REVIEW: “Normalization” by Xauri’EL Zwaan

Review of Xauri’EL Zwaan, “Normalization,” Cossmass Infinities 7 (2022): 33-39 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story opens immediately upon a violent death, so if that’s not for you, avoid this one.

Richter, the narrator, is part of a collective, where everyone is a “we”, no one is an “I”, until something catastrophic happens and the narrator is separated from the others and becomes an “I” again. After the violent opening, the next few paragraphs are a rather labored info-dump. All in all, the pitch of this story wasn’t right for me, but I did appreciate the meta-commentary on how all too often people have a very narrow view about what (or who!) gets to count as “humanity”.

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REVIEW: “Shadows of the Hungry, the Broken, the Transformed” by Izzy Wasserstein

Review of Izzy Wasserstein, “Shadows of the Hungry, the Broken, the Transformed,” Cossmass Infinities 7 (2022): 16-32 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story is written with a real ring of authenticity and understanding of the experiences of graduate student life in neoliberal higher education. Which is quite amazing, since the setting is entirely fantastical, and the research Justine is doing is nothing like the research that goes on in ordinary, real-world universities. This juxtaposition of a beautifully built fantasy world and all the grimy truths of reality made this story a really engaging read. Highly recommend, especially for weavers.

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REVIEW: “The Last Wake” by Kathryn Keane

Review of Kathryn Keane, “The Last Wake,” Luna Station Quarterly 51 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Death of a parent.

Paul’s mother has died and he has returned to the house that now belongs to his sister Margaret, and every intimate scene that the reader sees is one filled with all the love and dysfunctionality of a small-town Irish family — right up until the point that Paul gets talking with a self-described “bit of a blow-in” and the bit of me that always reads stories waiting for the speculative twist perks up. And I was right: Bridie McCafferty is everything this story needs to turn it from mundane to fantastical. It was a slow, subtle twist, but fine and bittersweet and just a little bit happy.

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REVIEW: “External Processors” by Sherry Yuan

Review of Sherry Yuan, “External Processors,” Luna Station Quarterly 51 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I really enjoyed this particular take on the notion of the “extended mind” — the idea that we think with more than just our brain, but also with parts of our environment. Not many people in Nolan’s class are lucky enough to get an ExP — an external processor. After getting one for his 12th birthday, he’s the envy of all his classmates. But the other side of his good fortune is a much darker one. I’m not sure whether this story is SF or horror, but whatever the genre: It’s one of those stories that feels all too real, and hence was very good.

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REVIEW: “Misrule” by Fiona Moore

Review of Fiona Moore, “Misrule,” Luna Station Quarterly 51 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Misrule is a multifaceted entity in this story — both the time of year when the Lord of Misrule holds court, but also the court itself, and the chaos that results from it. When Mary faces Misrule, it’s in the form of the wanton destruction of her mother’s livelihood, and it’s an enemy that she cannot fight. For as the Vicar says, “There’s always Misrule. It’s a way of letting go of the pain of the other fifty weeks of the year.”

This was a timely and thought-provoking story. Reading it, I couldn’t help but think of the recent protests in the UK, arising out of the myriad crises facing the ordinary people. They’re protests now, but how many tomorrows will it be before they are riots? Before we have our own form of Misrule? Maybe the Vicar is right: set aside twelve days each year for destruction, and maybe we can survive the rest of the year. Or maybe Mary is right, and rather than trying to endure it we must undo the very foundations on which Misrule is built. I’m not sure I’m convinced Mary’s solution is one that can be applied more generally, but it was certainly interesting to read it play out.

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REVIEW: “There is a Cottage by the Woods” by Rebecca Burton

Review of Rebecca Burton, “There is a Cottage by the Woods,” Luna Station Quarterly 51 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This story started off with a long enough pre-amble in italics that I actually quit reading and scrolled down because I wondered if the formatting in the story had gone wrong and an <i> tag hadn’t gotten closed. But, nope: There’s just a really long info-dump pre-amble in italics at the very beginning.

What came after that info-dump was a lovely pleasant read, though; it makes me wish an editor had suggested just getting rid of it altogether and starting the story at the point where it really started.

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REVIEW: “The Witch and the Water” by Ashley Libey

Review of Ashley Libey, “The Witch and the Water,” Luna Station Quarterly 51 (2022): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Bee once visited the witch in the water and came back with a spell that didn’t work; now she’s come back to beg for a second chance: It’s a quick summary for what is at times a rather stretched-out, sometimes plodding, story. I felt like I would have enjoyed this better if it had been about half the length — and if it weren’t quite so moralizing.

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