This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shroud was released on June 3, 2025. I’ve read a lot of Adrian Tchaikovsky over the past few years, though in light of his shockingly prolific output, it’s still only a tiny fraction of… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. A Rebel’s History of Mars will be released on June 10, 2025. I am known to be a sucker for a good suppressed history story, and I’ve enjoyed Nadia Afifi in shorter form, so… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: A Rebel’s History of Mars by Nadia Afifi
My Hugo Awards reading is in full swing–which mostly has meant short fiction rereads, as I’d already read most of the shortlist–I’ve been working through the SPSFC4 semifinalists, and I have a pile of ARCs to review for this summer. There’s been a lot of reading this month, and as always, I have something to… Continue reading May 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
June 5 update: Accidental Intelligence has been named a finalist! We’ve made it to the semifinals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). Team Tar Vol On advanced two semifinalists, which were joined in our half of the bracket by semifinalists from Space Girls and Red Stars. In this round, the three teams are reading each other’s selections… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Accidental Intelligence by Bryan Chaffin
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. A Song of Legends Lost will be released on June 3, 2025. A Song of Legends Lost is a debut epic fantasy novel from M.H. Ayinde. While I don’t read as much epic fantasy… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
June 5 update: Bisection has been named a finalist! We’ve made it to the semifinals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). Team Tar Vol On advanced two semifinalists, which were joined in our half of the bracket by semifinalists from Space Girls and Red Stars. In this round, the three teams are reading each other’s selections and… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Bisection by Sheila Jenné
June 5 update: We’ve made it to the semifinals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). Team Tar Vol On advanced two semifinalists, which were joined in our half of the bracket by semifinalists from Space Girls and Red Stars. In this round, the three teams are reading each other’s selections and combining scores to identify the top… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: On Impulse by Heather Texle
We’ve made it to the semifinals of the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). Team Tar Vol On advanced two semifinalists, which were joined in our half of the bracket by semifinalists from Space Girls and Red Stars. In this round, the three teams are reading each other’s selections and combining scores to identify… Continue reading SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Proliferation by Erik A. Otto
The fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has advanced to the semifinals, where my team’s two semifinalists will join four others in one of the competition’s two semifinal groups, each of which will be read by multiple judging teams in order to select a top three to advance to the finals. I closed my personal reading for the round… Continue reading Sci-fi Book Review: Bisection by Sheila Jenné
For those who aren’t regulars, 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. If possible, I try to keep those to a single issue, but for weekly or biweekly releases, I’ll sometimes roll a couple months… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Asimov’s, Uncanny, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies
