Review of Audrey Zhou, “Mother’s Mother’s Daughter,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 62-80 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Body harm, death of a parent.
Weird and a little bit creepy, and sad and fierce, but ultimately hopeful: This was a roller coaster of a witchy story!
Review of Stewart C. Baker, “The Spacefarer’s Guide to Connecting With Your Daughter’s Descendants,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 168-177 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, this was a glorious story — full of love over generations and forgiveness and parenting mistakes and recoveries. I nearly cried while reading it, and was so delighted by the ending.
Review of Ruth Joffre, “A Hole in My Heart the Shape of the Multiverse,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 147-166 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The looping back and forth through time and space and character in this story is effortless in a way that can only have taken Joffre considerable effort and attention and care. I loved this story in the way that I loved Natasha Pulley’s The Kingdoms (which I utterly adored).
Review of Priya Sridhar, “How to Lose to Death,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 106-109 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There was such a lot of complexity twisted into such a short story. I found this both ephemeral and satisfying!
Review of Aimee Ogden, “The Fruit is Very Acceptable Here,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 56-61 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was thick with theology, but still managed to be not particularly religious. It’s not so much a story as a monologue; I think I would have liked it a bit more with a bit more story to it, but it was still an intriguing read. (And as an erstwhile American expat in the Netherlands, I loved all the Dutch references.)
Review of Kari Maaren, “The Fruit is Very Acceptable Here,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 45-55 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
On the one hand, this is a story about social norms. On the other hand, it’s a story of possession. Put both hands together, and I really enjoyed this!
Review of Moira Richardson, “Heartwood,” Adventitious no. 4 (Aug 2026): 110-115 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There was something a little Pygmalion about this little story. It’s not quite a love story — more like an obsession story.
Review of Caitlin Devlin, “Milk,” Flash Fiction Online 153 (August 2026): 23-25 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was absolutely gruesome.
Review of R.S.A. Garcia, “This Is an Emergency Broadcast”, Clarkesworld Issue 238, July (2026): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
Oh my. What a story. This one will surely be collecting some nominations, I think!
I have been reading this very slowly amidst a busy few weeks, and it was so so worth it.
Even when I only got to read a few minutes at a time, it was immediately arresting. So many moments in this story that evoked many different kinds of reactions and feelings in me.
At the end of the story, when I tell you I got literal chills and scrolled all the way back up to check something again (you’ll know what I mean if you read the story).. this one was a pure pleasure to read.
Do yourself a favour and read it.
Review of Jonathan Huston, “The Alien You Love,” Flash Fiction Online 153 (August 2026): 18-21 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The beauty of this love story was almost enough to get me past my deep-seated dislike of the 2nd person POV.
SFF Reviews