Review of Ziggy Schutz, “Through Glass,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 49-51 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
It’s quite incredible how much metaphor and allegory Schutz is able to stuff into three pages. I’m torn between loving this story for what it is and what it does, and wishing it had so much more.
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!
Review of Erin K. Wagner, “In the Orchard, Where Robots Grow,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 53-69 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death of a parent.
It’s hard to call a post-apocalyptic SF story “cozy,” but as I read this story and reached for the right words, that’s the one I kept ending up with. It’s not “cozy” in the sense of happy and comforting but in the sense of small-scale, intimate, personal, much more about the breakdown of familial relationships than the breakdown of the robot in the orchard.
Review of T.M. Conway, “The Alliance,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 95-104 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There are plenty of tales out there about the love a ship’s captain has for their ship — but this was the first story I’ve encountered about a ship’s love for their captain. It was delightful (albeit a bit bittersweet)!
Review of Lesley Hart Gunn, “The Philosophy of Weeds,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 187-189 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
“Be careful what you cultivate,” Lana’s husband warns her, but honestly, of the two of them, I’m on Lana’s side, on the side of letting the weeds grow and flourish. No matter how destructive they are in this tight, short story, they are far less destructive than what it is that her husband is cultivating.
Review of H.V. Patterson, “Downstairs Neighbor,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 71-78 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Moving out and on your own is never easy, even when space and independence is what you want. Thankfully, this can be made easier with the presence of a helpful neighbor — which is exactly what the narrator in this story gets, even if it’s not quite the neighbor she might have expected! This was a fun little story.
Review of EC Dorgan, “Melilot Dreams,” Luna Station Quarterly 62 (June 2025): 81-92 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Most post-apocalyptic stories lean heavily to the SF genre, but this one doesn’t wear that genre on its sleeve; if anything, it tends more towards horror, of a very reflective, personal, and introspective kind. We never learn much about the apocalypse other than that it was AI-driven, but quite a bit about the narrator, their life before and after, and the loneliness of trying to stay alive.
It is a deeply, deeply unhappy story.
Review of Rebecca Washburn, “A Flame At the Edge of Darkness,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 361-383 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The story frames itself as being about the Darkness — a phenomenon that isn’t quite natural, isn’t quite artificial — and the Flames — the young girls who are the only predators of the Darkness; but in truth it’s much more a story of love and estrangement between mother and daughter. I had some sympathy with Maggie, the mother (from whose point of view the story is told), up until her thinly veiled homophobia was revealed, as well as the way she pretended her religion was “love”, and then I lost all sympathy for her. I spent the rest of the story desperately hoping that she wouldn’t get resolution, that there wouldn’t be redemption, wouldn’t be a happy ending, because that seemed like it would just be too easy. Having reached the ending, I’m not quite sure if I’m happy with it or not.
Review of B. Zelkovich, “The Secret Ingredient,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 154-165 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
If you love either “queers unable to recognize flirting when it stares them in the face” genre stories or stories about love over coffee, this is a story for you! Sweet, light, and entirely happy.
Review of Mae Juniper Stokes, “A Collections Librarian of the Slow-Flying Nautilus,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 91-110 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Book burning (not in the censorship sense, but in the literal sense. Still hurts to read about).
I regularly see my philosophical friends and colleagues asking for recommendations for SFF stories relevant to various topics that they can suggest to their students; I think there’s a good chance at some point in the future I will recommend Stokes’ story for the way it engages with the ethical implications at the intersection of resource management and cultural heritage (with a side dose of immigration and colonisation). This isn’t a topic often explored in story form, and I found this an interesting take!
SFF Reviews