When I talk fantasy to someone outside my niche online groups, the most likely author to be mentioned is far and away Brandon Sanderson. I tend to have mixed feelings about his work—he has some real strengths, but some notable weaknesses as well—but Tress of the Emerald Sea is enough of a stylistic experiment that… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
I’d only read two previous novels by Alix E. Harrow, but her prose consistently pulls me in the story, so when I started hearing hype for The Everlasting, I decided to give it a shot. The Everlasting is a time-loop story about a legendary knight and the scholar studying her, featuring lots of digging into… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The Cellar Below the Cellar will be released on March 25, 2026. I don’t believe I’d read Ivy Grimes before, but I was offered an ARC of The Cellar Below the Cellar and figured there… Continue reading Horror Novella Review: The Cellar Below the Cellar by Ivy Grimes
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Rainseekers will be released on February 17, 2026. After having a wonderful time reading the short story “The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye,” I’ve been curious to try the longer-form work of Matthew… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel
I’ve been hearing Daryl Gregory recommended for a while now, but I hadn’t really given him a try until reading the novelette “Second Person, Present Tense” a few months ago. That was good enough to convince me I should read more, and so I decided to jump into his most recent novel, When We Were… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
I only occasionally dip into speculative litfic, largely with mixed results, so despite her fame, Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel wasn’t really on my radar until a Redditor recommended it for fans of Octavia E. Butler and Emily St. John Mandel. Seeing as how Clay’s Ark and Station Eleven were two of the best things… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Sublimation will be released on June 2, 2026. Isabel J. Kim burst onto the scene with the tremendous debut short story “Homecoming Is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self.” Over the… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
Joanna Russ is one of those figures from before I started reading sci-fi who is sufficiently renowned that I’ve been meaning to read her for a while but not so ubiquitous that I’d already done so. But I had a bit of a gap between library holds, and the trim length and glowing reviews of… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: We Who Are About To. . . by Joanna Russ
It’s the words. Well, perhaps the unplowed depths. But to start, it’s the words. Fourth Mansions is my favorite novel by my favorite author, and yet it’s been over ten years since my last reread. I finally pulled it off the shelf, and if I recall correctly, it will make my second reread review (of… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Fourth Mansions by R.A. Lafferty
I’d already been hearing about Emily St. John Mandel for years when Sea of Tranquility came out to much acclaim. I gave it a try and found that it was well-written and entertaining but never really more than the sum of its parts. I was ready to chalk her up as too litficky for me,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
