REVIEW: “Time Surfing” by Isabel McKeough

Review of Isabel McKeough, “Time Surfing,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 135-140 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

While overall I enjoyed this meditative little story, I felt like it was a bit of a bait and switch: the opening paragraphs set up a promise of tapping into the temporal magic of books and libraries, but in the remainder, while there was definitely temporal magic, it was rooted in dreams, uncoupled from anything bookish. Still, I can’t criticize a story too much for not being the one I would’ve written from the same premise.

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REVIEW: “As Per My Last Email” by Eleanor Rasor

Review of Eleanor Rasor, “As Per My Last Email,” Luna Station Quarterly 66 (June 2026): 47-80 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I loved every aspect of this story — from the recalled library books to the students moaning to each other about homework via text to the magical disaster — but mostly I loved the library romance (since my very own 20+ year marriage started as a library romance!). Want a wonderful pick-me-up? Read this story!!

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REVIEW: “The Weather Girl” by Summer Jewel Keown

Review of Summer Jewel Keown, “The Weather Girl,” Luna Station Quarterly 64 (December 2025): 261-273 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

It’s a bit weird reading a romance when you know from pretty much the first line that it doesn’t have a happy ending, but nevertheless I enjoyed the unfolding of this one, waiting to see just how the unhappy ending would come about. Unfortunately, in the end, it was for boring, mundane, ordinary reasons, which kind of defeated any more fantastic/speculative elements that the story had, for me.

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REVIEW: “Small Prayers for the God of Sow Thistle Hill” by Kate Francia

Review of Kate Francia, “Small Prayers for the God of Sow Thistle Hill,” Flash Fiction Online 147 (December 2025): 26-28 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The theme of this story felt eerily similar to that of Matt Dovey’s in the same issue, but instead of feeling repetitious, it felt like the two stories reinforced and supported each other. The lesson in both of them — told here in a sweet, sorrowful, almost wistful way — is one that often needs to be said over and over and over again before people will listen, so I’m pleased that FFO’s editors opted for including both of these.

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