My Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) team has advanced three books to the semifinals, and in exchange, we’ve received six semifinalists from two other judging teams. Among those six—and rated extremely highly by its first round judges—was Of Cinder and Bone by Kyoko M. Of Cinder and Bone follows Jack and Kamala, a pair of… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Of Cinder and Bone by Kyoko M.
In the first round of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), my team sampled 30 works of self-published sci-fi before settling on three favorites to advance to the Semifinal round. Now, we receive the three favorites of two of the ten other judging teams, as we continue whittling down the 300 entries to a group… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Zero Day Threat by R.M. Olson
We’re living in a world with way more quality genre fiction than I could ever read. And it would be so easy to find a narrow niche and just stick to it, with new material coming out fast enough to keep me satisfied indefinitely. But part of the fun of reading is finding new loves,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow was billed as an angry feminist tale inspired by Chinese history and featuring anime-style mech battles. That billing didn’t appeal to me much, but I heard so many people talking about its quality that I thought I should give it a read anyways. A few days later, I feel comfortable… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
If you spend a lot of time among heavy readers of self-published fantasy, it’s hard not to have heard of The Thirteenth Hour, Trudie Skies’ tale of a conspiracy that threatens the established order of a steampunk world of twelve races living in a tenuous peace. My SPSFC judging has shifted by indie reading heavily… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies
As I wrap up my hard mode Bingo card, I’m tackling a few of the most difficult-to-fill squares on the board. But Backlist (hard mode: published before 2000) is an exception—while I certainly wouldn’t naturally come across examples while reading for the Hugos or SPSFC, I had so many intriguing options that I simply had… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
There are quite a few books that I’ve picked up just because they seemed perfect for a Bingo square, but I’ve rarely had to look as hard as I did to find The Queen of Blood. The hard mode Forest Setting square requires the entirety of the book to take place within a forest, and… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Age of Ash will be released February 15, 2022. The most recent addition to my all-time top five list was Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet, which tells a series of intimate, personal stories… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
As our SPSFC team finishes reading our ten quarterfinalists out of our first round allotment, I will be posting review roundups and official scores. As you read our thoughts on these ten books, keep in mind that we have a variety of tastes on this team, and a low score does not necessarily indicate a bad book. One… Continue reading SPSFC Quarterfinalist Review: The Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard
As our SPSFC team finishes reading our ten quarterfinalists out of our first round allotment, I will be posting review roundups and official scores. As you read our thoughts on these ten books, keep in mind that we have a variety of tastes on this team, and a low score does not necessarily indicate a bad book. One… Continue reading SPSFC Quarterfinalist Review: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog
