REVIEW: “After Bots” by Rachael Maltbie

Review of Rachael Maltbie, “After Bots”, in Liane Tsui and Grace Seybold, eds., A Quiet Afternoon (Grace & Victory Publictions, 2020): 27-34 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Content note: Death of a partner.

The robots in this story are quite different from the personable robots of Agner’s story immediately preceding Maltbie’s in the anthology. These, it’s hard to tell if they are even robots or if they are just statues of robots. But either someone is moving the sculptures, changing their head and hand positions, or the robots are moving themselves…and Agatha Streusel has got to find out which.

This story was definitely more on the “sad” than “contented/happy” side of things, but it ends on a hopeful note.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Rising Tides” by Mary Alexandra Agner

Review of Mary Alexandra Agner, “Rising Tides”, in Liane Tsui and Grace Seybold, eds., A Quiet Afternoon (Grace & Victory Publictions, 2020): 17-26 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

This story totally nailed the brief of the anthology. A simple plot: A magical robot has been left, leg broken off so it cannot move, on the shores of a beach in the face of the rising tide. But it’s amazing how easy it is to empathise with a left-behind robot, and my heart was in my throat the whole time I read this, anxious that it would have a happy ending. (Of course it did. This is a book of happy endings. And this was a very happy ending!)

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “An Inconvenient Quest” by Rebecca Gomez Farrell

Review of Rebecca Gomez Farrell, “An Inconvenient Quest”, in Liane Tsui and Grace Seybold, eds., A Quiet Afternoon (Grace & Victory Publictions, 2020): 12-16 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Levolin has been shunned by his fellow sprites since maturation, but has an opportunity to go on an unexpected quest in search of a cure for the queen, who has fallen ill. I wouldn’t necessarily say this counts as a low-stakes story, as saving the queen is pretty important! But there was never any sense that he would fail in his quest, so on that count it was a comforting piece to read.

I was somewhat confused as to whether the sprites were a type of jellyfish or not, and had to reread the first page or two twice until I realised that, no, they aren’t, and furthermore they are not even aquatic creatures. But this is a minor point.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: A Quiet Afternoon edited by Liane Tsui and Grace Seybold

Review of Liane Tsui and Grace Seybold, eds., A Quiet Afternoon (Grace & Victory Publictions, 2020) — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

When I was offered a review copy of this anthology, it was described to me as a collection of “gentle SFF stories with satisfying endings, for readers who wanted something cozy and non-stressful” — that is, perfect for reading in the midst of a global pandemic, when sometimes all you want to do is escape from everything and read something happy and satisfying and low-stakes and so completely separated from the current dystopia we live in.

Does that describe you? Then this is totally the anthology for you! I read the stories while Covid-19 deaths were rising at an alarming rate in my adopted homeland, while facing down the reality of a new lockdown, in the aftermath of an attempted coup in the country of my birth. Every single one was a moment of peace and calm: The anthology delivered exactly what it said it would. I can’t wait to read volume 2, though I hope that 2021 will — eventually — be a year that doesn’t need it as much as 2020 needed volume 1.

As is usual, we review each story individually, linking back here when the reviews are published:

Sara L. Uckelman13 Comments