Review of Faith Allington, “The Lonely Eldritch Hearts Club,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 18-21 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’ve never had to partake in online dating fora myself, but I’ve heard the horror stories. Given how bad actuality is, could it be any worse to swipe right on an eldritch beast instead? Not according to this absolutely sweet and romantic little story of love and heartbreak.
Review of Samir Sirk Morató, “galactic oracle eulogy,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 9-12 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The setting and characters in this story are so unusual and distinctive that I spent quite a bit of my time trying to figure out just who and what everything is. I like the way that so much is left ambiguous (is it fungus? parasites? metaphor? weird aliens? bio-ship or metal-ship? macroscopic or microscopic?), so that I have no confidence at all that my interpretation is accurate, but every confidence that my interpretation is just as valid a way of reading it as anyone else’s.
Review of Rodrigo Culagovski, “BigHappyFriend Likes Humans,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, my, what a bleak story this was! A little gem of black humor wrapped up in a first- (or, maybe third- or fourth-…) contact story. It made me laugh, even if I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny.
Review of Holly Schofield, “Conflict Resolution,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 23-26 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story marches back in time from a drowning.
The way it starts is so sudden, so unmotivated, and so unpleasant that it put me off, erecting quite a barrier that would have to be mounted before I could enjoy the rest of the story. I figured I was willing to give the length of a flash fic story for it to convince me that I should revise my opinion of the opening events, but only that.
In the end, I think I’m ambivalent about this story. The resolution wasn’t too predictable for it to resolve my conflicted stance as a reader.
(First published in Nature:Futures October 2022).
Review of Emma Burnett, “Plastic-Eating Fungus Caused Doomsday [2][3],” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 12-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is the first time I’ve encountered a story written in the form of the talk page of a wikipedia article. Burnett constructed this brilliantly, right up to the ending that made me laugh Two thumbs up, recommended reading even if you don’t like fungus!
(First published in Nature: Futures June 2024).
Review of D. A. Straith, “A Year in the Life of the Drowned Wastewater Plant East of Bellmarsh Village,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 27-29 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
For a story set in a post-apocalyptic setting, this was surprisingly peaceful and serene, and even almost hopeful. A lovely little gem in this issue!
Review of Tina S. Zhu, “Why I Quit Teaching at the Villain Academy,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 17-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Maybe it’s just because I’m an academic at the end of term, but you can totally read the first page of this story replacing “villain academy” with “university” and “villain” with “academic” and it is so, so, depressingly true. Doesn’t get much better on the second page, even if the substitutions no longer really work, because it’s full on climate depression.
Basically, don’t read unless you’re in a mood to get really bummed out!
Review of Malda Marlys, “Bone Birds Fly,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 20-22 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a story about living after the end of the world, when everything else is dead and dry and gone, and yet just because we’ve killed the world doesn’t mean that we ourselves aren’t still struggling along in the aftermath. Pretty bleak.
Review of Liz J. Bradley, “A Soft and Silent Glow,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 23-25 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I love it when I get to read an author’s debut story! Bradley’s dystopian future has more than a hint of magic about it — a lovely contrast carefully blended. There’s nothing especially hopeful or happy about the story, but there is something beautiful about it.
Review of Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, “The Caged Budgerigars,” Flash Fiction Online 135 (December 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility.
This was a well-put-together story but upon reading it I knew I’d have difficulty reviewing it because it’s not really speculative in any way (FFO has the occasional non-spec story). But I was curious about what the issue’s theme was, to see if understanding how it fit into the theme would reveal something more than what was in the story itself. The theme for this issue is “eco-futures,” and knowing that didn’t actually clue me in any more; this story is very much rooted in the present. So I delved into the editorial to see if I could understand why the editors chose this particular story for this particular theme, and Halsey’s comment piqued my interest: “I went with this portrayal of a woman struggling with her inability to have children because it mirrors the intimacy of another mother’s story within this issue” (p. 6). Guess I’ll have to read that one next!
SFF Reviews