For the fourth consecutive year, I am leading a judging team in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and my team has been given 32 books to whittle down to two semifinalists. To start, we’ve split them up so that each team member has nine or ten books to evaluate, and together we’ll pick the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Turn Left at the Mooncrow Skeleton by Linda Raedisch
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The Mountain Crown will be released on October 8, 2024. Karin Lowachee had been hanging around the middle of the TBR for what seemed like forever before I finally pulled Warchild off the stack this… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Mercy of Gods will be released on August 6, 2024. Despite the fact that I’ve read just one book of The Expanse (it’s been on my “I swear I’ll get around to the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
Since jumping wholeheartedly back into genre fiction a few years ago, I’ve understood that my corner of speculative fiction isn’t necessarily representative of fantasy full stop. And one of the best examples is the staggering popularity of Sarah J. Maas, whose works are almost never recommended in my circles. But this year’s Book Bingo has… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
We’ve made it to the finals of the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. My team has whittled down a slush pile to two semifinalists, and then joined up with two more teams to cut our combined six semifinalists to just two finalists. Now everybody is reading the same books, as only six remain. And… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Children of the Black by W.J. Long III
I’ve been vaguely familiar with Malka Older as a sci-fi author with a pretty good reputation, but I hadn’t actually had an opportunity to read any of her work, and when The Mimicking of Known Successes was pitched as a sapphic Sherlock Holmes in space, my mystery-fatigue inclined me to skip this one as well.… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
If I’m looking for excellent sci-fi from the 2000s that has been largely forgotten, the first stop has to be the recommendations of Janny Wurts. Our tastes aren’t exactly the same, but she is a tremendous champion of character-driven speculative fiction—and a pretty good writer in her own right—and her recommendations have taken more than… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Warchild by Karin Lowachee
We’ve made it to the finals of the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. My team has whittled down a slush pile to two semifinalists, and then joined up with two more teams to cut our combined six semifinalists to just two finalists. Now everybody is reading the same books, as only six remain. Though… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dark Theory by Wick Welker
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Navola will be released on July 9, 2024. Paolo Bacigalupi is an author that hit big while I was in a reading hiatus. I missed the boat, but I’ve been meaning to circle back… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
I’m not anything approaching a connoisseur of magical girl fiction, but having immensely enjoyed both of M.L. Wang’s adult novels, I was a little bit curious about her series of snappy YA titles beginning with Girl Squad Volta. And when I heard a pretty compelling argument that magical girl stories are a type of superhero… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Girl Squad Volta by Maya Lin Wang
