February is always a great month for catching up on stories—especially relatively short ones—from other people’s favorites lists, and while I had heard almost no buzz about Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman, a book club friend had it atop their 2023 novella list, so I thought I’d give it a try. Guess what?… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: Nothing But the Rain by Naomi Salman
I tend to be a bit squeamish about horror, but I’ve dipped my toe into the genre a couple times and have found things to like there. Because of said squeamishness, I don’t know much about the genre classics apart from whatever has filtered down through the general culture, but when one of r/Fantasy’s many… Continue reading Horror Novel Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
In December, I posted my 2023 Recommended Reading List, consisting of all my favorite things that were published in 2023. But who’s to say I can’t do it again in February? I’m not Locus, there’s no rule against two recommendation lists. I publish one list in December because that’s when people start swapping favorites. And… Continue reading Tar Vol’s 2023 Recommended Reading List and Short Fiction Top Ten: Awards Season Edition
While Chain-Gang All-Stars doesn’t seem to be generating much buzz in genre-centric circles, it seems that one can hardly read a “Best of 2023” list in more literary-leaning outlets without seeing it listed as an absolute must-read. Throw in a couple recommendations on social media and my own penchant for survival games, and Nana Kwame… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Tainted Cup will be released on February 6, 2024. Robert Jackson Bennett’s acclaimed Divine Cities trilogy came out shortly before I returned from a school-induced genre hiatus, and ever since, he’s been one… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Tusks of Extinction will be released on January 16, 2024. I read Ray Nayler for the first time in 2022, and he quickly became a must-read author. So when I saw he had… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
It’s that time of year again. People are buying holiday gifts, Nebula nominations are open, the New Year is just around the corner, and bookish spaces are being flooded with “best of the year” lists. It’s one of my favorite times of the year for finding new things to read, and it’s a wonderful time… Continue reading Tar Vol’s 2023 Recommended Reading List: Holiday Edition
The elevator pitch for Shannon Chakraborty’s The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is almost perfectly tailored to make me skip it. It’s an action-adventure tale on the high seas, with all manner of demons and demigods causing chaos at every turn. As a reader who doesn’t much care for action-heavy fantasy, nautical settings, or demigods, it… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
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
While my return to genre reading over the last few years has been dominated by new releases, it has also involved a fair bit of digging into obscure-but-well-reviewed fantasy from the 2000s—most of it written by women. Such dives have brought me several favorites, like The Lighthouse Duet, The Inda Quartet, and The Long Price… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
