REVIEW: “Timothy: An Oral History” by Michael Swanwick

Review of Michael Swanwick, “Timothy: An Oral History”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A layered piece with a great format; it explores an all-female, utopian society, and what happens when a biological man comes into existence in such a society. An intriguing idea, elevated by the oral history narrative format that was able to incorporate so many different points of view into a short story.

Gender norms and expectations, of course, look different in this society. When a biological male upends the status quo in this utopia, the cracks start to show. An interesting examination of societal norms, and a great way to wrap up this issue.

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REVIEW: “On the Wing” by Lindz McLeod

Review of Lindz McLeod, “On the Wing,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Infidelity.

It felt a bit like this story was a dare, to see how many bird metaphors and bird images McLeod could fit into one story. There were a lot: all tastefully and effectively used, but leaving me wondering, why all the birds.

(Originally published in Bear Creek Gazette, 2022).

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REVIEW: “The Lime Monster” by Shelly Jones

Review of Shelly Jones, “The Lime Monster,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 11-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

here was something really lovely and empowering about this story, of how a woman took her childhood innocence and imagination and turned it into something to protect her land and heritage.

(Originally published in The Future Fire 52, January 2020.)

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REVIEW: “A Pound of Flesh” by K R Samp

Review of K R Samp, “A Pound of Flesh,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 246-257 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Oooh, this was a good story. First, the basic premise: Sometimes the witch is the one who is cursed rather than the one who curses — amusing and clever, right? It starts off with all the basic haunted-house tropes, but not too many that the reader gets bored or irritated. And then there are a hint or two dropped so that there’s a point where I suddenly sucked in my breath and went “OH, I know what kind of story this is!”, and then gulped in the rest avidly to see if I was right or not.

AND I WAS. If you want a joyful, glorious, witchy, trans-positive story, read this.

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REVIEW: “The Fish Who Dreamt of Dragons” by Lilia Zhang

Review of Lilia Zhang, “The Fish Who Dreamt of Dragons,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 156-175 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Xinyue is the last member of the Crescent Moon sect — more than that, she is the Crescent Moon sect — and while other warriors discount her at first, her prowess earns her fame as she travels the world. When a fisher village is beset by a deadly spirit, Xinyue meets Wanyue and takes on her first disciple. Xinyue and Wanyue then travel together, until Xinyue’s fame catches the attention of the emperor and fate catches up with her — a fate that only Wanyue can rescue her from.

I don’t get to read much Wuxia in English — so I really enjoyed this!

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REVIEW: “Open Your Eyes” by Allie Marini

Review of Allie Marini, “Open Your Eyes,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 124-139 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: miscarriage, death of a parent.

This is a two-part story, switching viewpoint half-way through. The first half I felt dragged a bit; there was a lot of prose at times, which I’ll admit I ended up skimming because it seemed primarily to just spend time, rather than push the story forward or tell me more about the character. But things picked up in the second half, and it ended strongly.

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REVIEW: “Bedtime Story” by Rhonda Parrish

Review of Rhonda Parrish, “Bedtime Story,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 102-109 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is a story of a story, a horror story told by Laura, an old doll, to Clara, the daughter of her previous owner. Clara was the one who asked Laura to tell the story, but during Laura’s telling I kept wondering what the purpose of the story was — would there be a moral? Was it just to scare Clara? I kept waiting for some signal, why did Clara ask Laura to tell her a story, or this story in particular? I never quite got any of the answers I hoped for.

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