Review of Dafydd McKimm, “The Ten Declarations of Bozo, Supreme Jongleur of Planet Clown” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 1-5. — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
In 5 short pages, McKimm takes us from the enforced off-world immigration of a persecuted people through populism all the way to straight up fascism. Every step seems natural and appropriate and right, which is part of what makes the story all the more terrifying.
Review of Josh Pearce, “Lacus Odii (Lake of Hate)” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 66-67 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Well, this is quite a prescient poem! I had to go back and check just exactly when in 2025 this issue of Radon Journal came out — and the answer is, two days after the US presidential inauguration. Who knows whether Pearce had insider knowledge of what was to come, or is just very good at predicting the future, the first stanza of this poem cuts awfully close to home, a month on from the inauguration. Want to be thoroughly depressed? Read this poem.
Review of Nadia Steven Rysing, “Dirt.” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 74 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Apocalyptic poetry isn’t supposed to be “nice,” but this one was definitely harsh — but that harshness turned into strength at the end, and it felt something like a victory cry, or maybe a challenge.
Review of A J Dalton, “Review of the Pre-Anthropocene Museum,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 72 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The ending stanza of the poem is what made it for me.
Review of Holly Lyn Walrath, “Ghosts in the Shell,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 70 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was the itty-bittiest of little flash fic stories — but Walrath nevertheless manages to pack quite a bit into that one single solid paragraph of text. It’s all introspection and yet it manages to convey a rich breadth of history and scene-setting, capped off with a satisfying ending. I love seeing a well-crafted piece of fiction like this!
Review of Veda Villiers, “Dawn, the Humor Bot,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 64-65 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I don’t know if this poem was written before or after Trump 2.0, but there’s a certain apocalyptic despair woven through it that makes it feel very timely and appropriate for early 2025. But the poem ends on a note of hope — something we very much need.
Review of Mark Dimaisip, “The Experience Machine,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 62-63 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Kudos to the editors for placing Dimaisip’s poem immediately after Whalbring’s poem reviewed here: In this ordering, Dimaisip’s reads like a sequel to Whalbring’s. If the latter poem offers up a potential future, the former provides us with a singular, specific, concrete reality of that future.
I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted to this poem on its own, but in read conjunction with the other one, I really liked it.
Review of Marcus Whalbring, “Aging is a Word That Means ‘Slowly Becoming a Machine’,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 60-61 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’ve come to really love and look forward to the poetry selection in each Radon Journal issue; the poems are exceptionally curated and there’s always at least one in every issue that is really, really good. In this issue, that poem is this one: Gorgeous and raw and aching and honest. I loved it.
Review of Nicholas De Marino, “The World Ends With a Whimper,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 59 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
When one starts off their piece with a call-back to such an iconic poem, it sets the reader’s expectations high. While the poem was a strong one (cleverly constructed so it could be read in multiple ways), I’m not sure the title helped rather than hindered it, especially as the title was also the opening line. I wonder what the poem would’ve been like if instead of setting things up to repeat an idea, the title was instead used to introduce something new and unexpected?
Review of Trevor Cunnington, “The Rag Pickers of Asteroid 482,” Radon Journal 9 (2025): 57-58 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This poem felt very much like a flash fic story that had been reformatted to become a poem, which is a bit unfortunate — because as a poem it was a bit underwhelming, but a story, I think it would’ve really intriguing and engaging!
SFF Reviews