R.F. Kuang seems to be a divisive author, but while I understand and agree with many of the criticisms, her engaging prose style and hard-hitting thematic work has consistently drawn me in enough to leave me with overwhelmingly positive impressions. So while a quest into Hell is a little bit outside my wheelhouse as a… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
I’m not much of a horror person, but I do have a soft spot for “people are the real horror” historical pieces, with Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory and Victor LaValle’s Lone Women among my favorites of the last few years. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter seemed another entry along those lines, and given some glowing reviews… Continue reading Horror Novel Review: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
I’m a big fan of almost all of Lois McMaster Bujold’s work, and the combination of romance, fantasy adventure, and cross-cultural connection-building in The Sharing Knife made the series a highly enjoyable read. Despite all that, I’d never gotten around to the short sequel novel taking place a couple decades after the first four books.… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Knife Children by Lois McMaster Bujold
Colson Whitehead’s acclaimed The Underground Railroad has been on my TBR for quite some time, and when it got picked up by one of my book clubs, I was excited to finally give it a try. Anyone who’s the least bit familiar with the book will probably know the central conceit: the historical Underground Railroad… Continue reading Alternate History Novel Review: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
It’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy month in real life, but I’ve managed to get a lot of reading done, albeit in a different order than usual. And when you read enough in any given month, you’re bound to find amazing things that you want to share with the world. So let’s do that,… Continue reading September 2025 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany
House of the Rain King by Will Greatwich is one of the few self-published novels that I’ve actually picked up in its publication year. A glowing review from someone who likes a lot of my favorites and a selection for an online book club was enough for me to take the plunge and see what… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: House of the Rain King by Will Greatwich
The Phoenix Pencil Company seems to have gotten more hype in general fiction circles than speculative fiction ones, but author Allison King caught my eye with her interview in Clarkesworld, and given my recent fascination with stories that play with memory and family, it moved up my TBR quickly. The Phoenix Pencil Company is essentially… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King
When Ella Enchanted came out, I don’t think I even knew it existed, despite its popular acclaim and the fact that someone in my immediate family was reading it. Had I known about it, would I have appreciated a book that was For Girls? It’s hard to say. But as an adult, I had no… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
My September short fiction reviews are coming out of order because of some travel early in the month, and GigaNotoSaurus remains on a two-month hiatus, so let’s do a rare late-month, single-issue review and take a look at the September 2025 issue of Clarkesworld. Clarkesworld This issue of Clarkesworld features five short stories and two… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine: Review of Clarkesworld (September 2025)
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Summer War will be released on September 16, 2025. I haven’t read much of Naomi Novik, but I’ve liked what I’ve read, and given that I’m always looking to try novellas from… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Summer War by Naomi Novik
