Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (January 2025)

January 17, 2025January 17, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

Am I still catching up on 2024 fiction? Yes. Is it 2025? Also yes. So in between catching up, I’m also reading and reviewing my usual new releases. And let me tell you, there are some good stories out this month. Clarkesworld The January 2025 issue of Clarkesworld has fewer stories than usual, mostly because… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (January 2025)

Reviews

Sci-fi Book Review: Grievers by adrienne maree brown

January 16, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

Grievers by adrienne maree brown wasn’t much on my radar at all going into this year, but a couple Redditors were consistently singing the praises of both it and its sequel, and I needed a pandemic novel for my Bingo board, so with apologies to TBR items like Doomsday Book, Station Eleven, and How High… Continue reading Sci-fi Book Review: Grievers by adrienne maree brown

SPSFC

Introducing Team Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 Quarterfinalists

January 14, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

My judging team in the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has been given 32 books to whittle down to just two semifinalists. Over the past three months, each of these 32 books have been evaluated by a minimum of two of our judges, and we have narrowed the field down to four books… Continue reading Introducing Team Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 Quarterfinalists

SPSFC

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Four

January 14, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

If you read any of the first three batches, the preamble is the same, so feel free to skip three paragraphs. My judging team for the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has been hard at work reading the 32 books initially assigned to us. By the end of March, we need to pick just two… Continue reading Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Four

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder

January 12, 2025January 12, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

For the fourth consecutive year, I am leading a judging team in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and my team has been given 32 books to whittle down to two semifinalists. To start, we’ve split them up so that each team member has nine or ten books to evaluate, and together we’ll pick the top 15-25% to pass… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder

Reviews

Sci-fi Novella Review: ChloroPhilia by Cristina Jurado

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ChloroPhilia will be released on January 14, 2025. I had read a short story or two by Cristina Jurado a couple years ago, and while I was a bit wary that she can lean… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: ChloroPhilia by Cristina Jurado

SPSFC

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Three

January 10, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

If you read the first or second batch, the preamble is the same, so feel free to skip three paragraphs. My judging team for the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has been hard at work reading the 32 books initially assigned to us. By the end of March, we need to pick just… Continue reading Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Three

SPSFC

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Two

January 6, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

If you read the first batch, the preamble is the same, so feel free to skip three paragraphs. My judging team for the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has been hard at work reading the 32 books initially assigned to us. By the end of March, we need to pick just two from… Continue reading Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Two

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: The Thief by G.S. Jennsen

January 4, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

For the fourth consecutive year, I am leading a judging team in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), and my team has been given 32 books to whittle down to two semifinalists. To start, we’ve split them up so that each team member has nine or ten books to evaluate, and together we’ll pick the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Thief by G.S. Jennsen

Monthly Round-Up

December 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany

January 1, 2025 tarvolonLeave a comment

It’s been a big reading month! I finished my favorite 2024-published novel, I had a big push of current-year short fiction before posting the first edition of my 2024 Recommended Reading List, and once I got it posted, I spent a little while dipping into backlist recommendations that had been languishing on my TBR. Let’s… Continue reading December 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany

Tar Vol on

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (January 2025)

Sci-fi Book Review: Grievers by adrienne maree brown

Introducing Team Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 Quarterfinalists

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Four

Fantasy Novel Review: Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder

Sci-fi Novella Review: ChloroPhilia by Cristina Jurado

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Three

Tar Vol On’s SPSFC4 First-Round Eliminations, Batch Two

Sci-fi Novel Review: The Thief by G.S. Jennsen

December 2024 Round-up and Short Fiction Miscellany