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
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Infinity Gate will be released on March 28, 2023. I’ve read a fair few multiverse stories lately, but well…I have a soft spot for multiverses, and M.R. Carey is an author who has been… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey
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
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
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
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
