Review of Chelsea Sutton, “Ursula the Monster,” Flash Fiction Online (October 2023): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
A short, sweet story of one woman’s revenge on every wrong that’s ever been done to her gender.
(First published in Orca Literary Summer 2022.)
Review of Katy Boyer, “Saint Woad and Sister Welwitschia,” Flash Fiction Online (October 2023): 15-16 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
“We are a ghastly bunch, we who remain.”
This sentence perfectly encapsulates the grim horror of this story, which explores all the different ways the stillbirth of a child ripples outward.
Review of Lyndsey Croal, “The Constellations of Daughter Death,” Flash Fiction Online (October 2023): 11-14 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
What a beautiful little story this was — both in the language it was told in and the content of the story itself. Reading it made me want to find glow-in-the-dark paints to paint it.
Review of Dylan Curry, “To Slay a Goblin,” Flash Fiction Online (October 2023): 7-9 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was about three-quarters hilarious and one-quarter sudden sucker punch to the gut.
Well. That’s exactly the sort of thing good fiction is supposed to be. I’m saving this one to show to give to students as an exemplar.
Review of Lisa Papademetriou, “Down To The Root”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
Across time, space, and civilization, feelings remain the same – often simultaneously all consuming and incomprehensible. Sometimes what drives you is simply a determined feeling, and sometimes that simple feeling is the most important thing of all.
A story about space battles and planets with cyclical time. Also a story about relationships, friendship, and a sense of faith and hope.
I also feel like Luriel is the kind of friend everyone should aspire to be. True to her duty and her friend, while traversing the confusing journey of life.
Two things to remember from this story – there are a million ways to die, and taking risks gives you strength.
Review of Elizabeth Hinckley, “Misty Moon,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was definitely a story that is aimed at the horse-person readership demographic (a demographic I’m not a part of). I waited quite awhile before I got anything speculative, and while I was waiting I felt that the story could’ve benefited from just a tad more editing than it got (e.g., two “in facts” in the opening paragraph is just a bit clunky, and it was heavy on the telling and light on the showing).
Review of Juliet Kahn, “Out to Pasture,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I don’t know when I last read a story with such an original concept. Complemented with some exquisite turns of phrase, this is probably the best thing LSQ has published in 2023.
Review of Reyzl Grace, “The Last Ride of Rivke Grinkin,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, this was an absolutely glorious story, breathlessly beautiful and gripping from start to finish, hinting at so much more than it is able to say. I loved it.
Review of Cass Sims Knight, “Hell’s Bells,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Sexual harassment, physical assault.
Annie’s a telepath whose abilities tend to get herself labelled as a witch. When her horse throws a shoe, she is forced into town to find a blacksmith to replace it.
What a curious little story this was: No grand narrative, no momentous goal or quest arc, no moment of discovery. Just the story of a woman and her horse who came into town, got into trouble, and got themselves back out of trouble again. And, yet, I really enjoyed it.
Review of Clare Packard, “A Unicorn’s Horn is Proof Against Poison,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Assassination plots! Intrigue! Spies! Unicorns! True love! All in the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. This story had just enough history and just enough fantasy to hit a sweet spot, for something really fun and enjoyable to read.
SFF Reviews