As I’ve mentioned a few times, I’m back leading a team for the third incarnation of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and when I saw a litRPG book in our batch featuring a suburban Mom trying to keep her three kids alive during an alien invasion, I was torn between my stereotypes of litRPG… Continue reading Sci-fi Book Review–Apocalypse Parenting: Time to Play by Erin Ampersand
The second whirlwind month in a row has seen me settling into a new house, finishing up a year of Hugo reading, and opening my third year of SPSFC. So it’s been a bit of a quiet month for short fiction, but it was also a three-magazine month with the release of the bimonthly Magazine… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Three): Reviews of Clarkesworld, GigaNotoSaurus, and F&SF (September 2023)
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Hexologists will be released on September 26, 2023. Josiah Bancroft was perhaps the first breakout star of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO, elder sister to SPSFC), parlaying Senlin Ascends into a four-book deal… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
After merely enjoying Mexican Gothic while so many of my bookish friends were totally enamored, I figured it’d take a bigger push for me to pick up Silvia Moreno-Garcia again. That push came in the form of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau appearing on the shortlist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and I’m… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I got into T. Kingfisher a little over two years ago with the delightful middle grade novel A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and I thought there was an author binge incoming. As it happens, T. Kingfisher writes a lot, and I haven’t been able to keep up. But she’s a double Hugo finalist this… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Mammoths at the Gates will be released on September 12, 2023. Nghi Vo hooked me on The Singing Hills Cycle with the the wonderful, Hugo-winning, found object epic The Empress of Salt and Fortune.… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo
I’d heard enough good about Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk that I had it penciled in to read even before the Hugo finalists were released, though my uneasy relationship with noir had me somewhat apprehensive. But with its spare word count and excellent narrative voice, it promised to be well worth… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk
It’s been a busy month outside of reading, so it’s good that this was a short month for my magazines, with new issues of only two of my three regular reads. While my highlights list isn’t quite as long as usual this month, I still found one story that truly stood out. So let’s get… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and Giganotosaurus (August 2023)
I had absolutely zero interest in The Kaiju Preservation Society when it came out. I’d heard good things about John Scalzi, but the Pacific Rim comparisons weren’t a selling point, nor was the description as a popcorn novel that required little of the reader. I figured I’d skip it and maybe try another of his… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. He Who Drowned the World will be released August 22, 2023. She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan’s fantastical retelling of the rise of the Ming dynasty in China, was one of the buzziest… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
