My judging team in the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has turned in our two semifinalists, and in return, we’ve received two semifinalists each from a pair of other teams. Our task over the months of February and March is to read these four new semifinalists, and together with the other two teams,… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novel Review: Sunset by Arshad Ahsanuddin
My judging team in the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has turned in our two semifinalists, and in return, we’ve received two semifinalists each from a pair of other teams. Our task over the months of February and March is to read these four new semifinalists, and together with the other two teams,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Kenai by Dave Dobson
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Siege of the Burning Grass will be released on March 12, 2024. I’ve been hearing a whole lot about Premee Mohamed for a few years now, and while I’ve tried a handful of… Continue reading Sci-fi Fantasy Novel Review: The Siege of the Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Those Beyond the Wall will be released on March 12, 2024. Almost three years ago, I was absolutely stunned by Micaiah Johnson’s debut novel, The Space Between Worlds. So even though her standalone sequel… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
I first read Sarah Pinsker when “Two Truths and a Lie” was a Hugo Award finalist for Best Novelette in 2021 (it won). Three or four stories later, she’d become one of my absolute favorite short story authors, and picking up a copy of her second collection, Lost Places, was an easy decision. Lost Places… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Collection Review: Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker
February is always a great month for catching up on stories—especially relatively short ones—from other people’s favorites lists, and while I had heard almost no buzz about Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman, a book club friend had it atop their 2023 novella list, so I thought I’d give it a try. Guess what?… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman
February is a ridiculous month of a reading. Best of the Year lists are dropping seemingly every week, and with award nominations due soon, I spend a lot of time bingeing eligible works to try to sort out my own favorites. I read more than 60 pieices of short fiction last month alone! For some… Continue reading February 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
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
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
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)
