I’ve been hearing Daryl Gregory recommended for a while now, but I hadn’t really given him a try until reading the novelette “Second Person, Present Tense” a few months ago. That was good enough to convince me I should read more, and so I decided to jump into his most recent novel, When We Were… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
I only occasionally dip into speculative litfic, largely with mixed results, so despite her fame, Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel wasn’t really on my radar until a Redditor recommended it for fans of Octavia E. Butler and Emily St. John Mandel. Seeing as how Clay’s Ark and Station Eleven were two of the best things… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Antonia Hodgson was not at all on my radar going into 2025, but The Raven Scholar quickly became one of those books that is lauded seemingly wherever fantasy is discussed. I don’t always read the year’s big trend books, but I had the opportunity to give it a try in December to see for myself… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
We’re nearing the end of December, so it’s once again time for my favorite annual post: my annual favorites post! This is where I share the best sci-fi and fantasy I read from this year. I write two versions of my Recommended Reading List each year, one in December when reviewers start dropping their favorites,… Continue reading Tar Vol’s 2025 Recommended Reading List (Holiday Edition)
This review is based on an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the editor in exchange for an honest review. Think Weirder was released on October 30, 2025. I have to admit, I was won over by the cover of Think Weirder: The Year’s Best Science Fiction Ideas, edited by Joe Stech. Not because of… Continue reading Sci-fi Anthology Review: Think Weirder by Joe Stech
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Village at the Edge of Noon will be released on December 2, 2025. December and January are often pretty light on new releases, and I’m always on the lookout for more stories… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Village at the Edge of Noon by Darya Bobyleva
Nnedi Okorafor has gained plenty of plaudits in genre fiction over the past decade, and when I saw that she was releasing a speculative literary novel about a writer of robot stories, I put Death of the Author on my list of books to watch in 2025. It took me a few months, but I… Continue reading Speculative Novel Review: Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. There Is No Antimemetics Division will be released on November 11, 2025. For the last few years, I’ve been seeing glowing commentary about There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm, particularly on the… Continue reading Sci-fi/Horror Novel Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Merge will be released on November 11, 2025. Over the last couple years of reading, it’s become very clear to me that I enjoy stories that play with memory in unusual ways.… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Merge by Grace Walker
With some travel on the docket and Cozy SFF on the Bingo board, I was looking for a lighter fantasy to serve as airplane reading. Having enjoyed Auston Habershaw’s short fiction in the past, If Wishes Were Retail caught my eye and seemed to fit the bill perfectly. And as it turned out, the book… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: If Wishes Were Retail by Auston Habershaw
