Hello and welcome to this SFF Community Spotlight interview on Track of Words, where today I’m joined by the excellent Nick Borrelli from Out of This World SFF for a chat about the life of an SFF blogger and reviewer. If this is the first of these interviews you’ve come across, the idea is that they give me an opportunity to talk to and promote the work of some of the passionate, dedicated people who contribute towards the online SFF book community and help make it the thriving space that it is right now. Nick is a great reviewer and one of the most supportive, enthusiastic members of the community I know, and I’m keen to celebrate the brilliant work he does!
There’s loads of great stuff to read about here, including Nick’s route into the life of a book reviewer, his approach to writing reviews and choosing what to write about, some of the challenges of review writing (including finding the time for reading), the satisfaction of knowing you’ve inspired someone to pick up a book, and the importance of lifting up the great work done by bloggers and reviewers throughout the community. Oh, and some fantastic book recommendations to look out for! I hope you enjoy this interview: check it out, have a look at Nick’s website and find him on Twitter, and have fun!
Track of Words: To begin with, tell us a bit about yourself as a reader, and as a blogger/reviewer.
Nick Borrelli: Hello Michael! First off, thanks so much for having me. I’m such a huge fan of your blog Track of Words and your reviews (especially the Black Library ones!). It’s a pleasure to get to chat with you about some topics that I know we both love and are passionate about. My name is Nick Borrelli and I’ve been blogging for the better part of a decade or so. Currently I run my own book blog called Out of This World SFF where I write book reviews, do cover reveals, participate in book tours, conduct author interviews, host book giveaways, and all kinds of other bookish tomfoolery. So yes, I like to delve into various types of content and don’t limit the blog solely to reviews.
ToW: How did you get into blogging and reviewing in the first place?
NB: Back in the day I used to be a bookseller for the now defunct Borders Books [me too! – ToW]. And the cool thing about working there was that I was surrounded by a bunch of like-minded people. We would often have discussions about the books that we were reading during our lunch breaks or over a beer at the bar after work. We were such a cool little community of book nerds and I look back on that time fondly. Anyway, after I left that job I kind of still craved an outlet where I could talk about the books I had just finished but none of the people at my new job were big readers.
I had the idea that maybe I could write reviews and eventually reached out to the owner and operator of Fantasy Book Review and asked him if he had any openings. He was nice enough to take me on board and for that I will be forever grateful as it was the official beginning of me doing reviews online as a thing. I did that for a couple of years but I just really got it in my head to start my own blog after a while. Mostly because I wanted to have more personal license on what types of things that I posted and be able to work at my own schedule as well. And so, with that Out of This World SFF was born and I haven’t looked back since. It’s been loads of fun and I thank every single person who has visited and supported the blog since its inception.
ToW: What do you generally cover in your reviews? Do you stick to certain genres, publishers, story lengths etc. or do you enjoy covering a wide range?
NB: I review fantasy and science-fiction primarily, just because those are my favorite genres to read, but I also will review the occasional horror and historical fiction book. I like to read a lot of self-pub and indie so you will notice much of that on the blog. I’d say my review ratio is probably around 65% self-pub/indie and 35% traditional pub. I’m not that big of a fan of novellas or short stories. I’m a doorstopper kind of guy, always have been. The bigger the book the better and I just really love sinking my teeth into a really lengthy story that takes me on a wonderful journey for a few weeks.
ToW: How do you choose what to review? Do you write about everything you read, or do you have a decision-making process for which books you’re going to cover?
NB: By and large I just go by feel on what I think fits my reading taste based on the book’s description or other reviews I’ve read from the community. If I see something on NetGalley that looks like it might be up my alley I will definitely request it. I get some ARCs by interacting with authors on Twitter and seeing if they are distributing any advance copies to reviewers. I’m also on a few Publisher’s newsletters (Orbit, Rebellion, Angry Robot etc…) and they send out emails with a list of available ARCs on a periodic basis, so I receive a bunch of advance copies that way. So it’s really a number of different avenues where I acquire the books that I end up reviewing and it keeps my TBR at an outrageous level at all times. I’m extremely lucky in the respect that I’ve been on social media for a while [you can find Nick on Twitter here – ToW] and I am very visible and engage a lot online, so just from a familiarity aspect alone it makes it easier to ask for advance copies from authors.
