Thomas K. Carpenter

Review of Thomas K. Carpenter, “On the Anniversary of Your Passing,” Flash Fiction Online 103 (April 2022): 17-20 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I won’t give away too much of the story if I quibble with its title: Instead of “anniversary”, it should be “anniversaries“. This not-quite-a-time-travel story hinted at complexities that are never quite explained, but the ending is satisfying enough that I didn’t really care about the unanswered questions I had.

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REVIEW: “The Annual Conference of the Ladies in White” by Stephanie Feldman

Review of Stephanie Feldman, “The Annual Conference of the ladies in White,” Flash Fiction Online 103 (April 2022): 8-11 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Once a year all the Ladies in White from across history gather for their annual conference — this year, in a hotel “like an antique wedding cake preserved by moonlight” (p. 8), as only befits such a gothic gathering — except this year they aren’t the only people at their hotel. Chance has brought the narrator, herself a woman spurned, to the same hotel, and for a night she is adopted into their company. But she’s not ready, not yet, to become a lady in white herself. This is quite a hopefully, uplifting story for such a ghostly premise.

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REVIEW: “Soul Mate” by Paulene Turner

Review of Paulene Turner, “Soul Mate,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Cassidy Braithwaite is the “loving daughter of Charles and Lena Braithwaite. Treasured fiancé to Vaughan Gallagher” — and also an atheist. She never expected to end up as ghost upon her death. Unfortunately, while she waits for those who loved her to come to terms with her death, she discovers that she doesn’t actually want them to do so, because it means that they are moving on, and so must she. Vaughan might be ready to let her go, but she’s not ready to let him go.

This story could’ve been vaguely sweet and romantic, but instead was rather stalkerish and selfish. I appreciated Cassidy’s sidekick Franky, who recognized how problematic her relationship with Vaughan was (even if he was never able to convince her of it) — until the point when he started aiding her in her pursuit. Just not really the sort of story for me, I guess.

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REVIEW: “The Paper Child” by Rebecca Harrison

Review of Rebecca Harrison, “The Paper Child,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This odd little story started off like a Scottish folktale and ended up firmly in the realm of horror. For most readers, everything we have have been taught has taught us to sympathise with the mother who only wishes to save her child; and yet, every step of the way, but most especially at the end, the mother of this story is terrifying.

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