Review of Brandon Case, “Darkness, Blanket of My Eyes,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was billed as a horror story, but it’s actually a love story. (Though, it’s definitely horror-y enough that if this isn’t the genre for you, don’t read this. Also don’t read if attempted tentacle sex isn’t your thing.)
Review of J. Autumn Needles, “The Chicken’s Just Fine,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 11-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
What a strange little story. The FFO editors classified this as science fiction, but the only SF element I could find is the setting — one oblique reference to the characters having “brought those ideas from another world” (p. 11). The speculative elements are loosely defined enough that one could interpret them as either science or magic, a pleasing ambiguity which definitely helps the story along.
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 Jim Kourlas, “Toby on Third,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story gets reviewed on the blog here purely because of our commitment to review every story in an issue; there isn’t anything particularly speculative about it. Perhaps if there were, I would’ve enjoyed it more: A litfic story about baseball just isn’t my cup of tea. But even so, I was impressed at how Kourlas was able to construct such a complex and compelling father-son relationship in so little space.
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 Lettie Prell, “Please Click,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 11-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was a thoughtful take on human-robot symbiosis, mostly hopeful, rather than depressing. It also had an element of humor that particularly tickled me; pretty sure anyone who has spent enough time on the internet will know what part I meant once they get to it (I’d rather not spoil in the review, as it’s intrinsic to the story!).
Review of Samir Sirk Morató, “Limerence,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 22-24 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a surprisingly lovely and evocative story, of two bog bodies separated by a layer of peat. It’s a story of longing and loss and love, with an ambiguous ending where I still can’t decide if I find it sad or hopeful.
Review of Lindz McLeod, “On the Wing,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Infidelity.
It felt a bit like this story was a dare, to see how many bird metaphors and bird images McLeod could fit into one story. There were a lot: all tastefully and effectively used, but leaving me wondering, why all the birds.
(Originally published in Bear Creek Gazette, 2022).
Review of Jennifer Mace, “Sparsely Populated With Stars,” Flash Fiction Online 126 (March 2024): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
It seems at first that this is a told through a series of dreams dreamt by someone in cryostasis, but as the dreams begin to fragment, things become less clear — is it cryostasis? Is it immmortality? Or is it prison? Dreams and reality become entangled and questions multiply. In a flash fic piece, of course there’s not enough time to answer them; but nevertheless, the story when it ends feels complete.
SFF Reviews