Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney

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

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour

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. And one of the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

Courtney Schafer’s “Readers of the Lost Arc” series of blog posts has been a fascinating source for discovering underappreciated fantasy–mostly female-authored–from decades past. So when I saw a few recommendations for her own debut novel, The Whitefire Crossing, I decided to pick up a copy. The TBR being what it is, there was quite a… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: They Made Us Blood and Fury by Cheryl S. Ntumy

They Made Us Blood and Fury is a self-published fantasy novel that—despite my involvement with SPSFC and general awareness of SPFBO—wasn’t really on my radar before I saw it pop up as a Nommo Award finalist. Not sure whether I just missed it, or whether there’s a disconnect between the US/UK self-publishing scene and the… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: They Made Us Blood and Fury by Cheryl S. Ntumy

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke

Each of my teammates in the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) have evaluated their initial allotment and have made their recommendations for the quarterfinals, which consist in our collective top eight of the 28 books in our team’s slush pile. Four of those eight quarterfinalists had been in my scouting allotment, so I… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review–Syn City: Reality Bytes by Lewis Knight

Each of my teammates in the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) have evaluated their initial allotment and have made their recommendations for the quarterfinals, which consist in our collective top eight of the 28 books in our team’s slush pile. Four of those eight quarterfinalists had been in my scouting allotment, so I… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review–Syn City: Reality Bytes by Lewis Knight

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: The Audacity by Carmen Loup

Each of my teammates in the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) have evaluated their initial allotment and have made their recommendations for the quarterfinals, which consist in our collective top eight of the 28 books in our team’s slush pile. Four of those eight quarterfinalists had been in my scouting allotment, so I… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Audacity by Carmen Loup

Reviews

An SPSFC2 Review Two-Pack: Fear and The Sphere

My judging team in the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2) has released our list of eight quarterfinalists, which we will be reading and reviewing over the next two months. Two of that quarterfinals group were the top two books that I selected out of my slush allocation. But two more–Fear by James McLellan… Continue reading An SPSFC2 Review Two-Pack: Fear and The Sphere