As far as what books I cover I only really review books that I at least somewhat liked and that I finished. I rarely will review a book that I didn’t enjoy at all or DNF’d just because it’s easier to just move on and try to forget that whole experience. I’d much rather crow about the books that blew me away than focus on the negative and the reasons why I didn’t like a book. I’m a fairly positive person by nature and I guess I also take that same approach with my reviews.
ToW: There are all sorts of ways to write a book review, but for you personally what makes a great review and what are you aiming for with your own reviews?
NB: For me personally, I like to stay away from discussing the plot in any way if I can avoid it. I think that the book blurb itself usually does a pretty good job of laying out the story and it’s so hard for me to avoid spoilers if I talk about the plot in any way in my review. I’m just not good at it. So the approach I’ve taken in the past couple of years is to include the book blurb before my review so that people can get an idea of what the story is about. And then I will post my review where I talk about how certain aspects of the story (worldbuilding, characterization, magic system, politics) impacted me.
Sometimes I might pull out something fairly specific in the story that was especially impressive as long as it doesn’t stray too much into the spoiler realm. What I’m aiming for is to convey the things that really stood out to me in a way that comes across to the reader without giving too much away, and I think I succeed for the most part (at least I hope I do). In the end I believe that properly capturing my enthusiasm for a book is more important than trying to hit on every minute detail.
ToW: Tell us a bit about your latest review.
NB: Let’s see, my latest post was a book review that I wrote for the upcoming epic fantasy book Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans. Really amazing story that especially resonated with me because it excelled in an area that is probably my most favorite – that being it had such a well-constructed and deep history to it which complimented the worldbuilding brilliantly. It’s one of those rare books that make you want to find out more about how the characters got where they are, and so you look for every piece of information you can about it outside the actual book itself. I was lucky enough to stumble across a Twitter thread where the author Erin M. Evans outlines the worldbuilding, different factions, characters, and magic system in fuller detail [She’s done a few like this, which you can read here – ToW]. Also, the maps rock! I highly recommend this book and I am so psyched to read the next one. Just magnificent.
ToW: What’s your process like for writing a review? For example, do you make notes as you go along and/or highlight interesting scenes/moments/bits of dialogue in the book while you’re reading? Do you start with a blank page and write whatever comes to mind, or write down some key points and assemble them into a cohesive whole?
NB: I’ve struggled with this process since my first days of writing reviews. I used to take notes but then I started to realize that it was taking away from the reading experience. The stopping and starting every few pages to jot down notes was so disruptive and diminished my enjoyment, so I very quickly abandoned that method. Lucky for me I primarily read on my Kindle and what has really been effective is Kindle’s highlighting feature. As I’m reading I can highlight a certain passage that I feel is significant and that will jog my memory about something that I want to include in my review afterward. Kindle also makes it easy because you can email all of these notes to yourself and I use those notes as a sort of rough outline for my review. With physical books you can’t do this obviously so for those I kind of have to rely on my memory (which is getting worse as I get older I might add).
But I try not to make it such a rigid process. I’ll include the pertinent points, but for the most part I just write whatever comes to mind for the initial review draft and then edit and whittle down from there. It usually takes me about three or four edits from the first compilation of word vomit to get my review to where I feel comfortable publishing it. So yeah, that’s my approach to writing reviews and that’s what has worked best for me. The whole thing from beginning to end probably takes about two hours tops.
ToW: Blogging and writing reviews can be a lot of hard work – what do you find the challenges to be?
