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
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 Beneath Ceaseless Skies
I am running out of ways to say that I read Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus every month. There’s always some good stuff to recommend, so let’s take a look. Clarkesworld The May 2025 issue of Clarkesworld has a little bit different story mix than usual, with one full novella as a centerpiece, balanced by a pair… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (May 2025)
This month I’ve started reading up on Hugo Award finalists, Asimov’s Readers’ Award finalists, and SPSFC semifinalists, all in between chipping away at my backlog of new releases. Have I found things to recommend? Of course I have! Let’s dive in! Short Fiction I have separate posts reviewing Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus and evaluating the Asimov’s Readers’ Award shortlist. Both are full… Continue reading April 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
For my second short fiction review of the month, I usually take some time to dig into a couple of magazines outside the two that I read every month. But with the announcement of an Asimov’s Readers’ Award shortlist that included half stories I’d read last year, I decided to take that time and read… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads the 39th Asimov’s Readers’ Award Finalists
