Reviews

This page aggregates reviews that I have written. I’ll mostly cover written stuff (especially stuff eligible for awards) but also whatever else catches my mood.

I have an account on NetGalley. Any recommendations?

Here are my thoughts on the 2026 Hugo Nominees for Best Novel

1. Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
2. The Everlasting, by Alix E. Harrow
3. The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh
4. The Raven Scholar, by Antonia Hodgson
5. Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor
6. A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett (unread by voting time)

Here are my thoughts on the 2026 Hugo nominees for Best Novella

1. Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
2. Cinder House, by Freya Marske
3. Murder by Memory, by Olivia Waite
4. What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher
5. The Summer War, by Naomi Novik
6. The River has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar

Oh no I didn’t write reviews for each Novelette and now I have to vote!

1. When He Calls Your Name, by Catherynne M. Valente
2. The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For, by Cameron Reed
3. Kaiju Agonistes, by Scott Lynch
4. Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy, by Martha Wells
5. The Millay Illusion, by Sarah Pinsker
6. Never Eaten Vegetables, by H. H. Pak

Oh no I didn’t write reviews for each Short Story and now I have to vote!

1. Missing Helen, by Tia Tashiro
2. Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything, by Effie Seiberg
3. 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days, by Samantha Mills
4. Wire Mother, by Isabel J. Kim
5. Six People to Revise You, by J.R. Dawson
6. In My Country, by Thomas Ha

Oh no I didn’t write reviews for each Series etc…

Latest reviews:

• My review: The Everlasting, by Alix E. Harrow
  Another last-minute review of a book I read months ago. Another attempt to put my thoughts in order before voting. Every evidence of procrastination and incomplete work is another chance to grow? Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. It does fall heavily into the “war is war” category of books that give me some kind… Read more: My review: The Everlasting, by Alix E. Harrow
• My review: Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  I read this on ebook back in like May 2026 but never wrote a review and now I’m panicking and trying to organize my thoughts before voting in the 2026 Hugo Awards. This is a great sci-fi story with a classic feel. An alien planet so weird that it has to be explored. An alien… Read more: My review: Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• My review: Tender Is the Flesh, by Agustina Bazterrica
  I read this in paperback on 26 July 2026. I grabbed this book and every other one mentioned in the New York Times article about cannibalism as a publishing trend. I’m a sucker for a theme, and especially for this theme. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/books/cannibalism-fiction.html Look, I grew up on Rocky Horror, and Meatloaf is a rather tender… Read more: My review: Tender Is the Flesh, by Agustina Bazterrica
• 
  My review: The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh
  I read this (epub) on 15 May 2026. This novel is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. Magic-school stories, which I suppose are a subset of boarding-school stories, are not my jam. Not anymore. I was a Harry Potter kid. Like,… Read more: My review: The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh
• My review: Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor
  This novella is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. I first read this book in spring 2025, co-reading with one of my partners. This was the only book on the Hugo Novel finalists list that I had previously read. I saw… Read more: My review: Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor
• My review: What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher
  I read this (epub) on 14 May 2026. This novella is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. I think this one takes my vote (sorry to Cinder House and Automatic Noodle, which also got this endorsement in their reviews). Honestly, I’ll… Read more: My review: What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher
• My review: The Raven Scholar, by Antonia Hodgson 
  I read this (epub) on 14 May 2026. This novel is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. I really enjoyed this one, despite all the things I didn’t like. Stories about formal factions are fine but so often overdone. This one… Read more: My review: The Raven Scholar, by Antonia Hodgson 
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  My review: The River has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar
  I read this (epub) on 12 and 13 May 2026. This novella is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. I don’t like fairy tales. Funny, that I just said that in another review. It’s still an imperfect and inexact statement. Much… Read more: My review: The River has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar
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  My review: The Summer War, by Naomi Novik
  I read this (pdf) in two sittings on 12 May 2026. This novella is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. I don’t like fairy tales. Okay, that’s a vast overstatement that relies on an overgeneralization. That’s not fair. I really like… Read more: My review: The Summer War, by Naomi Novik
• 
  My review: Cinder House, by Freya Marske
  I read this (epub) in two or three sittings on 12 May 2026. This novella is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself. Fairy tale retellings, especially the ones Disney has already done, are always a bit of a miss for me.… Read more: My review: Cinder House, by Freya Marske