Review of Kristina Ten, “All the Arms We Need,” Flash Fiction Online 93 (2021): Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The premise of this story is simple: Sometimes, all we need is to be held, and sometimes two arms is not enough. What is better than two arms? Eight, of course, and better than that a thousand. What we learn in this exceedingly sweet story is that if an octopus is a better hugger than a human, a millipede is even better than an octopus.
Review of Leila Martin, “The Soul Catcher” Cossmass Infinities 5 (2021): Read or purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
In this story, the narrator catches souls the way that fishermen catch fish. There’s a lot of net repair and boat repair and stories of the ones that got away. And like real-world fishermen who are watching the decline of the ocean’s stock due to human involvement and climate change, the soul catcher here is faced with the concern that every day she’s catching fewer souls.
Told in a series of log entries, the story felt intimate and personal and each entry made me want to read the next, to find out, even if obliquely, what would happen. Good pacing, beautiful language, a wonderful ending — a pleasure to read!
Review of dave ring, “Top Ten Demons to Kill Before the World Ends,” Cossmass Infinities 5 (2021): — Read or purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
It’s the end of the world and demons will be demons, and demon-slayers will be demon-slayers… Exactly what the title says it is, full of hilarious footnotes, I loved this story of a sisterhood of demonkillers who “just happen to mostly be messy sapphics”.
Review of Alex Grehy, “Cerridwen’s Daughter,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Of all the stories in this issue I put off reading this one to the last, because I knew it would irritate me — for two simple and probably quite niche and idiosyncratic reasons (that most readers will not only be unbothered but probably wouldn’t even notice). First, I was immediately confronted with the “cutesy” variant spelling of Creirwy. I’m guessing Grehy intended “Craerwy” to be pronounced the same way as the original form; but Welsh orthography doesn’t work like that. Second, in the opening lines Craerwy addresses the reader, saying, “Have you never heard of me? No, of course you haven’t.” — when in fact, I have heard of her, when I was in high school I developed a role-playing character around her!
The story is ostensibly about Cerridwen’s daughter, but in truth Craerwy spends most of the story talking about her mother and her siblings; she herself does not come to life or act or do anything more than passively recite for more than half the story. It is only towards the very end that she actually does something beyond sitting and talking; and while I liked the climate-recovery message of the story, it ended up feeling like too little too late. I love retellings of myths, and I wish the Mabinogion was taken up more often; but I’m not sure that this story really did the original tales and characters justice.
Review of Heather Del Piano, “A Murder of Crows,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Infertility; accidental death.
This was a rather unpleasant story of toxic love and desire, and how the things which should be the foundation of life turn instead to death and destruction.
Review of Andrea Goyan, “A Feather’s Weight,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Josie is a care worker who has been tending Mrs. Cooke for the last two years; when Mrs. Cooke dies, she leaves Josie a single feather, and the weight of many memories.
I really loved the friendship and connection between Josie and Mrs. Cooke in this story, how real and fully-fledged both characters felt, and how intimate the story was without any of the usual trappings of intimacy.
Review of Jennifer Lyn Parsons, “Blessing,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Kira is a member of Clan Thrush, a nomadic clan that serves the local communities as monster hunters. But after the death of her friend Thom in a monster-hunt gone bad, she leaves the Clan and strikes off on her own. But no matter how long she wanders, she cannot escape her grief for her friends and family who have died: Only the lady of death can remove that grief for her, and only Grannie’s songbirds can help her find the lady.
There was a lot of meandering in this story, a lot of retrospective references to isolated events, that never quite came together. The pace was very slow, with very little happening, and when things did happen, it was to characters who felt rather flat. This story didn’t really work for me.
Review of Rebecca Burton, “The Prince & the Raven,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I would have liked this fairy tale-esque story better if it hadn’t taken all the frustrating bits of fairy tales instead of the good ones: The woman who sees a prince from the distance and falls hopelessly in love; the prince who has to marry or lose his lands, but cannot find a woman interesting enough. I love fairy tales, both traditional and modern, but cis-normative patriarchy-enforcing ones always end up disappointing me. This one tried to subvert those stereotypes, in the end, but not soon enough for it to be convincing.
But there was one very beautiful line in it, when the Moon tells the Raven-Maid: “Don’t lose your self as well as your heart.”
Good advice.
Review of Meghan Louise Wagner, “The Groupies (1974),” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Animal death, drug use, violence.
Didi and her friend Bella are the titular groupies, hanging out with the band Die Obscure whenever they can. This story exudes all the hormones, angst, and uncertainties of teenagers in the 70s, with an added layer of entirely unexpected magic. It’s part glorious, part sordid, and I loved it.
Review of Alyssa Villaire, “Keep Your Eyes on the Horizon,” Luna Station Quarterly 48 (2021): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Nell is the keeper of the lighthouse, charged with watching vigilantly for the day the enemy will come to destroy her home of Greyisle. Her mother trained her and helped her prepare for her destiny, before she died. Now the day — and the enemy — has come, and he is nothing like what Nell has trained to defeat.
I really loved this story and the way the characters force the reader to question who is the hero and who is the villain, and how the stories we are told and tell ourselves about our destinies are not always true.
SFF Reviews