Review of Alyssa C. Greene, “Silk,” Luna Station Quarterly 54 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Considering the subject of this story was weaving, it feels appropriate to describe it as “intricately woven,” threads being fed to the reader a bit at a time so that we don’t get the whole pattern at once, but have to wait for it to be built, all the while, horror deepening in the background.
Review of R. S. A. Garcia, “Bishop’s Opening”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A 2022 Nebula Finalist novella with detailed world building and many characters – not an easy read, but an engaging one if you manage to get into the action. It took me a while to get invested in the story, but once I did it was a much quicker read.
I liked the parts with the starship crew more, probably because the Valencians seemed like a much greater, detailed world that we only got glimpses of. I still don’t fully understand the rules and technology of the world, which is probably just as well – it was part of the plot, but not the sole focus.
The characters were well defined and interesting. I also appreciated the diversity and queer representation. More than all that, I really enjoyed the prose. The author has a way of conveying emotion in just a few words, and I found myself re-reading particularly striking sentences and passages.
Review of Shaliz Bazldjoo, “Pandora’s Castle” Radon Journal 2 (2022): 48-55 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There is so much tension and backstory and history in this story, right from the very start. Bazldjoo strikes an excellent balance for the reader between the enjoyable uncertainty about what’s going on and how everything fits in, and frustration about the exact same thing. I immediately want to know more about the narrator, who are they, why is their life like this. A great read.
Review of Aeryn Rudel, “Hunting Snowmen,” Radon Journal 2 (2022): 16-18 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Domestic violence.
This was a funny [in the strange rather than humoristic, although there is definitely humor in it] little post-apocalyptic story about zombies who head north and then freeze in the bitter cold. It’s full of vindictive justice, and even though I could see the ending coming from a mile away, it was so satisfying.
Review of Anna Martino, “A Memory is Like a Talon,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, this was a wonderful story — beautiful, visceral, raw, powerful. It’s about a shapeshifter and the one who loves them during WWI, and of their descendants, and it was just gorgeous.
I am now going out to seek out everything else Martino has written, because if they are half as good as this, they will be amazing.
Review of P. L. Watts, “The Twin’s Paradox,” Luna Station Quarterly 53 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a simple story: One of a pair of identical twins goes on a journey to Alpha Centauri, the other stays at home, and when the former returns they are no longer identical because the latter has aged. A good premise, but there wasn’t much more than that, no twist, no unexpected move, no deeper insight. Just a simple story.
Review of Nick Greenleaf, “The Flyswatter,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 34-39 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Tomo and Tommy fix electronics, but it’s not enough to make a living out of, so occasionally Tomo brings back other jobs for them. It’s a dangerous mission, involving Tomo hooking herself into a neural interface to try to hack her way in through a back door, but will bring in a lot of money.
There’s a fine line between explaining too much and explaining too little, but unfortunately this story fell on the latter side for me. I was never quite sure what Tomo was targetting — a person or a corporation? And the technicians who showed up at the end, their connection to the whole process also wasn’t clear to me. A lot of potential in this story, just not quite realised.
Review of Kevin Helock, “Superluminal,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 29-33 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The best part about science fiction is that you can ignore science when needed in favor of fiction; on the other hand, if you want to write science fiction you can’t ignore too much science. With his story of faster-than-light travel and a 3000-strong colony on Mars, Helock has managed to hit a good balance between giving up science, without feeling any needed to explain how, and yet keeping the bones of the narrative credible.*
(*Other than the fact that anyone in so far distant a future would consider Elon Musk one of the “Great Men” of history. But Maxim seems the sort of person who would idolize Musk.)
Review of Megan W. Shaw, “A Song Before I Say Goodbye,” Cossmass Infinities 8 (2022): 96-98 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an unusually short story for Cossmass Infinities, but I’m so glad the editors took a punt on it. It’s a beautiful little epilogue to a great issue. (Warning! May cause tears.)
Review of Devi Lacroix, “Battles Yet to Win,” Cossmass Infinities 8 (2022): 85-95 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The story opens with a feel I traditionally associated with fantasy, and when it segued into science fiction it did so in a way that didn’t clash with the atmosphere that had already been created. The juxtaposition was well-done and I enjoyed it. And this was merely setting the stage for a rich story of complex relationships between ambiguous characters, all of which made for an extremely satisfying read. (There is also a subtle, but excellent, slight rewriting of history, which I loved.)
SFF Reviews