REVIEW: “I’m Feeling Lucky” by Leonid Kaganov

Review of Leonid Kaganov, “I’m Feeling Lucky”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

What a fantastic story! I read it twice. Once really quickly because the story was super engaging, and the second time to just enjoy the details and savor the story. I’m usually a slow reader of short stories because I feel the medium deserves full attention to detail, but stories like this one come along where I just can’t help myself.

Time jumps through temporal clips form the basis of our protagonist’s story. He comes from a world where people started to take advantage of this fact, and rushed headlong into the future in order to arrive at a better world. A world that would be ready for them to enjoy, not really considering that there might be a not-so-great world waiting, not considering that maybe all the time jumps are making things worse.

It’s interesting to see where our protagonist ends up and the journey he takes to get there. A lovely little story.

myra naikLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Sweet” by Sam Butler

Review of Sam Butler, “Sweet,” Luna Station Quarterly 21 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

If ever there were a “good” mood-altering drug, it would be Sweet: Non-addictive, no harmful side effects, no psychosis, no hallucinations, just: a feeling of happiness, of content, a sweet feeling. But of course, no such substance is ever going to be as good as it seems, and Sweet is no exception, as Charlie is about to find out after her childhood friend Charity takes the pill.

The strongest thread in this story is that of friendship, but it’s also a story that is reflective of a deeply unhappy society.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Her Data Like Fingerprints” by Ashley M. Hill

Review of Ashley M. Hill, “Her Data Like Fingerprints,” Luna Station Quarterly 22 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I was intrigued by this story right from its very excellent title. In this story, Mary Morales has been called in to see if she can help repair the arX AI that her parents created when she was a child. It’s a very simple, spare story: a conversation between Mary and arX. But in the span of that conversation Hill gives us a glimpse into Mary’s familial bonds, her childhood, her complicated relationship with the arX, as well as forces us to grapple with the question of the boundaries of AI. Really enjoyable (even if a bit sad, too)!

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Preserved in Amber” by Samantha Murray

Review of Samantha Murray, “Preserved in Amber”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Spaceships are always a great way to start a story, but this ship is a bit different. It looks different, it’s goal is different, and it communicates differently.

We switch between two points of view – one is of a scientist trying to decipher the message coming from the spaceship, the other is another scientist farther in the future who has a different task at hand.

Memory is a strong part of this story, seeping into feelings, thoughts and conversations for both women. Another tale from this Clarkesworld issue about the transient nature of time, with the emphasis here being on the transient nature of humans in time. Longing, memory, and feelings collide to make this a powerful novelette.

myra naikLeave a comment

REVIEW: “The Meadow” by Dina Lyuber

Review of Dina Lyuber, “The Meadow,” Luna Station Quarterly 22 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Jaydren lives in a world that feels very much like a version of what our own future could be like: Technology at every turn, that links us to our social media, our entertainment, or transportation. All of his actions are directed at or built around things these. Lyuber did a good job of taking our current technology the next few steps down the line; what was less successful was the way this was integrated into the story, as I often felt like the story was the vehicle for the cataloguing of the technology, rather than the other way around.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Planet, Paper, Space” by Melissa Embry

Review of Melissa Embry, “Planet, Paper, Space,” Luna Station Quarterly 22 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Max Villafranca is an origami artist who has paid for two weeks’ visit to the orbiting station Gaia, where he is very much the bumbling tourist that the long-suffering crew puts up with because it pays the bill. This was such an utterly charming mixture of the strange and unfamiliar and the ordinary, almost mundane. Max was an extremely disarming hero, and I felt great sympathy for Captain Nguyen having to put up with him. And I loved the way in which this story was slightly more than science fiction, it also had a fantastical element that segued always into horro that I was not expecting.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “When the Sheaves Are Gathered” by Nick Wolven

Review of Nick Wolven, “When the Sheaves Are Gathered”, Clarkesworld Issue 178, July (2021): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A story revolving around Johnny and his chosen family. Gaps in memory that are slowly but surely getting larger, to the extent of forgetting people entirely. Aided by hints of a folk song that takes on a tragic, terrifying color. A childhood memory that brings a certain type of solace.

The walls are closing in, but only metaphorically, because the world is getting larger and lonelier otherwise. A twist comes and makes things better, but the overarching feeling of the transient nature of memory remains. Time is fickle and we are reminded of this through the tale in various ways.

myra naikLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Empire of Dirt” by K B Sluss

Review of K B Sluss, “Empire of Dirt,” Luna Station Quarterly 22 (2015): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Reference to self-harm.

In its simplest description, this is a story of unrequited love — ugly and chaotic. It was a tough read: Characters whom you wanted to sympathize with became increasingly unsympathetic, and the hurt and anger and betrayal that is woven through everyone’s story was hard to handle sometimes. Sluss shows real mastery in writing this piece.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “A Spark in a Flask” by Emma Johanna Puranen and Patrick Barth

Review of Emma Johanna Puranen and Patrick Barth, “A Spark in a Flask”, in Around Distant Suns, ed. by Emma Johanna Puranen (Guardbridge Books, 2021): 73-84 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

It’s been ages since the last humans left this base on the moon, but SPARC, a Self-sufficient Primordial Atmosphere Robotic Caretaker, knows its duties: to keep the lab, and especially the Flasks, safe and clean and running — and to test the Flasks for signs of life. Computer knows how to adjust the contents of the Flasks as needed, but Computer can’t fix a physical problem if one occurs, only SPARC can. When Computer is no longer able to detect the contents of Flask H40, it’s SPARC’s job to go in and find out what’s wrong — or, in this case: What is wonderfully right.

I found myself responding to SPARC, left behind, sending messages back to an Earth that doesn’t respond, very much the way that people across the world have respond to the Mars rovers, to the satellites sent off to explore asteroids; it’s astonishing how easy it is to anthropomorphise the little machines we send into space. There were moments in this story when I was desperately afraid that SPARC wouldn’t get his happy ending. Because discovering life isn’t enough; one must sustain it too…

A very satisfying read!

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “After Colour” by Kiale Palpant and Oliver Herbort

Review of Kiale Palpant and Oliver Herbort, “After Colour”, in Around Distant Suns, ed. by Emma Johanna Puranen (Guardbridge Books, 2021): 63-72 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

This was such an unexpected story — unlike any of the other ones in the anthology. On the one hand, it’s probably as close to a horror story as this collection has; on the other hand, I want to describe it as “Exoplanets x ‘It’s a Beautiful Life'”. Even writing that feels like a contradiction! But it’s not, these competing descriptions really are the best way to explain this short, intriguing story.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment