Review of JC Hoskins, “The Nymph,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I dove into this story with a good deal of trepidation, because second-person, present-tense narration without any purpose always puts me off. So I was greatly, greatly relieved to find out it wasn’t purposeless, and in fact Hoskins uses the different voices to great effect.
A good story for anyone who loves books!
Review of Stephanie A. Craig, “The Girl Who Can’t Say No,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
If you, like me, read the title and thought “horror story”, you would not be wrong. What you might not have counted on (as I did not) was that this story would be straight of genie-in-the-bottle fairy tale, except set in space. A fun clash of genres and tropes!
Review of Julie C. Day, “Faerie Medicine,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Allusions to rape.
This was a sad story of how lost innocence cannot be regained, even with faerie medicine.
(First published in Flapperhouse, 2014).
Review of Christine Boulos, “What Happened at the Pond,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Sexual assault.
What happened at the pond has happened more than once. This is the tale of two different happenings, two women who disappeared leaving nothing behind but their clothing and silver sparks in the depths of the pond. Part fairy tale, part murder mystery, I enjoyed this powerful story a heck of a lot.
Review of Melissa McDaniel, “The Hatchlings,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Half-fairy tale, half-sci fi, this story played with genres in a way I found really effective, especially given how compelling the vision of the future that McDaniel presented was. A satisfying read.
Review of Lyndsie Manusos, “Hafter: A Fairy Tale,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
When someone says their story is a fairy tale, that sets up certain expectations — about the type of character you’ll encounter, the style of writing, the general trend of the plot. If those expectations are not met, it had better be for good reason. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that that was always the case here. Probably I could have enjoyed this story more if I hadn’t been told that it was supposed to be a fairy tale.
Review of Emmie Christie, “The Time Speaker,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I loved this story about a woman who is able to speak with time! Christie conveyed the way Time spoke to Katie, its language and vocabulary and ‘voice’, with great skill and conviction. Short and sweet, this was very satisfying.
Review of Rebecca Harrison, “The Paper Child,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This odd little story started off like a Scottish folktale and ended up firmly in the realm of horror. For most readers, everything we have have been taught has taught us to sympathise with the mother who only wishes to save her child; and yet, every step of the way, but most especially at the end, the mother of this story is terrifying.
Review of Katherine Shats, “The Butterfly Eater,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
What’s the best way to eat a butterfly? Well, “they have to be fresh or it’s so much harder to extract the hope.” Lines like this pepper this vaguely creepy little tale, always just close enough to normal for its weirdness to be unsettling. There’s something sacrilegious, the way the butterfly eater delights in her prey, and it’s wildly entrancing to read.
Review of Amy Mills Klipstine, “Face,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
After intriguing opening paragraphs (which made me wonder if the story was intended to be a metaphor for plastic surgery), I found this story slow to get started and actually go anywhere. There was a lot of description and repetition; and overall, I think this just wasn’t the story for me.
SFF Reviews