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
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
It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of just reading the buzziest of the new releases, but I like to make sure I’m also reading work that’s more off the beaten path—after all, my favorites list is littered with books that never got the hype they deserve. So when a friend raved about Maurice… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus
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. And… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novel Review: Things They Buried by Amanda K. King and Michael R. Swanson
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. And… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Scribes’ Descent by Dylan West
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Strike the Zither will be released on October 25, 2022. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Joan He, so when I saw that her newest book was a YA fantasy centering a… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Strike the Zither by Joan He
J.T. Greathouse’s debut novel The Hand of the Sun King may have flown under the radar when it was released last year, but what it lacked in quantity of readers, it made up for in quality of reviews. Almost everything I saw about this book praised it to high heaven, with recommendations from several prolific… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse
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
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
Sometimes there’s a book that comes out to such acclaim that I feel like I don’t have to rush to read it, because it’s bound to appear on my Hugo reading list. In 2021, no book fit that mold better than Shelley Parker-Chan’s historical fantasy debut She Who Became the Sun. I didn’t read it… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
