This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Hexologists will be released on September 26, 2023. Josiah Bancroft was perhaps the first breakout star of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO, elder sister to SPSFC), parlaying Senlin Ascends into a four-book deal… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
Lois McMaster Bujold was one of the first authors I read when I got back in genre fiction as a grad student, and I’ve liked her work enough that I’ve come pretty close to reading all of it. But one gap on my list has been her Penric and Desdemona novella series within the World… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
We’ve reached the finals of the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2), and my team will be reading all four of the seven finalists that we had not previously reviewed in the semifinals. And in an ironic twist, given the typical polarizing reactions to the subgenre, one of the few books that all three… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novel Review: Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days by Drew Melbourne
We’ve reached the finals of the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2), and my team will be reading all four of the seven finalists that we had not previously reviewed in the semifinals. After opening with a true epic, I shifted gears to the fast-paced sci-fi thriller Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper. Hammer… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper
We’ve reached the finals of the second annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2), and my team will be reading all four of the seven finalists that we had not previously reviewed in the semifinals. And what better place for me to start with a book that is simultaneously (1) the longest finalist, and (2) the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review–Aestus: The City by S.Z. Attwell
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Surviving Sky will be released on June 13, 2023. It’s Sky Week at Tar Vol On, thanks to a trio of summer releases whose titles end with the word “Sky.” First on the… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao
The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams was released in the UK in 2017, promptly won the British Fantasy Award, and then went about three years before US publication—a sure fire recipe for finding itself on lots of “underrated treasures” lists. I grabbed a copy during some sale or another and then let it collect virtual… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
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
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
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
