REVIEW: “Ends and Means” by Ana Wesley

Review of Ana Wesley, “Ends and Means,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 261-281 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

It’s another post-apocalyptic story, two women desperately running and trying to stay safe, never sure where they will sleep, what they will eat, who will betray them next. There’s been a lot of these such stories lately, it feels like, and one thing I’ve realized lately is how few post-apocalyptic settings ever really go deep into worldbuilding. The apocalypses are rarely articulated, the enemies often feel interchangeable, the central characters — while varied and interesting in themselves — too seem like they could be swapped from one setting to another without their stories fundamentally changing.

All this to say: There’s been so many stories of this ilk in recent years that it’s now going to take something special for one to stand out for me. It took Wesley’s story a good five pages to get going, but then I finally started getting glimpse of something at least a little bit different: post-apocalyptic fantasy, rather than SF.

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REVIEW: “A Bedtime of Fire, Alchemy, and Ice” by JM Cyrus

Review of JM Cyrus, “A Bedtime of Fire, Alchemy, and Ice,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 243-258 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Solo parenting a gaggle of young kids while you’ve got experimental research notes you need to write up is never an easy thing — whether or not your research is magical! But Morwedd’s wife is away, so she’s got no choice but to make the balance work.

What I loved most about this story was its portrayal of the sheer *joy* of parenting young children. Yes, under-5s are exhausting and relentless and complicated to parent, especially when there’s more than one of them; but so often it feels like people don’t talk often enough about how much fun it is to be a parent, how joyful it is. So this story just made me happy.

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REVIEW: “Fatherhood” by Vrinda Baliga

Review of Vrinda Baliga, “Fatherhood,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 227-240 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Pregnancy after infertility; pregnancy complications (positive outcome); eugenics.

Dr. Mishra’s entry into fatherhood isn’t at all what he hoped it would be: First, unexpected complications result in an emergency c-section for his wife; then, there’s a surprise inspection at work. Unfortunately, the research that his lab conducts and the child who will hopefully soon be coming into the world are intimately connected, and not necessarily in a good way! This is a story of administrative paperwork and interfering relations, of science fiction becoming fact, and of a whole new form of fatherhood. Even though I could see pretty close from the start where the end was going to be, this was still an enjoyable read.

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REVIEW: “Our Last Celebration” by Susan Webster

Review of Susan Webster, “Our Last Celebration,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 215-225 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Euthanasia.

There was something about this story that didn’t sit right with me, that felt a bit “off”. I couldn’t help but read about the celebration and wonder: How rich did one have to be, in this post-apocalyptic setting, to get to have a last celebration? (Rachel drives a BMW, so: rich enough, at least!) What about all the others — the young cadet who guards the gate, the two women whose responsibility it is to ensure the celebration is a success? What will happen to them? Do they ever have the chance to escape for a celebration, or are they fated to only serve the ones who are rich enough?

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REVIEW: “Asra’s Magnificent Emporium of Clockworks and Curses” by Madalena Daleziou

Review of Madalena Daleziou, “Asra’s Magnificent Emporium,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 291-301 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I always enjoy fantasy stories (which this definitely is: cursed objects! divination! witches!) that are nevertheless set in SF settings (Europa!) — there’s something about the cross-genre blending that tickles me. This was an enjoyable tale, no deep thoughts, no big moral, just some slices of Asra’s life and a peak into her very magnificent indeed emporium.

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REVIEW: “Lentils for Breakfast” by Maroon Stranger

Review of Maroon Stranger, “Lentils for Breakfast,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 113-125 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This charming story, of a girl growing up and spreading her wings at the most important institution in the country for her particular brand of magic, starting off such a feel-good story that I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it never did!

Not that there wasn’t anything that went wrong, that Deepika didn’t face any challenges or that everything was sweet (in fact, quite the opposite), but Stranger addresses the racism that Deepika faces head on, and gives Deepika a way out. A truly magical little story.

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REVIEW: “Silver and Silt” by Lydia O’Donnell

Review of Lydia O’Donnell, “Silver and Silt,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 175-184 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I don’t often come across stories featuring male selkies, so that was an interesting novelty in this one. But as with many stories about forbidden love, this one wasn’t really about whether the narrator and her selkie would have their happy ever after, and more about one girl’s path to finding what it is she really wants.

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REVIEW: “Selling Chances” by Louise Hughes

Review of Louise Hughes, “Selling Chances,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 283-289 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Oh, man, what a beautiful story this was, about generational trauma, generational hope, the neverending desire of a parent for their child to have a better life, a better future, a better chance. Just the right length, and with a twist at the end that made everything more intense. Hughes has written a gem!

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