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: Turn Left at the Mooncrow Skeleton by Linda Raedisch

We’ve made it to the finals of the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. My team has whittled down a slush pile to two semifinalists, and then joined up with two more teams to cut our combined six semifinalists to just two finalists. Now everybody is reading the same books, as only six remain. And… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Children of the Black by W.J. Long III

We’ve made it to the finals of the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. My team has whittled down a slush pile to two semifinalists, and then joined up with two more teams to cut our combined six semifinalists to just two finalists. Now everybody is reading the same books, as only six remain. Though… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Dark Theory by Wick Welker

I’m not anything approaching a connoisseur of magical girl fiction, but having immensely enjoyed both of M.L. Wang’s adult novels, I was a little bit curious about her series of snappy YA titles beginning with Girl Squad Volta. And when I heard a pretty compelling argument that magical girl stories are a type of superhero… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Girl Squad Volta by Maya Lin Wang

My judging team in the third annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3) has turned in our two semifinalists, and in return, we’ve received two semifinalists each from a pair of other teams. Our task over the months of February and March is to read these four new semifinalists, and together with the other two teams,… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer