I review self-published and traditionally-published science-fiction novels and short stories. Occasionally, I’ll review movies, boardgames, or computer games with a science-fiction or fantasy theme. I currently have backlogs of stories to read, and of already-read stories to review, but there’s always a chance that I’ll find your story intriguing enough to bump it to the top.
Tell me about your story in the comments section below, and as I’m a binge reader, you may also want to watch the blog for a Calling All Authors post, which indicates I’m about to go on a spree. I receive email at my gmail address, PlanDefCom. Feel free to email again if I don’t respond within a week or two, as I don’t always make it through everything piling up in my inbox.
Genre/Subgenre:
I’m interested in almost every sub-genre of science fiction, and will consider fantasy as well. Exceptions are listed below.
Romance or Erotica – If either of these are the focus of your story, then it won’t appeal to me. Even if your story is primarily of another sub-genre, I’m likely to be grossed out by an erotic scene.
Horror – I’m not opposed to reading sci-fi with a horror component, but I don’t scare easily. You’ve got ghosts? I’ve seen a lot of battlefields and hospitals; if gruesome deaths caused ghosts, I’d have dealt with dozens by now. You’ve got a creepy doll? Guess how far I can kick a football.
Politics – If you wrote your story to make a political point, rather than to entertain readers, then I’m not interested. Even if I agree with your political views, they aren’t what I’m looking for in my science fiction.
Format/Length:
Audiobook – This is my preferred format, as I can listen while driving or exercising. I am willing to consider longer works if they are in this format. I usually get my books through audible.com, but can consider other formats if they’ll work with my device (currently an Ipod shuffle).
Kindle – This is my preferred format for written material, as I’m trying to reduce the clutter of paper books in my home. I prefer Kindle’s .MOBI format to .PDFs, so I can change text size as lighting conditions change.
Length – There’s a good chance I’ll read your 20 page short story. Your 250 page book will have to pull me in with a killer marketing blurb. If you want me to read your 900 page epic, you’ll have to convince me you’re from the future and you’ve written my biography.
Planetary Defense Command 
[…] Review Policy […]
How does one submit a story? Sorry, if I missed it, but I checked the about page, etc.
If your story is available somewhere for 99 cents or free, you can just mention it here and I’ll take a look when I have some reading time. If it’s an audiobook or other more expensive work, we’ll have to communicate; I can contact you if you have an email address on your web page, or we can direct message through twitter. For work reasons, I can’t make my own email address public at the moment.
I noticed the length info, but I wasn’t sure how that might apply to a short story collection. My collection runs 297 pages total, but individual stories range from about 6 to 20-ish pages, plus one long story of 40-some pages. (Approximations because of illustrations in some stories.)
The stories themselves are science fiction, steampunk, fantasy, slipstream, science-fantasy mash-up, historical fantasy and more under the speculative umbrella; and they represent a range of styles from traditional to literary to experimental.
If you considered such a book at all, would you be more likely to select just one or two stories from it? Or would you comment on the collection as a whole?
My book is published by a small indie press, and publisher will be running a promotional freebie within the next few weeks (probably early April).
If a collection is an acceptable submission for review, I’d be glad to pass along the promo details.
Let me know when your promotion comes up, and I’ll pick up a copy. I don’t plan to do any reading until May, however. Whether I read the entire collection or just a selection will depend on my schedule in May/June….
Thank you! I found out the promotion dates (4/3-4/5) for my collection. Would you prefer that I post the link here or would you rather use the link via Twitter or Facebook?
Posting the link here is fine, thanks!
Feel free to post links here.
Thanks! The link for “Leyfarers and Wayfarers” is http://www.amazon.com/Leyfarers-Wayfarers-G-L-Francis/dp/0692336834/
I just checked and the ebook freebie promotion is in effect, running 4/3-4/5/15. 🙂
Thank you, I’ve picked up a copy, but I can’t say when my next reading period will be.
Would you be interested in reviewing the Slabscape series by S.Spencer Baker? I would be happy to send you a copy of each of the novels so far – Slabscape: Reset and Slabscape: Dammit. Find out more at: http://www.slabscape.com and at the online encyclopaedia which accompanies the series at http://www.slabscapedia.com
Thanks.
This looks like it might be interesting. I’ll check out the “Look Inside” piece on Amazon when I have a bit of extra time. I’ve just followed you on twitter, so feel free to send me a direct message there.
Hi! I’d like for you to review my short novella, ‘Americosis’. It’s the first part in planned series of books. It’s available on Amazon right now for $0.99 but I’d more than happy to send you a free copy to review.
Here’s the blurb:
A naked man arrives in New Mexico claiming to have traveled through time.
He says that he’s America’s savior.
A bizarre sexually-transmitted infection in New York takes control of people’s bodies and burns them out in an incessant drive to infect others.
And a Presidential candidate is conversing with angels.
His aides think he’s crazy.
The electorate might not agree with them.
It could all be madness. It might be the apocalypse.
Americosis.
An epic genre-bending mash-up of sci-fi, horror, thriller & dark comedy.
Let me know if you’re interested! The Amazon link is http://amzn.to/1LpoWsM
Thanks for your time!
Thanks for letting me know about your story. Hopefully you noticed I started following your twitter account a while back. This looks like a reasonably short work, so I’ll be able to check it out once I’ve finished my current backlog.
Thanks for your response! When you’re ready for more to read, here’s my pitch: Sex. Drugs. Rock’n’roll. Space aliens. Demonic possession. Murder. Friendship. Ashes & Rust is a chapbook containing four previously published post-apocalyptic stories collected from Not One of Us, Blood Rose, Indigenous Fiction, and Lend the Eye a Terrible Aspect. There’s more description of them here: http://www.amazon.com/Ashes-Rust-Loren-Rhoads-ebook/dp/B007J4YJWU I’d be glad to send you a mobi for your kindle.
I just wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten about your request. I’ll contact you for that .MOBI file once I’ve cleared out my backlog.
Thank you. Just say the word when you’re ready!
I was wondering if you would like to review a couple of sci fi stories I created.
Both stories have less than 40 pages.
“The Quantum Brain” is a story about an IT contractor breaking into a technology company, looking to steal an ultra fast quantum based processor that was going to be used in androids. This short story is a prelude to a novel I will be releasing in March.
“Oh H*ll No!” is about a group of scientists traveling back to our time in an attempt to change the time line and get rid of a disfiguring disease.
These stories are loosely related with my first novel Pulse, but they are independent.
You can preview them here http://www.scifibookseries.com/
Thank you.
Thanks, I’ll check them out.
Please consider reviewing Nightfall. It seems to fit your interests nicely.
Thanks, I’ll add it to the list, but my queue of novels to read is extremely long. Remind me if you decide to put it out as an audiobook, I go through those much more quickly.
I am planning to release Book 2 of my Cygnus series (Cooling Season) on August 1st. I was wondering if you would be open to reviewing either Book 1 (Warming Season), Book 2, or both. Warming Season is on Amazon Kindle, and I would be happy to send review copies of both books.
Here is the Warming Season link:
Thanks,
Sean (S. R. Algernon)