REVIEW: “Hell’s Bells” by Cass Sims Knight

Review of Cass Sims Knight, “Hell’s Bells,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Sexual harassment, physical assault.

Annie’s a telepath whose abilities tend to get herself labelled as a witch. When her horse throws a shoe, she is forced into town to find a blacksmith to replace it.

What a curious little story this was: No grand narrative, no momentous goal or quest arc, no moment of discovery. Just the story of a woman and her horse who came into town, got into trouble, and got themselves back out of trouble again. And, yet, I really enjoyed it.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “A Unicorn’s Horn is Proof Against Poison” by Clare Packard

Review of Clare Packard, “A Unicorn’s Horn is Proof Against Poison,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Assassination plots! Intrigue! Spies! Unicorns! True love! All in the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. This story had just enough history and just enough fantasy to hit a sweet spot, for something really fun and enjoyable to read.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Horse Girls Til the End” by SK Marre

Review of SK Marre, “Horse Girls Til the End,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’m not much of a horse girl myself, but I love a good story about an underrepresented mythological creature, and I loved the way Marre told this entire story through text messages. Modern, but extremely effective. This was just pure pleasure and fun to read.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “High to Kolob on a Cosmic Clydesdale” by Katrina Carruth

Review of Katrina Carruth, “High to Kolob on a Cosmic Clydesdale,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Be wary what you wish for when you go to your friend’s new moon crystal party — the narrator of this story wished for manifest destiny and ended up with a cosmic Clydesdale in her livingroom!

For the most part this was a quick read despite being a long story, light and humorful, but towards the end it turned surprisingly deep, in a way that made it feel like more than fluff. It can be hard to shift tone midway through a story like this, but I feel Carruth pulled it off well. It all made sense, which feels like an odd thing to say about a fantasy story, but it’s true.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Hospitality” by Jennifer Skogen

Review of Jennifer Skogen, “Hospitality,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This is the sort of story that I really love — quiet and intimate in its focus, but grand and sweeping in its backdrop, with characters that I can sympathise with and root for. Caroline’s longing for something other than what her little village can offer her tugged at my heart and made me hope for the best for her.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Rodney’s Request” by Mary Jo Rabe

Review of Mary Jo Rabe, “Rodney’s Request,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story about a Scottish unicorn visiting Iowa (a state I know well through my husband, also an Iowa State alumni!) made me laugh, which was exactly the tonic I needed amidst some dark times. Sometimes, I am incredibly grateful that short fiction is a thing, and that places like LSQ and authors like Rabe make it so easy for us to have.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Forest-Sister” by Avril Mulligan

Review of Avril Mulligan, “Forest-Sister,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Every week when his mother goes to the market, Tom’s father sends him and his younger sister, Bib, into the forest, to find their half-sister, their forest-sister; and every day Tom has to live with the debt he owes his forest-sister.

There is a darkness to this story, which comes through in chips and pieces through the beautiful language that Mulligan deploys. It’s a story about the complexities and complications of familial relationships, and desire, and debt, and it will leave a weight upon your heart when you read it.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “A Lullaby for Mattie Barker” by B. Zelkovich

Review of B. Zelkovich, “A Lullaby for Mattie Barker,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The story opens on Mattie Barker arriving in a small and sleepy town to take up her dream job — sexton of the local church. The peace that Mattie feels tending the church garden and graveyard bleeds through to the reader, and nothing can destroy it, not even the ghosts who haunt the graveyard. All in all a very lovely reading experience, full of love and loss and longing.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Good News, Bad News” by Rhonda Parrish

Review of Rhonda Parrish, “Good News, Bad News,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: References to addiction.

This was ostensibly a story of post-apocalyptic Drumheller, but I found it weirdly idealised and utopian. Ty, one of the secondary characters, has a background in “science,” and hence is able to design hydroponics, make use of laboratories, build solar-powered systems — quite the collection of skills beyond the ken of most of the scientists I know! Papillon, the main character, takes on the role of ruler of a metaphorical fiefdom with ease. Everything seems to work out just a little too well and a little too easily for everyone involved. But I did like the sentiment expressed at the ending — almost enough to redeem the story.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment