REVIEW: “Bend Like the Palm” by David D. Levine

Review of David D. Levine, “Bend Like the Palm”, Clarkesworld Issue 234, March (2026): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

This story is about a lot of things, and many of those are quite timely.

The worldbuilding was great. I find that a lot of times when the worldbuilding is good and you can tell the writer has spent quite some time on it, the plot suffers for it. As a reader, it makes me appreciate the world, but not the plot progression or the storyline. This story does not have these issues.

A thoughtful story with many good elements – a human story in a sci-fi setting, as good sci-fi stories tend to be.

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REVIEW: “Moonmouse” by S.L. Harris

Review of S.L. Harris, “Moonmouse,” Flash Fiction Online 150 (March 2026): 29-32 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

“People carry their ruin with them wherever they go” (p. 31) is the repeated moral of this story — and yet, despite this grim conclusion about humanity, the story itself is hopeful, almost joyful, a real contrast to the rest of the stories in this issue.

(First published in Short Édition January 2026.)

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REVIEW: “The Memory Swap” by Cressida Roe

Review of Cressida Roe, “The Memory Swap,” Flash Fiction Online 148 (January 2026): 28-31 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Have a memory you no longer want? Want a memory you no longer have? Roe’s memory swap story has the solution: Post an ad to a Craig’s-list-like forum, and see who takes you up. Of course, the fun part of the story is: Who would want the memories that someone else doesn’t want? And who can bear to give away the kind of memory that someone else might want? The result is an excellent mix of humor, sorrow, and more than a little a bit of horror.

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REVIEW: “The Bargain” by Thomas J. Weiss

Review of Thomas J. Weiss, “The Bargain,” After Dinner Conversation 3, no. 12 (December 2022): 48-65 — Subscribe here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was an intriguing “first contact/take me to your leader” story. Neither of the characters involved in the titular bargain are involved out of choice, and both hope to reach the same outcome, which makes the bargain particularly interesting. With richer characters and more of an actual storyline, this was one of the stronger stories in this issue. While bits of it made it clear how white-western the viewpoint it was written from was, it was also clear that the author tried to diversify the cast list. A solid effort.

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REVIEW: “Everyone’s Gay in Space” by Julie Sondra Decker

Review of Julie Sondra Decker, “Everyone’s Gay in Space,” After Dinner Conversation 3, no. 12 (December 2022): 109-131 — Subscribe here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

(Note: After Dinner Conversation pairs spec fic stories with philosophical reflection questions. In some reviews, I’ll engage with the questions; in some, I won’t.)

I found this story to be a rather blunt take on the central moral issues involved — childbirth, abortion, disease, eugenics. I also found it to be full of judgement, unhappy relationships, and homophobia. The overall lack of nuance made the whole story feel very heavy-handed, and didactic, and that made it not particularly enjoyable to read. No one likes to feel that they are being moralized at.

There was also not nearly as much space gayness (gaiety?) as I expected, given the title of the story.

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REVIEW: “Sacrificing Mercy” by Henry McFarland

Review of Henry McFarland, “Sacrificing Mercy,” After Dinner Conversation 3, no. 12 (December 2022): 93-107 — Subscribe here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

(Note: After Dinner Conversation pairs spec fic stories with philosophical reflection questions. In some reviews, I’ll engage with the questions; in some, I won’t.)

This story centers on issues of reason vs. faith, science vs. religion, and handles them in a rather direct fashion without much nuance. I found Mike, the narrator, unbearably judgemental; the few flashes of self-reflection that he demonstrated (“showing my rage would make it harder to persuade her”, p. 93) never seemed to actually effect any real change in behavior. It was no real surprise to find out he was also a lying bastard.

The only character I felt any sympathy with was Mike’s wife, Jenny; I don’t agree with her decisions, but she at least didn’t give in to the manipulation from her husband and mother, and when she realized how she’d been betrayed, she got herself out of the toxic situation she was in.

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REVIEW: “Trespassers” by Mina Ramirez

Review of Mina Ramirez, “Trespassers,” Luna Station Quarterly 64 (December 2025): 27-36 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Considering the trajectory of current circumstances, I can get the desire to write a story of signing away all of one’s rights to a faceless corporation in exchange for survival; there’s a certain sort of catharsis in doing so.

But given the trajectory of current circumstances, this isn’t necessarily the sort of story that I want to read. Maybe other people do — if so, I hope they’ll enjoy it. (It does have a satisfactory ending, which helps.)

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REVIEW: “Seedpod” by Ellen Parent

Review of Ellen Parent, “Seedpod,” Luna Station Quarterly 64 (December 2025): 135-153 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Lena has chosen the seedpod of a space plant to make a dangerous, unprecedented trip across space, tucked inside as a passenger-cum-parasite. How could she have ever expected that she wouldn’t be the only one with such an idea — or that the other potential passenger would select her seedpod as the one for their journey? And how is she supposed to document this and turn her encounter into bite-sized Web videos that will increase her follower count?

I really enjoyed this story, full of humor and pathos.

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REVIEW: “The Museum of Lost Sound” by Vikki Stea

Review of Vikki Stea, “The Museum of Lost Sound,” Luna Station Quarterly 64 (December 2025): 127-133 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

There was something about this story that I found particularly magical, something about the way it was told as a fantasy story even if its bones were fundamentally SF. I loved the way that Stea was able to evoke a potential future with just a few phrases and carefully selected words, building a framework that I as the reader could paint in the details. Part of me wants to live in New Shanghai; part of me rebelled against the whole idea with the very core of my being. That slightly insidious feeling of “this is not right” was a delicious undercurrent.

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