REVIEW: “The Crow Bridge” by Catherine George

Review of Catherine George, “The Crow Bridge,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 167-185 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

What a stunningly lovely story this one: Delicately told and strongly constructed, full of myth and loss and struggle. I really loved it.

Also, kudos to George, who, according to her biography, took 10 years out from writing fiction, and came back to it. I did that too, and yet I still find support in hearing of other people doing the same. It helps, when facing writer’s block, to see examples of how it’s not forever, even if 10 years may seem like forever.

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REVIEW: “Dragons Over Cefalù” by Liv DeSimone

Review of Liv DeSimone, “Dragons Over Cefalù,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 143-165 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Violence against women.

I struggled with what to put in the content note for this story, because it’s more than sexual harassment (what I initially had), but not quite sexual assault (what I toyed with). Whatever it is, it pervades the opening pages of the story so if that isn’t something for you, definitely avoid this story. The harassment feels like it isn’t that awful, because it isn’t quite assault, but the low-levelness of it ends up making it even worse, because as a reader, as a woman, I kept finding myself trying to normalize it, and that made it all the more awful. In the end, a quote from the story gave me what I needed: “After all, none of this had ever been about sex” (p. 162). It’s not about sex, it’s about violence, and power.

Normally I’m not a fan of using violence against women as a means of moving plot forward in a story, but there was something about this that worked. Two women’s separate revenges become intertwined,

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REVIEW: “The Desert” by Carolina V. Mata

Review of Carolina V. Mata, “The Desert,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 119-122 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

“The desert was created to antagonize”: This one line sets the scene for a short, fierce story of fighting back against despair. There’s not much detail or backstory or world-building, meaning there is a lot of scope for reading into the story whatever you like — generational trauma, climate change, what have you. Its short length makes the story quite flexible and elastic in a satisfying way.

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REVIEW: “Burn, Balefire Heart” by Sara Omer

Review of Sara Omer, “Burn, Balefire Heart,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 35-53 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Dragons, slaves, enemies, a plot, freedom, and — eventually — love. This story had it all! I loved the depth of it, though at times I felt like I didn’t quite have all the back-story. I think this could have made a really excellent novella, and hope that Omer tries her hand at something longer form in the future.

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REVIEW: “To Harvest a Cloud” by Rich Larson

Review of Rich Larson, “To Harvest a Cloud,” Flash Fiction Online 132 (September 2024): 21-24 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Tso arrived in town on the driest day of a very dry year, bringing his own cloud in tow. On one reading, this starts off as a gentle story of how he brought his cloud to those who needed it within the town, in exchange for the town’s welcome and hospitality; but while I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite song lyrics (Genesis, “Mad Man Moon”): “Within the valley of shadowless death, they pray for thunderclouds and rain. But to the multitude who live in the rain, heaven is where the sun shines.” What must it like to be Tso, to always live in the shade, to never rejoice in the warm embrace of the sun? That felt rather sad to me. And then the entire story turned much darker, and the lyrics became even more apt.

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REVIEW: “Tornado Breakers Don’t Cry” by Stefan Alcalá Slater

Review of Stefan Alcalá Slater, “Tornado Breakers Don’t Cry,” Flash Fiction Online 132 (September 2024): 8-11 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

On the one hand, this is a story about a tornado breaker whose role is to protect her town from the dangerous twisters. On the other hand, it’s equally a story about how we fail our parents, and how our parents fail us. The metaphor rests upon the story overtly but lightly, never bogging the story down but instead helping it to shine.

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REVIEW: “The Nightland Express” (EXCERPT) by J. M. Lee

Review of J. M. Lee, “The Nightland Express” (EXCERPT), Fantasy Magazine 84 (October 2022): 28-37 — Read here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This excerpt is chapters 3 and 4 of J. M. Lee’s 2022 novel published by Erewhon Books.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from reading an excerpt, especially one that apparently doesn’t start at the beginning (if I enjoy the story starting from chapter three, what does this say about the necessity of chapters one and two? I wondered). As it turns out, I didn’t feel the lack of those initial chapters; these two chapters were more than sufficient to introduce me to the two main characters (one whom we’re clearly meant to like and one whom we’re clearly meant to be exasperated by!), and get me interested in knowing more of their story. Will I pick up and read the whole book? I’m not sure. Did I enjoy the excerpt I read? Definitely. These two chapters were pretty much pure historical fiction, centered around the Pony Express in the 1850s, but there were a few hints dropped here and there that things might not be quite what they look like on the surface…

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REVIEW: “Quantum Eurydice” by Avi Burton

Review of Avi Burton, “Quantum Eurydice,” Fantasy Magazine 84 (October 2022): 15-16 — Read here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

It’s the first time I’m reviewing a story for a second time! I reviewed this earlier in the year when it was reprinted; I loved it then, and I still love it now. It rewards rereading and revisiting; I suspect it’s one I will come back to again and again. It’s just so good.

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