Review of Ana Wesley, “Who We Are,” Luna Station Quarterly 57 (2024): 70-100 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a beautifully rich story (almost novelette/novella length, though I’m not sure of exact wordcount) — full of intriguing characters set against a well-constructed backdrop, the sort of story that feels like the prelude to a full-blown trilogy. And honestly, if Wesley is planning one, I’d read it.
Review of Rachael K. Jones, “Midnight Burritos With Zozrozir,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Premise: Woman goes out for burritos with the demon who’s going to destroy her. Verdict: Oh my goodness, this was absolutely adorable and lovely. What a sweet little story! We all need a Zozrozir in our life.
(First published in Daily Science Fiction 2018).
Review of Katie Kotulak, “Lord Mortedart’s Revenge,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 7-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
A deity, or a demon (it’s not clear which, though he’s clearly something supernatural), comes to the end of their 100 year imprisonment and returns to earth — only to find that no one knows who they are, and no one cares. It’s a hilarious premise, humoristically and also thoughtfully rendered. This was a good little fun story, full of piercing moments of brief heart-wrenching tugs.
This was Kotulak’s debut publication, and let me tell you: I sincerely hope it isn’t the last!
Review of Aimee Ogden, “Like Blood for Ink,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Ogden is a master of a particular type of flash fiction craft: Take an ordinary situation, change one thing to be out of the ordinary, and use the result to say something about our daily lives (in this case, every parents’ worry of passing the worst of themselves on to their children). The more I read her stories, the more I admire her skill.
(First published in Daily Science Fiction, 2021).
Review of Damyanti Biswas, “Just a Greedy Ifriti,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 15-16 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
An ifriti that’s greedy will promise anything in order to get what it wants. In this story, it only takes two pages for the greedy ifriti to smooth-talk its way to freedom. It was nevertheless two pages of work — I had to reread the opening half page or so a number of times before I felt like I understood what was going on.
Review of Samantha Murray, “The Stars that Fall,” Small Wonders no. 11 (May 2024): 35-37 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death of a child.
This was a weird combination of science, astrology, and fantasy, and for all it’s mishmash, I really, really liked it.
(First published in Flash Fiction Online 2017).
Review of Holly Schofield, “What You Sow,” Small Wonders no. 11 (May 2024): 14-16 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I liked the conceit of the story — growing flowers and other plants from your head instead of hair — as there’s a lot of imaginative scope in it. (I spent quite a bit of time, while reading, idly wondering what flowers I’d grow.) And I loved the way an entire lifetime was traced in a scant few pages.
I just wish (personal opinion here!) that it weren’t told in second person.
(First publishing in Navigating Ruins 2022).
Review of Eris Young, “Up From Out of Clay,” Small Wonders no. 11 (May 2024): 24-27 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’m not quite sure what I make of this story. It’s about a girl and a golem, about a master and his apprentice, and I feel like there is more to it than this, but two readings through didn’t quite reveal what that more is.
Perhaps other readers will resonate more with the story than I did.
(First published in Gwylion 3, 2021).
Review of Albert Chu, “Eloïse,” Small Wonders no. 11 (May 2024): 17-20 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story starts off about dueling and ends with a transformation. In four pages we go from anxiety and unhappiness to freedom and joy, not a bad arc for such a short duration!
Review of Colleen Anderson, “Swan’s Song,” Small Wonders no. 11 (May 2024): 32-33 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
“What is love?” this poem’s opening line asks us, and if there’s an answer in the lines that following, it’s what love isn’t. While not quite as gruesome as the original fairy tale that serves as this poem’s inspiration, the undertones of violence and pain remain.
SFF Reviews