For the first round of this year’s Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2), my team has been assigned 28 books to ultimately whittle down to three semifinalists. To that end, we have further divided our batch so that each judge will be assigned 11 or 12 books to scout for the rest of the team. Because… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Exin Ex Machina by G.S. Jennsen
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Mountain in the Sea will be released on October 4, 2022. A couple months back, when I saw Ray Nayler’s debut novel pop up on NetGalley, the “philosophical thriller about the nature of consciousness”… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Spend enough time in literary spaces, and you eventually hear about Emily St. John Mandel, an author who uses speculative elements to tell literary tales. She’s a sufficiently towering figure for fans for general fiction that those speculative elements lead to a few reads from genre fans, even though she writes for a different audience.… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The Revenge of Bridget Cleary will be released on October 4, 2022. Mathilda Zeller’s debut novelette, “The Incident at Veniaminov,” was one of my absolute favorites of last year (if you’d like to take a half-hour and… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Revenge of Bridget Cleary by Mathilda Zeller
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Lonely Castle in the Mirror will be released on October 18, 2022. Lonely Castle in the Mirror wasn’t at all on my radar coming into this year, but apparently it’s been popular enough… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Spear Cuts Through Water will be released on August 30, 2022. I read Simon Jimenez’s debut novel, The Vanished Birds, last year, and while I didn’t necessarily think it all came together,… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Babel will be released on August 23, 2022. I’m not sure there’s a more anticipated release in my corners of sci-fi/fantasy spaces than R. F. Kuang’s Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Babel by R.F. Kuang
Arkady Martine won the Hugo Award for Best Novel with her debut A Memory Called Empire—a book with some fascinating cultural work to go with a solid-but-unexceptional thriller plot—and has returned to the Best Novel ballot with the second half of the duology: A Desolation Called Peace. [Note: while I always try to stay away… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
Alix E. Harrow has become one of the more notable names in fantasy over the last several years, riding a tendency to tug at heartstrings and a prose style that’s simultaneously beautiful and easy-to-read to five Hugo nominations (one win) across three separate categories since 2019. Best Novella finalist A Spindle Splintered was my second… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
I got started with Hugo voting a couple years after perennial nominee Seanan McGuire broke through with a Best Novella win for Every Heart a Doorway, so I haven’t read the entire Wayward Children series of portal fantasy novellas, but last year’s nomination of Come Tumbling Down and its associated backstory for me two-thirds of… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
