When I was making my first pass through my SPSFC team’s first-round allotment, Jeannette Bedard’s Day 115 on an Alien World immediately stood out. With this book being a competition entry, I had no background and didn’t even realize it was a sci-fi mystery novel. So when bodies dropped in the first chapter, it got… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Day 115 on an Alien World by Jeannette Bedard
Drained is another entry in the first annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. It produced some division in the extended preview that we used as a first cut, but I found the writing to be smooth and the early tension to be well-built, and I was intrigued to see whether Marc Daniel Acriche’s debut would build… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Drained by Marc Daniel Acriche
After my SPSFC judging team made our first pass through the 30 books in our first-round allotment, there were a few books that hadn’t really grabbed me but that I was willing to read further to give them more opportunity. And there were a few books that I was excited to get back to. Deston… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dusk Mountain Blues by Deston J. Munden
The Solid-State Shuffle is another entry in my team’s first round batch of Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) novels. After reading extended previews of each book, we picked ten quarterfinalists to read to completion in search of the three semifinalists that we would pass to the other teams. I had mixed feelings about my introduction,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard
Peter Hartog’s Bloodlines is the second novel I read in full as part of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition, where my team sampled 10-20% of the 30 books assigned to us and then voted on ten to read to completion. But, unlike in my previous SPSFC review, I was a no vote on Bloodlines, putting… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novel Review: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog
Kate Sheeran Swed’s Bypass the Stars holds the distinction as the first book I read in full in my capacity as SPSFC judge. It was one of 30 books randomly assigned to my team, and we collectively voted it as one of ten to continue past the first 20%, so reading this book was decided… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Bypass the Stars by Kate Sheeran Swed
It’s done. Team Tar Vol On has finished our first pass through our first-round allotment of books for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. We’ve read 10-20% of each book and made a decision on ten quarterfinalists to read through to completion. In the first, second, third, and fourth batches of cuts and quarterfinalists, I advised… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Five
We’ve hit the fourth of five batches in the first phase of the first round of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. With one update to go, this brings Team Tar Vol On to 18 eliminations and six quarterfinalists. Check back early next week for batch five. But in the interim, check out our fourth set… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Four
Team Tar Vol On continues to work through our first-round batch of Self-Published Science Fiction Competition entries, and we’ve passed the halfway point. If you haven’t been following along, you can check out batch one and batch two; otherwise, read on for another set of cuts and quarterfinalists. Neworld Papers Author: K. B. Shaw. Premise:… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Three
On Thursday, we made the first cuts and introduced the first quarterfinalists for Team Tar Vol On’s first round entries in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. Today, it’s time for another batch. If you’ve been following this competition, you know the procedure by now (and if you haven’t, refer back to the linked post), so… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Two
