REVIEW: “The Soundtrack of Your Life” by Lesley Morrison

Review of Lesley Morrison, “The Soundtrack of Your Life,” Luna Station Quarterly 54 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Alcoholism.

The science in this SF story is the sort of boring, everyday, run-of-the-mill science that I really enjoy reading stories about. No rockets or robots or deadly weapons, just various mods that sound exactly like things people would actually try to build in reality, such as “a mod that curated a personal musical soundtrack,” the project that Janice, the narrator, works on — basically, Spotify but more personal, and more sophisticated. It’s a great premise — I’m sure we’ve ALL crafted (or tried to craft!) the soundtrack of our own lives — and the story is just good fun to read.

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REVIEW: “Last Letter First” by Kristina Ten

Review of Kristina Ten, “Last Letter First,” Luna Station Quarterly 54 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Pregnancy, abortion.

What started off as a fun little story about the intimacy of acquaintance — the way in which two strangers thrown together through coincidence can suddenly become friends, only to just as suddenly separate, to go their own way and never see each other again — segued neatly into unexpected depths. In a sense, the reader and the story are themselves like Duri and Margosha, thrown together by accident, revealing something of each other, and then passing on.

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REVIEW: “Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism” by Andrea Kriz

Review of Andrea Kriz, “Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

The narrator’s friend made a virtugame that featured their relationship. It also included a slightly fictionalized version of the narrator, a hurtful one at that.

You know that moment when you discover that someone you thought of as a friend just thought of you as a means to an end, a joke, or perhaps both?

That’s what our narrator faces, and then makes a choice. An insightful story into interpersonal relationships, especially with people who think of you in a much different way than you think of them.

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REVIEW: “No One at the Wild Dock” by Gu Shi

Review of Gu Shi, “No One at the Wild Dock”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A timely, beautiful story. It was exceedingly well written. It’s stories like these that keep drawing me back to translated fiction.

The progression of AI from childlike curiosity and learning difficulties, to slowly gaining knowledge, skills and eventually sentience is lovely, with a perspective that I’ve rarely seen.

The depth of emotion, and subtle changes in interaction as the AI develops and grows are part of what made this story magical for me.

The story is truly poignant due to the commentary on the present state of humanity and our technological dependence inter-weaved with the staggering growth of AI’s abilities.

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REVIEW: “Bishop’s Opening” by R. S. A. Garcia

Review of R. S. A. Garcia, “Bishop’s Opening”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A 2022 Nebula Finalist novella with detailed world building and many characters – not an easy read, but an engaging one if you manage to get into the action. It took me a while to get invested in the story, but once I did it was a much quicker read.

I liked the parts with the starship crew more, probably because the Valencians seemed like a much greater, detailed world that we only got glimpses of. I still don’t fully understand the rules and technology of the world, which is probably just as well – it was part of the plot, but not the sole focus.

The characters were well defined and interesting. I also appreciated the diversity and queer representation. More than all that, I really enjoyed the prose. The author has a way of conveying emotion in just a few words, and I found myself re-reading particularly striking sentences and passages.

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REVIEW: “This is Not a Place of Honor” by Alex Kingsley

Review of Alex Kingsley, “This is Not a Place of Honor” Radon Journal 2 (2022): 19-25 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Knowing the reference the title is making (something I did already know, because ever since learning it I have had plans for my own story based on it!) is not necessary to understand the context of the story, which stands beautifully self-sufficient on its own feet, slightly scary and heartbreakingly sad.

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REVIEW: “The Five Rules of Supernova Surfing or A For Real Solution to the Fermi Paradox, Bro” by Geoffrey W. Cole

Review of Geoffrey W. Cole, “The Five Rules of Supernova Surfing or A For Real Solution to the Fermi Paradox, Bro”, Clarkesworld Issue 184, January (2022): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A story about a pair of “surfer dudes” who enjoy surfing supernovas. The supernovas have been exploding too soon, which we later find out is due to the heat death of the universe, and they are supposed to set up a simulation. Why they were selected is beyond me and not really explained in the story.

Indeed, I don’t see why they were chosen to do something so important and **spoiler alert** they don’t even actually set up the simulation they were supposed to. They choose to get high and surf together instead.

They do manage to set up something eventually, but it was an unsatisfying end to the plot.

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REVIEW: “Pandora’s Capsule” by Shaliz Bazldjoo

Review of Shaliz Bazldjoo, “Pandora’s Castle” Radon Journal 2 (2022): 48-55 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

There is so much tension and backstory and history in this story, right from the very start. Bazldjoo strikes an excellent balance for the reader between the enjoyable uncertainty about what’s going on and how everything fits in, and frustration about the exact same thing. I immediately want to know more about the narrator, who are they, why is their life like this. A great read.

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