For the second month in a row, my Magazine Minis post will be a five-zine blitz. Well, I suppose not technically the second month in a row, since I didn’t get this one up before the calendar flipped to May, but they were read two months in a row. Point is, I found five magazines… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Five-Zine Blitz, Again (April 2026)
There’s always a bit of lag in genre discussion—at least on the short fiction side—such that it feels like people don’t really start digging into the current year’s offerings until summer. But it’s spring, and new things are being released. As always, I’ve taken a look at this month’s Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. Clarkesworld Clarkesworld typically… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (April 2026)
For the last year or so, my habit has been to supplement my monthly Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus review with a second feature where I highlight a couple different publications with multiple stories that caught my eye. This month it’s a bit longer than usual, as I’ve rolled up stories from two magazines that do smaller,… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Five-Zine Blitz (March 2026)
Everyone (myself included) is distracted by award shortlists, but there’s still new fiction being published, and there’s plenty to talk about in my review of the March issues of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. Clarkesworld This month’s Clarkesworld features six short stories surrounding a novella-length centerpiece from Thomas Ha. The issue opens with Bend Like the Palm… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (March 2026)
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)
Each month, I supplement my full magazine reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus with Magazine Minis, in which I read a handful of intriguing stories from a couple magazines, despite not reading them cover-to-cover. To open 2026, I’ll be looking at the year’s first issues of Asimov’s and Kaleidotrope. Asimov’s Three stories immediately stood out to… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Asimov’s and Kaleidotrope
It’s a new year, and I’m excited to get started with reviews of both of my regular sci-fi/fantasy magazines, as GigaNotoSaurus returns from hiatus and Clarkesworld keeps chugging along. Let’s take a look. Clarkesworld The opening Clarkesworld issue of 2026 features five short stories bookending a pair of novelettes. It opens with The Stars You… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (January 2026)
For my last Magazine Minis of 2025, I’ll be taking a look at a handful of stories from the year’s final issues of Apex and Uncanny. Apex Apex almost always has something that catches my attention, but the editors enjoy body horror far too much for me to read it cover-to-cover. But they closed 2025… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Apex and Uncanny
With GigaNotoSaurus on hiatus for one last month, I’m closing out 2025 with a review of the December 2025 issue of Clarkesworld. Clarkesworld The final Clarkesworld of the year features five short stories interrupted by a pair of extended novelettes. It opens with a trim sci-fi parenting story, Tomorrow. Today. by R.T. Ester, in which… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine: Review of Clarkesworld (December 2025)
GigaNotoSaurus is back on hiatus for the remainder of the year, and my best wishes go to LaShawn Wanak and her team in closing a difficult year and trying to shore up the foundation for 2026. I’ve been pretty impressed with their published fiction this year, but I know the finished product is only the… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine: Review of Clarkesworld (November 2025)
