REVIEW: “Truth as a Prize” by R. Z. Held

Review of R. Z. Held, “Truth as a Prize”, Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 299 (March 12, 2020): Read online. Reviewed by Richard Lohmeyer.

It’s rare that I dislike a story in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, but this is one of those unhappy occasions. It’s not that Held’s story is badly written. However, it’s premise—Naomi is a ghost trapped within and attempting to outwit a malevolent game whose origin is never explained—didn’t work for me. To be fair, it’s worth noting that another, far more prominent reviewer, has praised this story, so perhaps my reaction is an outlier. Nevertheless, I finished the story more out of a sense of obligation than pleasure. 

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REVIEW: “The Glassblower of Galilei” by Katrina Smith

Review of Katrina Smith, “The Glassblower of Galilei”, Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 298, February 27, 2020: Read online. Reviewed by Richard Lohmeyer.

This is the final, and arguably the best, story in the first of Beneath Ceaseless Skies’ double-sized Science-Fantasy month celebrations. It takes place on a planet whose ruling class years before waged a genocidal war against a race of “fierce winged termagants.” The war was won largely through an unprecedented combination of science and magic undertaken by the “silver tongued liar” Master Damon. Since then, Master Damon has spent his days using that same mix of science and magic to create creatures whose only purpose is to serve him and others among the ruling class. Creatures like his current apprentice, Dimwit (or Dim, as he is sometimes called). Dim is anything but, however, and the rebirth he experiences and eventually bestows on others like himself, is the main focus of the story. Along the way, we see Master Damon—whose hubris far outweighs his remorse—get his comeuppance at the hands of a mysterious woman whose desire for revenge is not hard to understand. 

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REVIEW: “The Anatomy of Spines” by Nicole Crucial

Review of Nicole Crucial, “The Anatomy of Spines”, Luna Station Quarterly 41 (2020): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a powerful, emotive story of a difficult love. Rosco and Lorelei have had, since childhood, to balance their feelings for each other with the pulls and expectations of the world they live in. When Rosco refuses to do what is required of the heir of his family, Lorelei takes matters into her own hands, in a move that will test the strength of their bond.

It took me awhile to get to know Lorelei and Rosco, but it was worth the effort.

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REVIEW: “On the Cusp of Darkness” by C. L. Holland

Review of C. L. Holland, “On the Cusp of Darkness”, Luna Station Quarterly 41 (2020): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’m not sure if this hopeful, affirming coming of age story is a vampire story or not; part of me hopes it is, because I find vampire stories in general so overdone and so ordinary, but this one was unusual and different.

(Originally published in Cucurbital 2, 2012).

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REVIEW: "My Sister's Wings Are Red" by Christine Tyler

Review of Christine Tyler, “My Sister’s Wings Are Red”, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 298, February 27, 2020: Read online. Reviewed by Richard Lohmeyer.

I have mixed feelings about this story. It involves a colony of humans somehow transformed into insects living in the sort of hierarchical hive society commonly associated with ants and bees. It’s a well written story and the hive society is fully realized; yet I can’t summon up much enthusiasm for the tale. The tone of the first-person narration seems so much like that of a “normal” human that I found it jarring each time I remembered that this particular narrator has mandibles, antennae, and wings. This tension between how the narrator sounds and what the narrator is kept undermining the suspension of disbelief necessary for the enjoyment of any fantasy.  

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REVIEW: “Freedom in Briers” by Rachel Hailey

Review of Rachel Hailey, “Freedom in Briers”, in David G. Clark, Callum Colback, Joe Butler, and Alex Hareland, eds., Beneath Strange Stars, (TL;DR Press, 2020): 275-290 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Thorn, Caleb, and Theresa are each one of the Magic-Touched — people who have special abilities (or “banes”) that set them apart from the rest of humanity. Though it’s not clear to me how or why, their status as magic-touched puts them under the power or control of the non-magic-touched; e.g., Thorn has a keeper named Jasper who dictates her actions. Together, Thorn and the other magic-touched people are all part of an eerie circus, one that is constantly recruiting from amongst their audiences.

It’s clear from the start of the story that there is something complex going on — what isn’t clear, unfortunately, is what that something is. I was never quite sure, even at the end.

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REVIEW: “Luminous” by Kel Purcill

Review of Kel Purcill, “Luminous”, Luna Station Quarterly 41 (2020): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Shaz’s modern-day fairy-tale ended with an unhappily ever after, so she got divorced. Now in the freedom of being happily single, she can do whatever she wants — and with whomever she wants.

This is a sweet little story. It’s not really to my taste, but if you like romance and magical realism, then this is a story for you!

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REVIEW: “Down in the Kettle Bog, or: Julian and the Frogman” by Josie Nuñez

Review of Josie Nuñez, “Down in the Kettle Bog, or: Julian and the Frogman”, Luna Station Quarterly 41 (2020): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

What do you do when a frogman comes to down, settling into the kettle bog and threatening the local kittens and babies?

Why, bring in the witches of course. A coven of them — twelve now, not thirteen as they once had been — including Julian who has been isolated from the rest for the last six months and still in the grip of an active spell that prevents her from speaking. The problem is, the last time the coven had to deal with a frogman, they were twenty witches strong and still barely managed to defeat it; and the other problem is, Julian is an oratory witch, one whose power is strongest when she speaks.

The rest I’ll leave to the reader to find out for themself, but it involves a panoply of witches with different powers and abilities all picked out with humor hunting down the frogman, and an explanation of why Julian placed the silence-spell on herself in the first place.

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REVIEW: “Salt” by Rosemary Melchior

Review of Rosemary Melchior, “Salt”, Luna Station Quarterly 41 (2020): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The story opens on Sigga arriving on a deserted island populated by criminals, the ship bearing her and others condemned to exile. Her crimes might not be as bad as some, but they have earned her the label “witch”, and that’s bad enough.

The settlers already there seem remarkably straight-laced and law-abiding given their reason for being there, criminals all — it’s as if whatever drove them to crime in their previous life has been removed or rehabilitated on this island. But a safe place in a peaceful settlement is no lure for Sigga, who opts for a life lived alone and untrusted.

It’s a powerful story of a man’s word against a woman’s, and how easy it is to damage a reputation forever, a story of how women must be punished — “There are many ways to punish a girl.” In the end, we see only a glimpse of Sigga’s vengeance for the wrongs that have been done to her.

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REVIEW: “Blind Charity” by Lyle Enright

Review of Lyle Enright, “Blind Charity”, in David G. Clark, Callum Colback, Joe Butler, and Alex Hareland, eds., Beneath Strange Stars, (TL;DR Press, 2020): 227-235 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

I did not understand this story — too may obscure references to unknown gods and unspeakable heresies. I didn’t grow up in this world, so I didn’t understand all the cultural references, or even what, exactly happened. And though the Huntress, Viorica Zelgathi had a revelation at the end of the story, the reader, unfortunately, was not party to the same revelation, so I was just left in darkness.

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