After finishing up my reading for both the Hugos and SPSFC, I felt strangely on top of things, so I decided to dig into some backlist short fiction. As it turns out, short stories that people are still recommending five (or more) years after their initial publication are disproportionately excellent. I’ve got quite a list… Continue reading July 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
I supplement my full read of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus each month with smaller spotlights on magazines where I may have found 2-3 stories that draw my attention. This month, I had just two magazine issues with multiple stories that caught my eye, so I’m adding a third in Strange Horizons, which typically publishes just one… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Lightspeed, Kaleidotrope, and Strange Horizons
As we open the back half of 2025, I’m continuing my monthly reviews of a couple short fiction publications I enjoy immensely: Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. Clarkesworld The July issue of Clarkesworld features five short stories and two novelettes, one of which is a translated piece weighing in at nearly 15,000 words. The issue opens with… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (July 2025)
This is my fifth year reading and ranking every finalist for the Hugo Awards for the Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, and Best Short Story in the previous year of sci-fi and fantasy. I’ve already posted Best Novel, Best Novella, and Best Novelette, so now it’s time to take a look at Best Short Story. I… Continue reading 2025 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Short Story
This is my fifth year reading and ranking every finalist for the Hugo Awards for the Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, and Best Short Story in the previous year of sci-fi and fantasy. I’ve already posted Best Novel and Best Novella, and now it’s time to move to Best Novelette. Novelette is often my… Continue reading 2025 Hugo Awards Ballot: Best Novelette
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Uncertain Sons and Other Stories will be released on September 16, 2025. I’ve been reading Thomas Ha’s work for about four years now, and even though his most natural genre (weird horror) is one I… Continue reading Sci-fi/Horror Short Fiction Review: Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
June was a little bit of a chaotic reading month–I read a big variety of different lengths, intended audiences, and a couple things that weren’t exactly books, per se. Guess what? I have lots of recommendations, including new favorites of the year in several categories. Let’s dive in! Short Fiction I’ve already reviewed Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus, where I… Continue reading June 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
For those who aren’t regulars, I supplement my full read of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus each month with smaller spotlights on magazines where I may have found 2-3 stories that draw my attention. If possible, I try to keep those to a single issue, but for weekly or biweekly releases, I’ll sometimes roll a couple months… Continue reading Tar Vol’s Magazine Minis: Asimov’s, Uncanny, and BCS (Again)
I’m halfway through another year of reading through each issue of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus, and I might’ve found a new favorite of 2025 from the latter. Let’s take a look! Clarkesworld After several seven-story issues, this month’s Clarkesworld returns to what had been a fairly standard eight, with six short stories and two novelettes. Four… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (June 2025)
My Hugo Awards reading is in full swing–which mostly has meant short fiction rereads, as I’d already read most of the shortlist–I’ve been working through the SPSFC4 semifinalists, and I have a pile of ARCs to review for this summer. There’s been a lot of reading this month, and as always, I have something to… Continue reading May 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
