Review of Davida Kilgore, “My Dear, My Love,” Fantasy Magazine 94 (August 2023): 10-20 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a frank, intimate story of queer Black love. The fantastical element is simultaneous slight and integral.
REVIEW: “A Lullaby for Mattie Barker” by B. Zelkovich
Review of B. Zelkovich, “A Lullaby for Mattie Barker,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The story opens on Mattie Barker arriving in a small and sleepy town to take up her dream job — sexton of the local church. The peace that Mattie feels tending the church garden and graveyard bleeds through to the reader, and nothing can destroy it, not even the ghosts who haunt the graveyard. All in all a very lovely reading experience, full of love and loss and longing.
REVIEW: “Built For Her” by Camden Rose
Review of Camden Rose, “Built for Her,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Domestic violence.
This story opened uncomfortably for me: An abusive woman stalking the girlfriend who left her, and then sculpting a replacement for her. (Perhaps it’s because my weekly Buffy rewatch group chat recently reached “Dead Things,” an episode that gets worse the older I get and the more experience I have with toxic patriarchy and masculinity.) It put me on edge from the beginning, reading the rest of the story with a sense of trepidation. Unfortunately, it didn’t redeem itself for me.
REVIEW: “Captain Courageous in Venice” by Janna Layton
Review of Janna Layton, “Captain Courageous in Venice,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story takes on the style of the 18th C confessional, and I loved it. It is unapologetically queer, suitably historic, and just a lot of fun — full of adventure, romance, and drama. I grinned the entire way through.
REVIEW: “Lips Like Sugar” by Cynthia Gómez
Review of Cynthia Gómez, “Lips Like Sugar,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Oblique references to sexual harassment and assault.
If you’re looking for an amusing and slightly raunchy bisexual vampire urban fantasy, this is a story for you.
REVIEW: “The Direction of Clocks” by Jess Levine
Review of Jess Levine, “The Direction of Clocks”, Clarkesworld Issue 185, February (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
Time-related stories strongly appeal to me, irrespective of actual plot. In this story, the protagonist travels in a starship solo, through time dilation. This means that she spent three years on the starship, while almost a century has passed in earth years. She left her friends, family, and relationship to escape through time.
**Spoiler:**
Once she reaches a space station, a stop on the way to continuing her journey rimward, she learns that relativistic journeys are no longer allowed, and she would have to spend the rest of her days on the space station.
**Spoiler ends**
Her journey of growth and self awareness make up a large part of the story, but I would have really liked it if the story explored more of her “why”, or how she grows through different situations. Or showcase her maturity. Not all characters need to be likable, so I’m not going to count that against this story.
REVIEW: “Fittonia” by Libby Feltis
Review of Libby Feltis, “Fittonia,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There were so many little bits and pieces in this story that are things I love — an emphasis on the importance of names, throwbacks to classic literature, sass, innuendo, writers writing stories as a means of currency, and happy endings. It was such a fun read. It was always an extremely realistic and believable account of the life of a highly sensitive and empathetic person.
REVIEW: “Hedwig Eva” by Victory Witherkeigh
Review of Victory Witherkeigh, “Hedwig Eva,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 43-47 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a particularly odd time travel story — I’m not entirely sure what the motivation was for this specific combination of fictional character and
historical person, or what I was supposed to get from it. It was, nevertheless, compellingly told with beautiful details.
REVIEW: “Ophelia’s Song” by Rebecca Birch
Review of Rebecca Birch, “Ophelia’s Song,” Tree and Stone 2 (2022): 37-42 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Death.
Kathleen has buried seven of her crewmates and now there’s no one left to bury her when she dies. The colonisation of this new planet is a failure. You’d think, from this, that this is a sad story — and while it definitely tugs at your heartstrings, there is just a little bit of hope at the end.
REVIEW: “Left at the Altar” by Lindsey Duncan
Review of Lindsey Duncan, “Left at the Altar,” Luna Station Quarterly 54 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, my, but I loved this absolutely delicious story. It has a classic set-up: A princess with the power of magic engaged to a foreign prince in order to end a war, her devoted bodyguard, a prince who doesn’t want to be married, a magic spell interrupted — from the start you know that princess Viatrese is going to end up with her bodyguard Berran, so it’s just a matter of figuring out how, and the unrolling of this just a pleasure to read. If you want a queer love story with a fiercely happy ending, read this!
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