REVIEW: “The Scarlet Cloak” by Karen Bovenmyer

Review of Karen Bovenmyer, “The Scarlet Cloak,” Luna Station Quarterly 24 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Bullying, abuse, & harassment; murder ideation; cannibalism; references to rape.

One thing that’s interesting about reading the back archives of a journal is seeing which stories age well (or don’t age at all!) and which don’t. I feel like this one ends up in the latter category: A story where the central heroine is part of the police force is a bit harder to swallow in 2021 than it may have been in 2015.

Then again, I’m not entirely sure I would’ve appreciated this story when it first came out: It is too gruesome, too violent for my tastes.

(First appeared in The Crimson Pact Volume 3, 2012.)

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REVIEW: “The Sidhe” by Elizabeth Archer

Review of Elizabeth Archer, “The Sidhe,” Luna Station Quarterly 24 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I felt like this story rather confused sidhe with dryads. More precisely, I didn’t see what made the sidhe characteristically a sidhe — she could have been any type of woodland spirit. I would have liked to see something that was a bit more distinctive and fleshed out than what I got.

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REVIEW: “Southside Gods” by Sarah Grey

Review of Sarah Grey, “Southside Gods,” Flash Fiction Online 87 (2021): Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

These are the southside gods — gods of the slums, of the working class. This is Holloway, god of water, who fixes washing machines and “is every plumber in the directory”; but he doesn’t do air conditioners. He just might be able to recommend a colleague, though…

Fresh, humorous, and with just the right of pathos, this was a little gem of a story.

(First published in Intergalactic Medicine Show September 2013).

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REVIEW: “Warlord” by Steve DuBois

Review of Steve DuBois, “Warlord,” Flash Fiction Online 87 (2021): Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Cockroaches.

Ever since childhood, Kobi has been attended by a horde of bloodthirsty, talking cockroaches. Now, the presence of cockroaches isn’t generally something that will get me all het up for a story, but I’m not so creeped out by them as to stop reading. I read “Warlord” in a state of mixed horror and amusement — on the one hand, cockroaches, on the other hand, as far as Kobi’s concerned, they’re Cinderella’s mice. Which is hilarious. To sum it up: This story is quite the ride.

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REVIEW: “Into the Lightning Suit” by Kyle Richardson

Review of Kyle Richardson, “Into the Lightning Suit,” Flash Fiction Online 87 (2021): Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Cora and Ben’s mother is dead, and the two siblings disagree about what to do next: Cora wants to let her mother rest in peace; she’s already said goodbye. Ben, on the other hand, wants to rebuild her.

What I liked: Crisp prose with good pacing.

What I disliked: The constant description of Ben and his activities as “mad” or “insane.”

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REVIEW: “The Corn Grows Back Every Year” by Riley Vainionpaa

Review of Riley Vainionpaa, “The Corn Grows Back Every Year,” Luna Station Quarterly 24 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was sci-fi with a good dollop of horror (content note: body horror/mutilation). At first neither Peggy nor Mellie understand what’s going on with Mellie’s body, or why she appears to have developed special powers. But then they agree to systematically experiment, driven by the need to know, to understand.

This was an odd little story!

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REVIEW: “Retriever” by MK Sauer

Review of MK Sauer, “Retriever,” Luna Station Quarterly 24 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Cannibalism, mention of rape.

Borr is a Bio-Organic Retrieval Robot, part-flesh, part-metal, but wholly able to withstand the ravages of the Oxidation — well, at least better than humans can, by a long shot. She’s been sent out from base camp to retrieve any fuel, water, books, or survivors that she can find. But not all survivors want to be retrieved.

The most remarkable thing about this story was the slang that Sauer developed. It was familiar enough to be (mostly) intelligible, but foreign enough to feel realistically future. The use (or non use) of this slang give the characters each distinctive voices, and made this story something just a little out of the ordinary.

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