Six Semifinalists from the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) were passed to me from first round judges who had rated them among the top three of initial 30-book allotments. My fifth book of those six was Simon Kewin’s Dead Star, which promised an interstellar journey to track down the mysterious history that led to the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dead Star by Simon Kewin
Judging for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) has matched me with a few books outside my wheelhouse, but T. A. Bruno’s debut In the Orbit of Sirens promised to be an exception. A novel featuring high-stakes exploration with a first contact storyline that didn’t just devolve into reflexive war is exactly the sort of… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: In the Orbit of Sirens by T.A. Bruno
Dog Country came into the Semifinals of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) with the highest first-round score of any book in the competition. Though it promised quite a bit more war than I usually prefer in my fiction, the focus on psychological trauma and the glowing first round reviews had me especially excited to… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dog Country by Malcolm F. Cross
My Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) team has advanced three books to the semifinals, and in exchange, we’ve received six semifinalists from two other judging teams. Among those six—and rated extremely highly by its first round judges—was Of Cinder and Bone by Kyoko M. Of Cinder and Bone follows Jack and Kamala, a pair of… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Of Cinder and Bone by Kyoko M.
In the first round of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), my team sampled 30 works of self-published sci-fi before settling on three favorites to advance to the Semifinal round. Now, we receive the three favorites of two of the ten other judging teams, as we continue whittling down the 300 entries to a group… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Zero Day Threat by R.M. Olson
The beginning of the year is always a scramble to reshuffle the TBR after seeing a cavalcade of “Best of the Year” lists. And one of those books that showed up quite a few times was Jennifer Marie Brissett’s Destroyer of Light. Brissett is an author that’s been on my radar for a while, so… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Destroyer of Light by Jennifer Marie Brissett
We’re living in a world with way more quality genre fiction than I could ever read. And it would be so easy to find a narrow niche and just stick to it, with new material coming out fast enough to keep me satisfied indefinitely. But part of the fun of reading is finding new loves,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. One Arm Shorter Than The Other was released April 5, 2022. Gigi Ganguly’s indie debut novella One Arm Shorter Than The Other may be the most off-the-beaten-track book I’ve read in years—at least… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novella Review: One Arm Shorter Than The Other by Gigi Ganguly
Y’all my favorite reading challenge is 100% back for another year, with r/Fantasy Book Bingo, which challenges sci-fi/fantasy aficionados to read 25 books by 25 different authors across 25 categories between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. Last year, I got a little ambitious with a pair of themed cards, one hard mode and… Continue reading Planning 2022 Fantasy Bingo
Awards nomination season is over, so March was a transition away from catching up on everything I could read from “Best of 2021” lists back to reading whatever struck my fancy (and, on the longer work, fit my last few Bingo squares–March 31 is the end of the Bingo year). I did find a gem… Continue reading March 2022 Roundup and Short Fiction Focus
