My judging team for the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has scouted our entire allotment and selected seven books to be passed around the team for full evaluations by our entire complement of judges. As I read two of the seven in the scouting phase, that will mean five new reads for me personally, all books that… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Automaton by Ian Young
My judging team for the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has scouted our entire allotment and selected seven books to be passed around the team for full evaluations by our entire complement of judges. As I read two of the seven in the scouting phase, that will mean five new reads for me… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Tasmanian Gothic by Mikhaeyla Kopievsky
M.L. Clark wrote one of my favorite novelettes of 2022, so when I saw that she was releasing a deeply philosophical indie space opera, I figured it was well worth checking out. Might’ve taken me a while to get to it—the TBR never sleeps—but I finally was able to make a hole in my schedule… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Children of Doro by M.L. Clark
It looks like the October book clubs conspired to push me into reading genre classics that I’d been meaning to circle back around to for ages. So right after finishing The Haunting of Hill House (which I still haven’t reviewed, I know it’s two months later, stay tuned), I jumped right into A Canticle for… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
I say, as I dip my toe again and again into horror, that I’m not much of a horror guy. And there’s a lot of truth to it. But I’ve liked everything I’ve read from Victor LaValle, whose Lone Women was one of my favorite books of 2023. And so I’m going to keep reading… Continue reading Fantasy/Horror Novel Review: The Changeling by Victor LaValle
At some point in the year or two between my return to genre reading and my decision to start blogging, The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang became an r/Fantasy darling. It won the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO, the elder sister to SPSFC), matching the highest score in the history of the competition, and there… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
At some point last year, Legends & Lattes went from fun, self-published cozy fantasy in a D&D-inspired world to one of the hottest books in the genre, riding the wave to Nebula and Hugo nominations and an Astounding Award nomination for author Travis Baldree. It was on my “look for a chance to get to… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
After my experience with The Calculating Stars and The Relentless Moon, I’m always intrigued by a new release from Mary Robinette Kowal. But The Spare Man came out at a time when I was feeling a little burned out on murder mysteries, and after seeing a few mixed reviews, I decided I’d let this one… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
I heard so many rave reviews about Spear by Nicola Griffith that I decided to put it off until its inevitable Hugo nomination. Tordotcom novellas seemed unstoppable, and it was getting nothing but praise. And then it ended up not making the list—perhaps due to category confusion, as the word count puts it in that… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Spear by Nicola Griffith
I read T. Kingfisher for the first time a couple years ago when a friend highly recommended A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and since then I’ve added a fair few others, from the excellent children’s book Harriet the Invincible (as Ursula Vernon) to adult fairy tale retellings and even horror. But Nettle & Bone… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
