Review of Stephanie A. Craig, “The Girl Who Can’t Say No,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
If you, like me, read the title and thought “horror story”, you would not be wrong. What you might not have counted on (as I did not) was that this story would be straight of genie-in-the-bottle fairy tale, except set in space. A fun clash of genres and tropes!
Review of Julie C. Day, “Faerie Medicine,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Allusions to rape.
This was a sad story of how lost innocence cannot be regained, even with faerie medicine.
(First published in Flapperhouse, 2014).
Review of Christine Boulos, “What Happened at the Pond,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Sexual assault.
What happened at the pond has happened more than once. This is the tale of two different happenings, two women who disappeared leaving nothing behind but their clothing and silver sparks in the depths of the pond. Part fairy tale, part murder mystery, I enjoyed this powerful story a heck of a lot.
Review of Melissa McDaniel, “The Hatchlings,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Half-fairy tale, half-sci fi, this story played with genres in a way I found really effective, especially given how compelling the vision of the future that McDaniel presented was. A satisfying read.
Review of Lyndsie Manusos, “Hafter: A Fairy Tale,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
When someone says their story is a fairy tale, that sets up certain expectations — about the type of character you’ll encounter, the style of writing, the general trend of the plot. If those expectations are not met, it had better be for good reason. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that that was always the case here. Probably I could have enjoyed this story more if I hadn’t been told that it was supposed to be a fairy tale.
Review of Torah Cottrill, “The Face Thief,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Fasel Inohiye lives on the tourist planet of Cornucopia and provides “personal services” to those who visit. It’s a pretty good job, bringing in decent money — and when he’s accosted in an alley after a well-paying night, his first thought is that he’s going to be mugged for his money. Instead, it was his face that the thief was seeking.
The rest of the story was about Fasel’s attempt to find someone to help him get his face back, and with good economy of words Cottrill managed to draw a couple of really sympathetic and engaging characters. A well put together story, that I enjoyed a lot.
Review of Mary E. Lowd, “The Little Red Avian Alien,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, my goodness, this is “The Little Red Hen” but set in alien space — what fun! And with a twist at the end so that it wasn’t just the same old, same old.
Review of Jocelyn Koehler, “A Sky Without Smoke,” Luna Station Quarterly 20 (2014): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Steven and his brother Kevin live in Williamsburg, not far from the spaceport that sends regular rockets to Mars with all the luxuries that could only be obtained on earth. This story traces two days in their lives, and it is a beautiful mixture of the mundane — daily life, brotherhood, rivalries — and the momentous — when their life shifts and nothing is as it was before.
Really enjoyable!
Review of Emmie Christie, “The Time Speaker,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I loved this story about a woman who is able to speak with time! Christie conveyed the way Time spoke to Katie, its language and vocabulary and ‘voice’, with great skill and conviction. Short and sweet, this was very satisfying.
Review of Paulene Turner, “Soul Mate,” Luna Station Quarterly 49 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Cassidy Braithwaite is the “loving daughter of Charles and Lena Braithwaite. Treasured fiancé to Vaughan Gallagher” — and also an atheist. She never expected to end up as ghost upon her death. Unfortunately, while she waits for those who loved her to come to terms with her death, she discovers that she doesn’t actually want them to do so, because it means that they are moving on, and so must she. Vaughan might be ready to let her go, but she’s not ready to let him go.
This story could’ve been vaguely sweet and romantic, but instead was rather stalkerish and selfish. I appreciated Cassidy’s sidekick Franky, who recognized how problematic her relationship with Vaughan was (even if he was never able to convince her of it) — until the point when he started aiding her in her pursuit. Just not really the sort of story for me, I guess.
SFF Reviews