I didn’t know too much about Daughter of the Forest going in—just that it involved a recovery arc after a deeply traumatic start and that it came highly recommended by a few friends. Had I realized it was a fantasy romance fairy tale retelling, I might mot have tried it at all. And that would’ve… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
It was a short month, and this will be a short post (relative to the usual at least), because I spent a lot of my reading time on series and rereads. Did I also read new short fiction? Of course I did. Let’s take a look! Short Fiction As always, I started with a review… Continue reading February 2026 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. Platform Decay will be released on May 5, 2026. At this point, readers know what to expect from The Murderbot Diaries. The series has won a legion of fans and a host of genre… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: Platform Decay by Martha Wells
A few years ago, when I started publishing annual sci-fi/fantasy recommended reading lists, the proliferation of favorites lists dropping each winter would kick off a genuine reading flurry that made my late-February list substantially larger than my mid-December one. That’s the reason I started posting two versions of the list each year. But as I… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Top Ten 2025 Short Fiction and Updated Recommended Reading List
I’d only read two previous novels by Alix E. Harrow, but her prose consistently pulls me in the story, so when I started hearing hype for The Everlasting, I decided to give it a shot. The Everlasting is a time-loop story about a legendary knight and the scholar studying her, featuring lots of digging into… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
2026 started with an unexceptional month for my usual short fiction magazines, but the reason they’re my usual magazines is that they don’t tend to miss many times in a row. And I’m pleased to report that I had a lot of fun with my February reading. Let’s take a look at this month’s Clarkesworld… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (February 2026)
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The Cellar Below the Cellar will be released on March 25, 2026. I don’t believe I’d read Ivy Grimes before, but I was offered an ARC of The Cellar Below the Cellar and figured there… Continue reading Horror Novella Review: The Cellar Below the Cellar by Ivy Grimes
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Rainseekers will be released on February 17, 2026. After having a wonderful time reading the short story “The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye,” I’ve been curious to try the longer-form work of Matthew… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel
I’ve been hearing Daryl Gregory recommended for a while now, but I hadn’t really given him a try until reading the novelette “Second Person, Present Tense” a few months ago. That was good enough to convince me I should read more, and so I decided to jump into his most recent novel, When We Were… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
I’ve spent a bit of this month traveling and a bit snowed in with the kids, so my short fiction reading has been a little down from my usual. Does that mean I have nothing to recommend? (I always ask this, and the answer is always “no”). It may be a light round-up, but the… Continue reading January 2026 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
