Review Policy

I didn't think I would need to have something like this, but since my e-mail in-box is getting full with requests for reviews, I guess I should at least let you people know what your chances are of getting me to review your book.The first thing I need to point out is that I am not in any particular need of more reading material. I have several thousand unread books sitting on my bookshelves already. I don't normally solicit advance review copies, and for the most part I have no idea what books are due to be released in the near future. That situation may change in the (extremely) unlikely event that I ever actually conquer Mount To-Be-Read, but that day has not yet come to pass.

I am primarily interested in science fiction and fantasy. These genres are the meat of my reading and the primary focus of this blog. I also read a fair amount of nonfiction - mostly in the areas of science, history, and economics. A certain amount of historical fiction also piques my interest. If your book falls into one of those categories, I may be willing to push it near the top of my reading list and review it for you. If I agree to read and review your book, I will do so, although due to the many demands on my time I cannot promise that this will be done within any specific time frame. Unless I have agreed to read and review a book, I feel no obligation to do so, so sending me unsolicited books to review is at your own risk - I may read it and review it, or it may sit on my shelves gathering dust for the next decade. Finally, I generally don't review books in electronic formats. I don't have any particular animus against e-books, but I do most of my reading while commuting and I don't own (and currently have no plans to acquire) an e-reader. This means that if you send me a book in an electronic format, I'm going to have to read it at my computer and as a result it may be quite a while before I get to it.

As a final note: I don't normally read Christian fiction. If you have a Christian fantasy or Christian science fiction book that you really want to send me to read and review, realize that the fact that your book contains a Christian theme isn't going to immunize it against criticism that the book has a flimsy plot, weak characters, offensive messages, or silly contrivances. I suggest reading some of my previous reviews of Christian speculative fiction here, here, and here, and consider whether you really want me to read and review your book.

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