Review of Anna Madden, “Of Wood and Flame,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There’s plenty of stories out there about foundling children raised by animals, but much fewer about foundling children raised by trees. I would have liked to know a bit more about how Holly ended up abandoned in the forest, and how Fossil knew about her past; but these are minor quibbles about an otherwise enjoyable story. Plus: a bonus dragon!
Review of Emma Louise Gill, “Quercus,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There was a lot going on in this story, and it took awhile for various pieces to fall into place. If you like the creepy and just a little bit strange, then this is a story for you.
Review of ZQ Taylor, “Linden’s Legends,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a slow, meandering story, a series of excerpts told from the point of view of a linden tree. I think I would have liked it more if the narrator had felt more tree-like, more foreign, less just an ordinary character. But there were bits in it that I really loved, such as the love between the tree and two lovers who courted within its branches. It felt so very joyous and pure.
Review of Callie S. Blackstone, “Break Fresh Ground,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The narrator’s grandmother has died, and bequeathed to her house, her two apple trees, and her store of herbs in the pantry. We the reader get to explore all three of these along with the narrator in this beautiful story of love and loss and memory, and the entwining of ancient Irish myth with modern Catholic ritual.
Review of Katrina Carruth, “The Beginning,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There’s a nice mythological feel to this story, which is set “before the earth was your Earth and the heavens were your heavens,” and tells of a tree, born from a seed that fell from the stars and grew to be the mother of all life. It had the potential to be a neat story, but it was told in a rather heavy-handed and didactic way, which wasn’t entirely to my taste, and ended rather abruptly. It felt like a strong first draft, not quite honed to its best form.
Review of Ali Miller, “The Trimming of the Branches,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was deftly written in order to allow two readings, one where it’s a straight-up dryadic sort of fantasy, and the other (which is how I preferred to take it) as a metaphor of the love between men and women and the land, a love that crosses and shifts and mutates over generations. It was a really lovely read.
Review of Sarah McPherson, “Shadow and Ash,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story combined two narrative techniques that I generally dislike — 2nd person POV with a vagueness of setting and characterisation — with the result that I never really found anything to sink my teeth into. This one just wasn’t for me.
Review of Elana Gomel, “The Mother Tree,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Non-consensual sex, non-consensual pregnancy.
This was definitely not the sort of story I was expecting, veering off from fantasy to flirt with horror — the horror of pregnancy as your child takes over your body and then your life; the horror of losing a mother; the horror of being trapped in one place, unable to speak, unable to escape.
I loved it.
Review of Keira Reynolds, “The Wee Folks,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a proper fairy tale, where the wee folk are armed and dangerous and ready to laugh at human suffering, with a good dose of folk knowledge in the background.
Review of Maria Paige Brekke, “Beech, Please,” Luna Station Quarterly 52 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
After a decade of running a body-carving shop for dryads (basically the tree equivalent of tattoos), Rhiannon comes to realise that she’s become…normal. ordinary. part of the establishment. the “safe” option. Better that than burning childish designs into their bark like her competitor Eric, or so she tells herself. Anything is better than leaving her customers to Eric’s services. So of course, we the readers are not surprised at all when Rhiannon and Eric get thrown into a fix that they can only solve together.
This story wins the “best title” award for this (tree-themed) issue of LSQ, so of course I had to start with it. I’m delighted to say the story itself lived up to the promise of its title — snappy, full of humor, putting a smile on my face in every paragraph.
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