REVIEW: “A Collections Librarian of the Slow-Flying Nautilus” by Mae Juniper Stokes

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!

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REVIEW: “We Are Island” by Atalanti Evripidou

Review of Atalanti Evripidou, “We Are Island,” Luna Station Quarterly 60 (2024): 127-145 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I love it when I read a story where one character’s love for another is so palpable, so shining, that you see it from the very first page and you get swooped up in it. This is one of those stories. Elias’s love for Ren is dazzling, and so is Ren’s for Elias.

And yet, as brightly as is shines, it doesn’t eclipse the background world that Evripidou has deftly constructed through the introduction of one simple change: It’s a world very much like ours except that there are chips available which when implanted allow people access to their familial memories. Evripidou works out the consequences of this one idea in ways that enhance her characters. It’s such a deftly-balanced story; I was super impressed. (And I desperately would love to see it turned into an 8- or 12-episode TV series, if one can do that with such a short story!)

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REVIEW: “This Rapturous Blooming” by Faith Allington

Review of Faith Allington, “This Rapturous Blooming,” Flash Fiction Online 131 (August 2024): 12-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

ATTN: WorldCon readers who attended the “Fungi and SFF” panel — this is a story for you!

It’s a “mad scientist” story unlike the usual “mad scientist” story; the protagonist isn’t clinically insane because she’s actually right — it’s just that no one is willing to believe her. But isn’t what just what madness is, adhering to a reality that no one else sees?

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REVIEW: “Thistle and Spice” by Dorianne Emmerton

Review of Dorianne Emmerton, “Thistle and Spice,” Luna Station Quarterly 58 (2024): 249-268 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Fatphobia, misogyny, domestic abuse.

In an attempt to escape an increasingly loveless marriage, Darlene ends up going to Wednesday night witchcraft classes, and I, as the reader, end up really, really hating her husband. Bring on the spells so that he gets his comeuppance!

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REVIEW: “Victory and Vanilla” by Hesper Leveret

Review of Hesper Leveret, “Victory and Vanilla,” Luna Station Quarterly 58 (2024): 107-125 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Ever wanted a combination of Great British Bake-Off and speculative fiction? If so, this is the story for you! It was clearly written by someone intimately familiar with British cooking competition shows (there was even a mention of a buttery biscuit base…), i.e., an author after my own heart.

Sometimes, all you want a story that’s just good fun. That’s exactly what this was.

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