Reviews

Horror Novel Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I tend to be a bit squeamish about horror, but I’ve dipped my toe into the genre a couple times and have found things to like there. Because of said squeamishness, I don’t know much about the genre classics apart from whatever has filtered down through the general culture, but when one of r/Fantasy’s many… Continue reading Horror Novel Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Top Lists · Year in Review

Tar Vol’s 2023 Recommended Reading List and Short Fiction Top Ten: Awards Season Edition

In December, I posted my 2023 Recommended Reading List, consisting of all my favorite things that were published in 2023. But who’s to say I can’t do it again in February? I’m not Locus, there’s no rule against two recommendation lists.  I publish one list in December because that’s when people start swapping favorites. And… Continue reading Tar Vol’s 2023 Recommended Reading List and Short Fiction Top Ten: Awards Season Edition

Magazine Review

Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (February 2024)

I said I was going to scale back my cover-to-cover magazine reading in 2024 so that I could leave more time open to dip in to various publications here and there, and February is the first month where I’ve actually scaled back. Which is perfect timing, because I’ve used the extra time to catch up… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (February 2024)

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Moon of the Turning Leaves has been released in paperback and will be released as an ebook on February 27, 2024. I’ve had Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice on the vague… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

While Chain-Gang All-Stars doesn’t seem to be generating much buzz in genre-centric circles, it seems that one can hardly read a “Best of 2023” list in more literary-leaning outlets without seeing it listed as an absolute must-read. Throw in a couple recommendations on social media and my own penchant for survival games, and Nana Kwame… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Tainted Cup will be released on February 6, 2024. Robert Jackson Bennett’s acclaimed Divine Cities trilogy came out shortly before I returned from a school-induced genre hiatus, and ever since, he’s been one… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Monthly Round-Up

January 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany

The SFF world has been buzzing with the release of the 2023 Hugo Awards longlist for all the wrong reasons–the release is riddled with errors and inexplicable ineligibilities, and the administrators have absolutely refused to provide tangible information in response to the slew of questions. That topic has been pretty well-covered by a ton of… Continue reading January 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany

Magazine Review

Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Four): Reviews of Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, Asimov’s, and Analog (January 2024)

After a year of reading three magazines cover-to-cover, I’m going to scale back a little bit in 2024. It was a good experience overall, but life is getting more complicated, I have a lot pressing for my reading time, and I want to make sure this stays a hobby and doesn’t turn into a job.… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Four): Reviews of Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, Asimov’s, and Analog (January 2024)

SPSFC

SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken

My judging team in the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has made our way through our full 24-book allocation and selected seven quarterfinalists. Since then, we’ve spent a couple months reading these seven quarterfinalists in full in an effort to narrow our allocation down to the two books we’ll be sending forward to… Continue reading SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken