Despite an impressive collection of genre awards, Amal El-Mohtar had not published a solo work longer than a novelette until this year. So perhaps it’s no surprise that her first solo novella would be one of those books with hype levels that were off-the-charts. It was only a matter of time before I got to… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
After finishing up my reading for both the Hugos and SPSFC, I felt strangely on top of things, so I decided to dig into some backlist short fiction. As it turns out, short stories that people are still recommending five (or more) years after their initial publication are disproportionately excellent. I’ve got quite a list… Continue reading July 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
We’ve reached the final week of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and Team Tar Vol On is ready with our final three scores. After joining with Space Girls and Red Stars in the semifinals to advance Accidental Intelligence, Bisection, and On Impulse, we have now read the three books selected by the other semifinal group… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Yours Celestially by Al Hess
We’ve reached the final week of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and Team Tar Vol On is ready with our final three scores. After joining with Space Girls and Red Stars in the semifinals to advance Accidental Intelligence, Bisection, and On Impulse, we have now read the three books selected by the other semifinal group… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker
We’ve reached the final week of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and Team Tar Vol On is ready with our final three scores. After joining with Space Girls and Red Stars in the semifinals to advance Accidental Intelligence, Bisection, and On Impulse, we have now read the three books selected by the other semifinal group… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Whiskey and Warfare by E.M. Hamill
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The Memory Hunters was released on July 29, 2025. Seeing a romance reference and an Indiana Jones name-check in the first line of the blurb had me ready to skip Mia Tsai’s new fantasy, The Memory… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai
I supplement my full read of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus each month with smaller spotlights on magazines where I may have found 2-3 stories that draw my attention. This month, I had just two magazine issues with multiple stories that caught my eye, so I’m adding a third in Strange Horizons, which typically publishes just one… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Lightspeed, Kaleidotrope, and Strange Horizons
We’ve reached the finals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and the three finalists chosen on my team’s side of the bracket have been joined by three more from the other side. Over the course of the summer, we’ll be reading and scoring these three books that came with such glowing recommendations from Peripheral Prospectors and Ground Control to Major Tom.… Continue reading Sci-fi Book Review: Yours Celestially by Al Hess
We’ve reached the finals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and the three finalists chosen on my team’s side of the bracket have been joined by three more from the other side. Over the course of the summer, we’ll be reading and scoring these three books that came with such glowing recommendations from Peripheral Prospectors and Ground Control to Major Tom. And… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker
As we open the back half of 2025, I’m continuing my monthly reviews of a couple short fiction publications I enjoy immensely: Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. Clarkesworld The July issue of Clarkesworld features five short stories and two novelettes, one of which is a translated piece weighing in at nearly 15,000 words. The issue opens with… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (July 2025)
