Review of Rodrigo Culagovski, “BigHappyFriend Likes Humans,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Oh, my, what a bleak story this was! A little gem of black humor wrapped up in a first- (or, maybe third- or fourth-…) contact story. It made me laugh, even if I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny.
Review of Holly Schofield, “Conflict Resolution,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 23-26 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story marches back in time from a drowning.
The way it starts is so sudden, so unmotivated, and so unpleasant that it put me off, erecting quite a barrier that would have to be mounted before I could enjoy the rest of the story. I figured I was willing to give the length of a flash fic story for it to convince me that I should revise my opinion of the opening events, but only that.
In the end, I think I’m ambivalent about this story. The resolution wasn’t too predictable for it to resolve my conflicted stance as a reader.
(First published in Nature:Futures October 2022).
Review of Mae Juniper Stokes, “A Collections Librarian of the Slow-Flying Nautilus,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 91-110 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Book burning (not in the censorship sense, but in the literal sense. Still hurts to read about).
I regularly see my philosophical friends and colleagues asking for recommendations for SFF stories relevant to various topics that they can suggest to their students; I think there’s a good chance at some point in the future I will recommend Stokes’ story for the way it engages with the ethical implications at the intersection of resource management and cultural heritage (with a side dose of immigration and colonisation). This isn’t a topic often explored in story form, and I found this an interesting take!
Review of Amara Mesnik, “Canary, Canary,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 327-347 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
One could describe the premise of this story as: Colonizing men get their comeuppance — and since it comes at the hands of a young woman, it’s rather satisfying. On the other hand, it could also be described as: Unbearably naive woman gets taught a lesson — and since that young woman is the same one, since Saisha only gets to be the heroine because it was her naivety that caused the problem in the first place, it’s also rather frustrating.
Review of Elizabeth Rankin, “A Hint Sugar,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 57-75 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Dieting, calorie counting, fatphobia.
Norah is a baker whose sweet treats are under threat from the newest development in DNA modification: A new diet induced by a shot that changes how sweet things taste.
I confess, I didn’t quite get how this was supposed to work: Is the idea that after such a shot, people would stop eating sugary things because they no longer taste sweet? Why would that be the behavioral change rather than people eating way way more sugar because they could no longer taste it was sweet? (After all, I’m pretty sure sugar’s addictive qualities are not due to its taste, but do to the impact it has on the body.) My constant thoughts about this conundrum unfortunately prevented me from engaging with the story itself as I might otherwise have.
Review of Yukimi Ogawa, “Those Uncaring Waves”, Clarkesworld Issue 222, March (2025): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.
A hauntingly beautiful novella. So well written, richly layered, and very detailed. This was an absolute treat to read.
A story with an intricately created world usually has that as the highlight of the story. Here, it was the background for another beautiful story. I cannot overstate how lovely this story is – the plot, the emotion, the scale, the world building, the structure – everything so so good.
This novella is a must-read. I can’t even try to put it in a genre or explain “key points”. Read for yourself and see; thank me later!
Review of Kristen Koopman, “Solve for X,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 203-231 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Lots of misogyny and low level sexual harassment.
This is a story for any academic who has ever walked into the room and been the only one of their kind in the room — for the women, for the minorities, for the people in the “wrong” field for their gender, for all the people in the intersections.
It’s a — quite long for LSQ — complex and complicated story of the difficulties of being a woman, and a minority woman at that, in academia, and in a science field at that. It’s at times hard reading, but rightfully so, because that’s not an easy position to navigate, a fact both Julia, newly-appointed member of faculty, and her PhD student, Mercedes, must face; but it’s also at times rather cathartic. And while the way they face the issues is what makes this story speculative, an intriguing example of SF, it’s not the main focus of the story, just an elegant allegory.
Review of Aisling Campbell, “The Vessel,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 249-271 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I enjoyed this — complex characters, interesting setting, enough glimpses into backstory without it feeling like info dump, and an intriguing blend of witches and technology that made the story resist easy genre classification.
Review of Phoenix Mendoza, “Peace,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 197-201 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content warning: War.
The narrator (who’s name we never learn) and her partner, Lorna, are trapped in a war that seems unwinnable, fighting ever since the aliens arrived, three years ago. Despite this, Lorna still believes in peace, and tells the narrator that one day, she will too.
Reading such a story in the present climate, where there is so much war but the participants involved are ourselves and not aliens, was a strange experience. There’s something that feels almost safe about imagining battling against aliens: They are alien, after all, it’s okay for us to read about fighting them, killing them, murdering them. But the very fact that this feels okay, just because they are aliens, is a deeply uncomfortable feeling, because that’s exactly the same excuse people use for making war against other people.
Review of Susan Kaye Quinn, “A Moon Goddess to Watch Over Me,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 385-389 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Quinn’s story was an enjoyable mix of near-earth space exploration and ancient Chinese, Greek, and African mythologies, an unusual combination to say the least. It had a little bit too much reporting of back story, and not quite enough character or development of story, for my taste, because it was quite short, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.
SFF Reviews