Reviews

Supernatural Sci-fi Novel Review: Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith

Because my judging team for the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) had an unusually light group of quarterfinalists, I spent the end of the stage catching up on some quarterfinalists from other teams. And one that particularly caught my eye was the supernatural sci-fi Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith.  Our… Continue reading Supernatural Sci-fi Novel Review: Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith

Reviews

Speculative Novel Review: On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

Apparently, the Danish Groundhog Day-style litfic series On the Calculation of Volume has gotten enough hype for English translations. And while I can be hit-or-miss on litfic, I enjoy weird time shenanigans and meditative stories enough to check out the fairly short first installment in the planned seven-part series, translated by Barbara J. Haveland. On… Continue reading Speculative Novel Review: On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

There are plenty of different pockets of fantasy fandom these days, and while I’m not sure I fit neatly into any one in particular—in part by design—I tend to spend more time reading the trimmer books popular among the Hugo-voting crowd than I do on contemporary epic fantasy. And so despite all the hype for… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

Reviews

Sci-fi Novel Review: Turn Left at the Mooncrow Skeleton by Linda Raedisch

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

Reviews

Fantasy Novella Review: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The Mountain Crown will be released on October 8, 2024. Karin Lowachee had been hanging around the middle of the TBR for what seemed like forever before I finally pulled Warchild off the stack this… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee

Reviews

Fantasy Novel Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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

Reviews

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. And… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Children of the Black by W.J. Long III

Reviews

Sci-fi Novella Review: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

I’ve been vaguely familiar with Malka Older as a sci-fi author with a pretty good reputation, but I hadn’t actually had an opportunity to read any of her work, and when The Mimicking of Known Successes was pitched as a sapphic Sherlock Holmes in space, my mystery-fatigue inclined me to skip this one as well.… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older