Another month, another batch of short fiction to read. Let’s take a look at the two magazines I read in full this July! Clarkesworld Even when Clarkesworld doesn’t have a story that blows me away, it’s always a good read, and this month there were a couple standouts and a few others that were plenty… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (July 2024)
Since jumping wholeheartedly back into genre fiction a few years ago, I’ve understood that my corner of speculative fiction isn’t necessarily representative of fantasy full stop. And one of the best examples is the staggering popularity of Sarah J. Maas, whose works are almost never recommended in my circles. But this year’s Book Bingo has… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
This is my fourth year reading and ranking every Hugo Award finalist in the categories of Short Story, Novelette, Novella, and Novel, and after posting ballots for Short Story, Novelette, and Novella early this week, it’s time to talk about Best Novel. While I disliked the shortlists for Short Story and Novella and loved the shortlist… Continue reading 2024 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Novel
I’m keeping up with my four year-old tradition of reading and ranking every Hugo Award finalist in the categories of Short Story, Novelette, Novella, and Novel, and after a downer of an opening entry and a glowing second one, I’m back to another downer as I check out the Best Novella shortlist. Unlike Best Short… Continue reading 2024 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Novella
I’m keeping up with my four year-old tradition of reading and ranking every Hugo Award finalist in the categories of Short Story, Novelette, Novella, and Novel. Yesterday’s post was a downer about a Short Story shortlist that I did not care for at all, but today’s tone will be much different, as the Best Novelette… Continue reading 2024 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Novelette
In each of the last four years, I’ve read through and evaluated the Hugo Awards shortlists for Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, and Best Short Story. I try to vote in other categories as well, but I realistically don’t have time for everything, and these categories are my primary focus. So this week, it’s… Continue reading 2024 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Short Story
Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch series was a big hit within genre fiction at a time when I was mostly checked out. It sounded like the sort of thing I would like, so I’ve been meaning to circle back to it at some point. And while I still haven’t made it to the original trilogy, the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Translation State by Ann Leckie
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Echo of Worlds was released on June 25, 2024. Last year, I described the opening book in M.R. Carey’s Pandominion duology as being exactly what you want in an epic series-opener. It set up… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Echo of Worlds by M.R. Carey
Every month, I say that I read great things. It’s always true–with as much as I read, something is going to be good enough to shout about. But sometimes slumps happen, and June 2024 saw me in the middle of one. I was going through a disappointing Hugo shortlist (more on that in the coming weeks),… Continue reading June 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Service Model was released on June 4, 2024. I’ve been a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky for a few years now, though his tendency to release books faster than I can read them has kept… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
