REVIEW: “The Hunter’s Child” by Amelia Brunskill

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.

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REVIEW: “Ghosts in My Lungs” by Madeleine Sardina

Review of Madeleine Sardina, “Ghosts in My Lungs,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I’m not sure if the titular ghosts were intended to be a metaphor for disease — they certainly can be read that way, but it’s not required — or if they’re just a fun creepy thing to imagine and write a story about, but either way, they definitely made for a fun creepy thing to read a story about, especially entangled in an absolutely glorious love story. A real treat!

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REVIEW: “What Has Waited Between the Stars” by Daphne Fama

Review of Daphne Fama, “What Has Waited Between the Stars,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Woman breaks up with her girlfriend, takes to the stars, crashes on a lonely planet: A simple, and not especially original, premise. The only thing that kept me going through the opening paragraphs was the hint of the title, the promise that I might be dazzled with something unexpected.

The abrupt shift the story took about three quarters of the way through was certainly unexpected, but I think I ended up more perplexed than dazzled. And odd little SF tale!

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REVIEW: “Chokeleaf” by M.J. Garland

Review of M.J. Garland, “Chokeleaf,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Depression and suicidal ideation.

Chokeleaf — or Ficus effusio, to give it its Latin name — is an invasive species, and the Trailblazers are there to do their part in eradicating it. The Trailblazers themselves are a motley group of do-gooders, college drop outs, and know-it-alls, the only thing united them is a desire to help rid the park of this plant, which is threatening not only the local wildlife, but the human visitors as well. Through the eight weeks they spend at the park, we learn about Steph, and her past, the people she’s left behind and the life she would like to get back do. Despite the fantasy elements, there is something that feels very real about this story.

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REVIEW: “Seven Strands” by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera

Review of Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, “Seven Strands,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

When Cristian’s aunt tells him that something has happened and his mother needs him, he is in agony of worry until he can make the trek back home, bringing his girlfriend Norma along with. But Norma isn’t there just to support Cristian; she has her own designs afoot!

Though short, and perhaps a bit underdeveloped, this story is filled with all the little bits of verisimilitude that make me as a reader feel like I am in capable hands.

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REVIEW: “Maiasaura Deifaeria” by Jennifer Lee Rossman

Review of Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Maiasaura Deifaeria,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Even dinosaurs deserve to have a fairy godmother (or so Rossman easily makes the reader believe); but what happens to the fairy godmother when all her species go extinct? Well, after sixty-five million years of grieving, she finds someone else to godmother.

With a lot of extremely dubious and humorous fantasy and just enough real history throne in to make me jump over to wikipedia, this is a story that feels like it shouldn’t have worked; and yet I’m not convinced it didn’t.

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REVIEW: “Other Lives” by Elizabeth Guilt

Review of Elizabeth Guilt, “Other Lives,” Luna Station Quarterly 50 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Oh, I loved this story.

Have you ever wondered how your life might have gone, if only one thing, one moment in your past had changed? Well, Rob, Emily, and their friend (the narrator) all find this out one trip the May Day Fair when they visit the seer who can see other lives. It’s fun and sad and poignant and wonderful, and the perfect premise for a quick bite of a story.

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