Review of Sharang Biswas, “I Kissed a Dragon,” Fantasy Magazine 83 (September 2022): 29-30 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem had some nice turns of phrases, but overall I felt like it was lacking in substance, with just a few too many stereotypes.
Review of Angel Leal, “The Hole is the Beginning,” Fantasy Magazine 83 (September 2022): 27-28 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This lovely poem touched me, particularly some of the lines towards the end:
These children may not feel connected,
but it’s their otherness that connects them.
It’s about motherhood and otherness and how in the best of worlds the children we love, we love whoever they are.
Review of Avra Margariti, “All the Dead Girls, Singing,” Small Wonders no. 7 (January 2024): 31-33 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Violence against women.
The story of Fairview, whose dead girls congregate by the edge of the lake, is raw and harsh and rough. On the one hand, it’s superficially a ghost story. On the other hand, it’s definitely not that, it’s a story of violence against women, and about the men who perpetrate it.
Read with care/caution.
(First published in Coppice and Brake 2020.)
Review of Belicia Rhea, “Another Cemetery Wedding,” Small Wonders no. 7 (January 2024): 29-30 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an absolutely delightful little poem, about never-ending love, and myth, and fairy tales, and it just made me very happy to read it.
Review of Casey Lucas, “Lekythos,” Small Wonders no. 7 (January 2024): 20 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There’s a lot of mythological allusions in this poem, but for me they didn’t quite all seem to hang together in a coherent way. I was a bit underwhelmed by the poem until the final two lines, which are brilliant.
Review of Grace Chan, “Post Hacking for the Uninitiated”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
Straight into the action with this one! A sharp yet soft tale of things lost or taken away, and what it takes to take the power back. With hints of a much larger space opera world-building going on in the background, I’d love to see more stories set in this universe. The story stands very well on its own, of course. The parts that focus on Orin’s thoughts and memories are particularly poignant.
A bittersweet story that left me wanting more!
Review of Marisca Pichette, “How to Safely Store Your Dragons,” Flash Fiction Online 123 (December 2023): 21-23 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The “tl;dr” of this story is: Dragons are flammable buggers, don’t forget it; but the story itself is so much more than this, it’s cute, fluffy fun, something that you can read and feel happier about life afterwards.
Review of Rachael K. Jones, “Seven Ways to Find Yourself at the Transdimensional Multifandom Convention,” Flash Fiction Online 123 (December 2023): 11-14 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a fun, funny, and touching story, which I liked quite a bit even if it is in 2nd person (my least favorite way of telling a story).
Review of Bella Han, “De Profundis, a Space Love Letter”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
“Dear Yuwen,
This is the last night of your existence.”
When a story starts like this, you can’t help but continue. Can I call it a space opera about stories? I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this one. As long as feelings exist, there will always remain a very real need for good storytelling. The flood of AI-generated stories aren’t cutting it, as it turns out. A human tries to change that.
An enchantingly grand novelette.
Review of Rebecca Harrison, “Little Pound Shop,” Flash Fiction Online 123 (December 2023): 7-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was a little bite of candy-floss: Super yummy and desirable, completely insubstantial, and just a little bit too sweet.
(I am a huge fan of cotton candy, so this is not as negative a review as some might read it!)
SFF Reviews