Frances Hardinge has been on my radar for quite a while, with what seems a never ending stream of highly regarded fantasy novels for young adult or middle grade audiences. But my reading has slanted more and more toward new releases lately, so naturally it was seeing several glowing reviews of her most recent work—Unraveller—that… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Unraveller by Frances Hardinge
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar will be released on June 1, 2023. I’ve been hearing about Indra Das for a while, but not enough to push him to the top of a crowded TBR.… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das
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. And after a solid-but-unexceptional April, May… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Three): Reviews of Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, and F&SF (May 2023)
The marketing of C.S.E. Cooney’s Saint Death’s Daughter did absolutely nothing to appeal to me. Queer coming-of-age? Could be good, but not a selling point in itself. Features necromancers? That’s probably a negative, to be honest. Comparisons to Gideon the Ninth? Absolutely a negative. But enough bookish friends liked it that I decided to give… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
It’s been a very long time since I’ve reread anything that wasn’t a short story or a children’s book, but after an intense R.A. Lafferty binge about a decade ago, I thought it was time to return to some favorites and see how they hold up. And for whatever reason, I decided to skip right… Continue reading SFF Novel Review: The Three Armageddons of Enniscorthy Sweeny by R.A. Laffery
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for nothing (but it’s getting an honest review anyway). Three Grams of Elsewhere will be released on May 4, 2023. Evidently, I’ve spent enough time recommending The Nothing Within that Andy Giesler thought I’d be interested in reading an… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Three Grams of Elsewhere by Andy Giesler
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Infinity Gate will be released on March 28, 2023. I’ve read a fair few multiverse stories lately, but well…I have a soft spot for multiverses, and M.R. Carey is an author who has been… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey
I posted the first edition of my 2022 Recommended Reading List back in early December. But then everyone else posted their own lists, and there’s no better way to blow up a favorites list than spending a couple months reading everyone else’s favorites. There was a lot of amazing sci-fi and fantasy published in 2022,… Continue reading Tarvolon’s 2022 Recommended Reading List: Award Season Edition
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Lone Women will be released on March 28, 2023. Though he’s primarily a horror writer and I’m not primarily a horror reader, I was really impressed with the first two books I read by… Continue reading Historical Fantasy/Horror Review: Lone Women by Victor LaValle
Back in 2019, after discovering the stunning works of Carol Berg, I began to hunt for female-authored epic fantasy that had flown under the radar in the 90s and 00s. And despite it being overshadowed by other popular mid-2000s fantasy [grumbles at marketing dollars thrown at The Name of the Wind instead], one series I… Continue reading Fantasy Series Review: The Inda Quartet by Sherwood Smith
