Review of Celeste Rita Baker, “Mango Fire” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 12-15 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a beautifully told story of self-acceptance and familial support. Even dragons struggle with this sometimes!
REVIEW: “Where True Power Lies” by Koji A. Dae
Review of Koji A. Dae, “Where True Power Lies” Tree and Stone 1 (2022): 4-5 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a short, slight little story, with not much space for much to happen. Nevertheless, it manages to pack a strong message about power and the ways women can obtain it in its two pages.
REVIEW: “The Five Rules of Supernova Surfing or A For Real Solution to the Fermi Paradox, Bro” by Geoffrey W. Cole
Review of Geoffrey W. Cole, “The Five Rules of Supernova Surfing or A For Real Solution to the Fermi Paradox, Bro”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A story about a pair of “surfer dudes” who enjoy surfing supernovas. The supernovas have been exploding too soon, which we later find out is due to the heat death of the universe, and they are supposed to set up a simulation. Why they were selected is beyond me and not really explained in the story.
Indeed, I don’t see why they were chosen to do something so important and **spoiler alert** they don’t even actually set up the simulation they were supposed to. They choose to get high and surf together instead.
They do manage to set up something eventually, but it was an unsatisfying end to the plot.
REVIEW: “Domestic Tranquility” by Brian U. Garrison
Review of Brian U. Garrison, “Domestic Tranquility,” Radon Journal 2 (2022): 75 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem was a clever retelling of the fairy tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker, turned into a cutting commentary on modern capitalism.
REVIEW: “What They Do Not Tell You” by A. M. Young
Review of A. M. Young, “What They Do Not Tell you,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: An abusive relationship.
This was a powerful retelling of the story of Pygmalion — or rather, a first telling of Galatea‘s story.
REVIEW: “A Memory is Like a Talon” by Anna Martino
Review of Anna Martino, “A Memory is Like a Talon,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, this was a wonderful story — beautiful, visceral, raw, powerful. It’s about a shapeshifter and the one who loves them during WWI, and of their descendants, and it was just gorgeous.
I am now going out to seek out everything else Martino has written, because if they are half as good as this, they will be amazing.
REVIEW: “Alone” by E. M. Gaucher
Review of E. M. Gaucher, “Alone,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Parental abuse; death.
The bulk of this story is conversation between a woman and a girl. Mother and child? Sisters? Friends? As the reader I have to piece together their relationship through their words, and Gaucher does an excellent job at pacing things so that each exchange builds a picture of who they are and what they’re doing, and why.
REVIEW: “Lake Small” by V. J. Hamilton
Review of V. J. Hamilton, “Lake Small,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Lake Small, like all the other lakes, rivers, puddles around, is beginning to dry up, until one day the swimmer who used to swim in Lake Small daily goes on a quest to find the Tomten who will tell her how to make it rain again.
This quiet little story is a quick, easy read.
REVIEW: “The Swimmer” by Ann Wuehler
Review of Ann Wuehler, “The Swimmer,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Domestic abuse, murder.
This is a story about Gracie, now grown old, and her mother, and one special day they shared at the beach when Gracie was young. And yet, the most fascinating part of the story was the narrator, who is neither Gracie nor her mother and whom we never really quite get to know, but who is tremendously weird and entrancing to read.
REVIEW: “Collector of the Dead” by Chelsea Catherine
Review of Chelsea Catherine, “Collector of the Dead,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Minnie is haunted by ghosts only she can see. Most are there one moment, gone the next, but Sheila is different — she comes, she speaks to Minnie, and when she goes, she comes back again another day. Soon, the two have become friends, or perhaps more.
This is both a hopefully, happy story and a sad one, with an ending that is both exactly what it needs to be and exactly the one I didn’t want. Strongly written and enjoyable!
