Review of Jennifer Hudak, “Penance,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 101-108 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I love a genre-bending story like this: It has all the trappings of a moderately generic SF setting, but the story itself is a story of gods and mortals and the one being who hears the voice of their god when they should not. I’m a sucker for this kind of story, so I enjoyed “Penance” very much — especially it’s absolute killer ending.
Review of Laurie Doyle, “Passing Through,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 45-49 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Sometimes a good story is one that can hint at a much broader world behind the brief snippet the story lets you see. Sometimes, a good story is one that gives no context, no background, no explanations, nothing to help you understand what is going on. Doyle’s story is one of the latter, and I loved it precisely for that reason.
(First published in Manawaker Studio’s Flash Fiction Podcast 2024.)
Review of Angela Liu, “Fernie,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 32-43 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
With time travel, dinosaurs, and sentient plants, this fun little story didn’t bother taking itself too seriously.
Review of Katharine Tyndall, “Madam Strzyga’s Pagan Pest Control,” Adventitious no. 2 (Apr 2026): 27-31 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
“Catholic solutions won’t work for pagan problems,” Madam Strzyga tells an anxious client (p. 29), in this funny little story that’s almost noteworthy for how mundane it is considering how fantastical it is. Pests are pests, whether they are natural or supernatural, I guess!
Review of Anna Clark, “Seastrand Beyond,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (July 2026): 24-27 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Parental death.
This was an absolutely beautiful story of grief and loss and the memory of abiding love.
Review of Aimee Ogden, “What Any Dead Thing Wants,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 72-109 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was exceptionally long, meaning I kept putting it off whenever I’d sit down to read and review a story because I didn’t have the time.
I finally did today, and the story completely repaid what I spent on it. At the end, I find it hard to know what to say about it, other than echo Hob when he says that “he would have known what to do, if there were obvious bad guys” (p. 103). It’s a story where there’s no good moves, even when there are moves that are right, and it ends up being really, really sad.
(First published on psychopomp.com, 2024)
Review of Annie ZH Sun, “The Right Hand of Justice,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was wildly fascinating. My only complaint is that it was too short. I want the epic version of this story, I want to know all about this world, I want to know how the main character got how they did, I want to know more about the woman who knows about the noodle shop.
I want to see the law get changed.
Review of Tehnuka, “An Obituary to Birdsong,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (June 2026): 11-12 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The ecology of this story may be unfamiliar, but watching its collapse is not. The obvious sadness of the story is the loss of the birdsong and all it entailed, but the smaller grief of how Sangeetha died I found more poignant.
(First published in If There’s Anyone Left, 2023.)
Review of Catherine Taveres, “Hunter Mother Sailor Wife,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 114-119. — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
As a fellow mother who flat-out refused to give up her pre-motherhood identity upon having a child (and who strongly feels she’s a better mother because of that refusal…), my heart went out to Cara in the opening pages of this story. I was so pleased by the outcome, and the way it was facilitated by the people around her.
Honestly one of the best stories I’ve read in ages. Gold stars all around, for Cara, for Jothi, for Taveres, for every lucky reader who gets to read this story.
Review of Katlina Sommerberg, “To Devour Your Own Name,” Adventitious no. 1 (Feb/Mar 2026): 110-113 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I found the central metaphor in this story a bit too strong, a bit too overt. But there are probably other people out there, still struggling to come to terms with how their identity clashes with what people say their identity should be, who would appreciate the power of the message of this story.
SFF Reviews