Between Easter travel and the scramble to April 30th deadlines for both Hugo nominations and the end of the SPSFC2 semifinals, April was a bit of a chaotic reading month, and I ended up reading less short fiction than usual. But as always, I still have something to recommend. So let’s get to it. Short… Continue reading April 2023 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, have combined with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists, and three of our… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, have combined with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists, and three of our… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, will combine with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists. Each of the six… Continue reading SPSFC Semifinalist Review: The Peacemaker’s Code by Deepak Malhotra
In January, I started a new series, which I hope to continue all year, in which I read and review sci-fi/fantasy magazines. I’ve settled on three publications to follow this year: my two favorites from 2022 and a third that has been a titan of the genre for decades. One of those is a bimonthly… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (April 2023)
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, will combine with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists. Each of the six… Continue reading SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Debunked by Dito Abbott
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, will combine with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists. Each of the six… Continue reading SPSFC Finalist Review: Night Music by Tobias Cabral
After whittling our initial 28-book allotment down to three, my SPSFC2 team has received six more semifinalists from other judging teams. Our scores of these six new books, along with our original three semifinalists, will combine with with 81 other scores (nine each from nine teams) to determine the SPSFC2 finalists. Each of the six… Continue reading SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Dim Stars by Brian P. Rubin
This will be my third year nominating and voting in the Hugo Awards for the year’s best sci-fi and fantasy, and it’s only just now that I feel like I’ve garnered a solid understanding of the process. The basic “how-to” questions are easy enough to answer. You buy a supporting membership for the current WorldCon… Continue reading Demystifying the Hugo Award Nomination Process
The first round of the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) has ended, and my team has hand-picked three semifinalists to send to two other teams of fellow judges. In return, we have received six semifinalists from two other judging teams, which we will read before the end of April. I have closed my… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dim Stars by Brian P. Rubin
