Review of Shana Ross, “What To Do With a Gift,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 47-50 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a sweet little love story, between a star ship and her human partner, with an ambiguous ending.
REVIEW: “Ste·nog·ra·phy” by Mikaela Kesigner
Review of Mikaela Kesigner, “Ste·nog·ra·phy,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 60 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem illustrated the fact that Radon Journal isn’t all about spec fic (or spec poetry) — there’s nothing at all speculative about this critique on the justice system, it’s unfortunately rather prosaically ordinary. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t hit me as strongly as some of the other poems in the issue; it’s just a bit too depressing without any imaginative relief.
REVIEW: “When I’m Thirty I Receive a Box Full of Your Steel Bones” by Avra Margariti
Review of Avra Margariti, “When I’m Thirty I Receive a Box Full of Your Steel Bones,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 54 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The title is itself almost a flash fic story, and it sets up a lot of pressure on the rest of the poem to rise to the occasion. We don’t find out who “you” is until the end of the first stanza, and the reveal makes sense of the title. I almost think the poem would’ve been stronger ending there; the second stanza felt a little unnecessary, to me.
(First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction
REVIEW: “Epitaph for the Monarch Butterfly” by James Ph. Kotsybar
Review of James Ph. Kotsybar, “Epitaph for the Monarch Butterfly,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 63 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem about extinction treads a fine line, balancing ambiguously between pessimism and optimism.
REVIEW: “Splendor” by Emmie Christie
Review of Emmie Christie, “Splendor,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 62 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’d never considered the question of what our galaxy would be like if not only our human society but also the stars were trapped under the confines of late-stage capitalism, until I read this poem. I liked the way it made me question; but I found the resolution in the final stanza unsatisfying, because it’s not a solution that can be translated into humanity. Sometimes, knowing your worth isn’t enough to be able to do anything about it.
REVIEW: “The Dream of a Teleportation Helmet” by T. Dallas Saylor
Review of T. Dallas Saylor, “The Dream of a Teleportation Helmet,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 59 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I didn’t expect this poem to be as romantic as it was, on the basis of its title.
REVIEW: “Under the Satin Gunmetal Sky” by Shawn Goodman
Review of Shawn Goodman, “Under the Satin Gunmetal Sky,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 40-45 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Schneider is a detective on the case of a double murder with a twist — two synths who’ve had their arms removed. (Another twist: he’s a synth himself.) Apparently, the best way to solve a complicated case, if you’re a synth detective, is to get high and fight it out at a fight club.
At least, that’s what I got out of Goodman’s story, and all I got. It was one of those weird stories where it feels like it all hangs together while you read it, but at the end you realise none of it made any sense.
REVIEW: “The Flyswatter” by Nick Greenleaf
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: “Superluminal” by Kevin Helock
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: “The Blue Woman” by Leah Callender-Crowe
Review of Leah Callender-Crowe, “The Blue Woman,” Radon Journal 3 (January 2023): 14-19 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Between the rather prosaic info-dump intro and the present tense, which felt oddly unsuited to the story, I struggled a bit to get into this one. But the central message — that no matter how much we sacrifice ourselves to our employers, they will never reward that sacrifice — is an important one to read.
SFF Reviews 