I read plenty of C.S. Lewis as a kid, but the reputation of Till We Have Faces for philosophical density scared me off. Then, as an adult, my lukewarm feelings toward Greek myths and desire to diversify my reading kept me from picking it off the stack. But an offline book club picked it for… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Mercy of Gods will be released on August 6, 2024. Despite the fact that I’ve read just one book of The Expanse (it’s been on my “I swear I’ll get around to the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
I go back and forth about whether to review readaloud children’s literature as part of my regular blogging, but I was using Wise Child by Monica Furlong toward my 2023 Bingo challenge for the elusive Druid square, and honestly, I thought it was good enough to deserve a standalone review. Wise Child is a short… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Wise Child by Monica Furlong
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. One Hundred Shadows will be released on August 20, 2024. Scrolling through the sci-fi/fantasy section of NetGalley puts a lot of books in front of me that aren’t necessarily part of my usual niches.… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun
Since jumping wholeheartedly back into genre fiction a few years ago, I’ve understood that my corner of speculative fiction isn’t necessarily representative of fantasy full stop. And one of the best examples is the staggering popularity of Sarah J. Maas, whose works are almost never recommended in my circles. But this year’s Book Bingo has… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch series was a big hit within genre fiction at a time when I was mostly checked out. It sounded like the sort of thing I would like, so I’ve been meaning to circle back to it at some point. And while I still haven’t made it to the original trilogy, the… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Translation State by Ann Leckie
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Echo of Worlds was released on June 25, 2024. Last year, I described the opening book in M.R. Carey’s Pandominion duology as being exactly what you want in an epic series-opener. It set up… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Echo of Worlds by M.R. Carey
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Service Model was released on June 4, 2024. I’ve been a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky for a few years now, though his tendency to release books faster than I can read them has kept… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
It’s been a busy June, with travel, the end of SPSFC, and Hugo Readalong in full swing, but I still managed to get through my two usual magazines, even if it’s later than usual. Let’s take a look! Clarkesworld I don’t know that the June issue of Clarkesworld had one story that really stood out… Continue reading Tar Vol Reads a Magazine (or Two): Reviews of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus (June 2024)
I’d been hearing a lot about the work of John Scalzi for a long time, but I hadn’t actually read any until his pandemic novel, The Kaiju Preservation Society, made the 2023 Hugo shortlist. And with the appearance of Starter Villain on the 2024 Hugo shortlist for the Best Novel category, this is the second… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi
