I had absolutely zero interest in The Kaiju Preservation Society when it came out. I’d heard good things about John Scalzi, but the Pacific Rim comparisons weren’t a selling point, nor was the description as a popcorn novel that required little of the reader. I figured I’d skip it and maybe try another of his… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. He Who Drowned the World will be released August 22, 2023. She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan’s fantastical retelling of the rise of the Ming dynasty in China, was one of the buzziest… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thornhedge will be released August 15, 2023. I’ve dipped my toe into T. Kingfisher’s middle grade work and her horror, but despite the best of intentions, I hadn’t yet made it to her fairy… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Tigerman is a book that had come highly recommended by a blogging friend, and I’d certainly heard a fair bit of praise of Nick Harkaway. But it’s nearly a decade old and isn’t the sort of book that gets recommended all too often in the wild, leaving it to languish on the fringes of my… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon will be released August 8, 2023. Every once in a while, an author I’ve enjoyed immensely writes a book that doesn’t really sound like my thing, and… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi
It was a big month, with the end of SPSFC2 and the announcement of the Hugo Finalists, so there hasn’t been very much short fiction miscellany. I have been reading Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker, which has a lot of excellent stories that I’d like to shout out, but which will get its own review in a… Continue reading July 2023 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
As I open the second half of my year as a regular with Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, I can say pretty confidently that this won’t be my last year with Clarkesworld. Which isn’t to say there hasn’t been a fair bit of good from the other two, including some… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Three): Reviews of Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, and F&SF (July 2023)
Lois McMaster Bujold was one of the first authors I read when I got back in genre fiction as a grad student, and I’ve liked her work enough that I’ve come pretty close to reading all of it. But one gap on my list has been her Penric and Desdemona novella series within the World… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Blade of Dream will be released July 18, 2023. After The Long Price Quartet soared up my all-time favorites list, Daniel Abraham became a must-read author. And I sure wasn’t disappointed with Age… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Blade of Dream by Daniel Abraham
The end of the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) is within sight, with the winner to be announced in mid-July. My team advanced three of our semifinalists to the finals, before being given four more books to read on the way to determining an overall winner. Today, we’ll be looking at the comic… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days by Drew Melbourne
