Review of J. A. Gross, “Handiwork,” Luna Station Quarterly 19 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Just when this story, set against the backdrop of a complex society — highborns and mid families, nomads and moderns — just when it was really piquing my interest, it ended. It was more a vignette than a story, and as a result was rather unfortunately unsatisfying.
Review of Gabrielle Lissauer, “Ceilidh McCallum Versus the Super Evil Fairy Lady,” Luna Station Quarterly 19 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
If you, like me, read the title and wondered if it telegraphed something about the central characters of the story: The answer is yes, this is told from the point of view of a young girl, probably 5 or 6. Or rather, it’s told (partially) in what an adult thinks the point of view of a child of around that age would be; and I confess that I do not think it was done very successfully or accurately. This might be the story for some of you; it was not the story for me.
(There also appears to be a continuity error: When Ceilidh sets off on her quest, the kitten Trouble is left behind in the ruins of her battlefield; but half-way through her quest, Ceilidh is clutching Trouble close. Since Trouble plays a crucial role in Ceilidh’s defeat of the Super Evil Fairy Lady, this is a problematic oversight.)
Review of RJ Astruc, “Gretel in Her Ever After,” Luna Station Quarterly 19 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Premise: Gretel’s all grown up, living in the city, and selling white goods — any kind of white goods, but mostly ovens, as that’s what she knows best — and trying to come to terms with a past she can’t quite admit is real. As a premise, this is a pretty good one, and one apt to get me hooked. But Astruc combined it with another premise — Hansel all grow up, no longer slim but fat, greedy, slovenly — which too often felt too fatphobic for me to really be able to enjoy this story.
Review of Jamie M. Boyd, “The End of Sleep,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Infertility, IVF.
Dr. Ocan Kato deals with sleep issues in PTSD sufferers, which makes him exactly the person Major Claire Weissman wants to see, when experiments involving unilateral sleep in humans (sleeping with only one half of the brain) throw up some surprising results.
But while that’s the main thread of the story, it’s not the only one; it’s also the story of Ocan’s struggle to come to terms with his wife’s infertility. You don’t often get infertility/IVF stories from the point of view of the father, and Dr. Ocan Kato’s grief is raw, palpable, and real.
Overall, a complex and interesting story.
Review of Elou Carroll, “Tatterdemalion, or Of Apple Bough and Straw,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death of a partner.
A very classic sort of fairy tale: A bereaved woman makes a bargain, only to find the price more than she can bear to pay. She gets her happily ever after in the end, but not without a heavy dose of heartache in between.
Review of Jenna Grieve, “Osteomancy,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
My god, this was a good story. The language in this story is exceedingly beautiful, putting images into my head in a way that most stories don’t (those who don’t have any degree of aphantasia may not appreciate this quite as much). I can vividly picture Stranger, arriving at the door of Locksmith begging the creation of a key that only Locksmith can make, everything sharp but cloaked in shades of grey. What a sublime experience, reading this!
Review of Kathleen Chadwick, “The Tiger Who Fell in Love With the Sky,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
From the “once upon a time” to the “happily ever after,” this was a beautiful little fairy tale that I will probably read to my child. It was reminiscent of Kipling’s “Just So” stories in its voice.
Review of Lisa Farrell, “Crowd Demons,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Take a photographer hired to photograph a rich man’s soiree, a bunch of photos that don’t turn out exactly how she expected, and a newspaper article a few days later and what do you get? A supernatural ghost mystery that feels like it could’ve been straight out of an episode of the X Files (and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible.)
Review of Claire McAneny, “Reaping Rewards,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Domestic abuse.
If only getting a problematic man out of your life was as easy as going to the local fortune teller…
Review of Amelia Brunskill, “The Hunter’s Child,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a weird, almost grotesque, little fairy tale. It has all the characteristic roles — the Queen, the King, the Hunter — it has monsters beyond the castle walls, secrets, and little girls who can talk to birds. But entwined with these are ugly threads that you don’t expect to find in a fairy tale — alcoholism, abuse. If there is any happy ending at all, it is the little girl discovering that the monsters outside are not nearly as evil as ones inside.
SFF Reviews