NB: Honestly, my biggest challenge is time. I have two daughters aged 11 and 8 and they have a TON of activities and sports that they need driving to and from. And so after I’ve done my 8 to 4 job I’m usually running home to make dinner for them and then, along with my amazing wife, we kind of divide and conquer transporting both of them to whatever they may have scheduled for that particular evening. This could be anything from cheerleading to dance to lacrosse to play practice to Greek language lessons. My Monday through Friday is usually super busy and the weekends are even busier because that’s when the girls’ sports games are scheduled.
So my biggest challenge is definitely finding the time to read all of these books that I have lined up. I’ve adjusted as much as possible, stealing 10 or 15 minutes here and there, reading in parking lots, doctor’s office waiting rooms, or on my lunch break at work, and my most productive reading time which is in bed at night while my wife is watching television. But when you love reading as much as I do you just find a way to get some reading done wherever you are at any given moment.
ToW: Do you have a particularly popular post that people keep checking out? If so, what do you think it is about that post which keeps people coming back to it?
NB: The one post that people seem to really gravitate to based on the number of views is my Top 10 Reads of 2021 post. I think that many readers like to check out what others choose as their favorite books in any given year, just because we want to see if we may have missed out on a potentially awesome read. I know I myself always look at the end of year lists from a lot of my fellow bloggers for the same exact reason. So it’s not hard to understand why that one is my most viewed by a pretty good margin. Hopefully I’ll get to do another one for 2022!
ToW: What motivates you to keep coming back, keep writing reviews and promoting authors (and other bloggers)?
NB: There are so many things that keep me going. First and foremost is my absolutely unwavering passion for this lovely hobby of mine. I still get pumped every time I begin a new book and am like a little kid bubbling with excitement. And I truly don’t think that feeling will ever go away to be truthful. The next thing that keeps me going is when someone tells me that they decided to buy a certain book because of the review that I wrote. To me there’s no bigger form of flattery than that. To be able to help other people find their next great read and to have them put their trust in you like that is really rewarding, and makes me push through even on the days when I may be struggling or going through a reading slump. Look, I would do this blogging thing no matter what, but to know that others find value in my content is just icing on the cake in my opinion.
I know there are a huge number of book content creators out there who are just like me so I also try to promote them as much as possible, whether it be by a retweet or a like/comment on their website. I realize how taxing this can be at times and that many of us do this for free without a lot of fanfare because we just intensely love it that much. So kudos to you all – I see you and respect you greatly and will continue to try and support you wherever and whenever possible. We are all in this together, pulling in the same direction and sharing our love of books.
ToW: What would you say is your favourite book of the year so far, and why?
NB: Such a tough question because I’ve read so many great books this year. I feel like every year just gets better and better with regard to the quality of stuff being released. I’d say there are two that stand out just slightly above the others: Ruination by Anthony Reynolds and The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless [click on the covers below to read Nick’s review for each book – ToW]. Both couldn’t be more different from each other too, which I think is pretty cool.
Ruination is based on the popular League of Legends video game (which I was not familiar with going into the book). Lots of action, a great adventure story in a fascinating world, I just couldn’t put it down for a second because it just threw one amazing conflict after another at me and kept the pedal to the floor the entire time.
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is more of a slow burn, based in the ancient mythology of Ireland, political intrigue and warring religions etc… I just thought it was a wonderfully textured story that Lawless told in such a captivating and beautiful style. I was completely blown away by it. So yeah, if I do make a Best of 2022 list these will certainly be at the top.
ToW: Are there any interesting trends in SFF, or in publishing as a whole, that you’re seeing a lot of at the moment?
NB: I think the one really encouraging thing that I’m seeing is that we are embracing more and more diversity in the industry now than we ever have before. Whether that be people’s own cultural, racial, sexual, diversity, character diversity in books, or publishing diversity where it pertains to self-published and indie authors becoming more recognized and appreciated for the brilliant talents that they are. And I think that Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off and Hugh Howey’s Self-Published Science Fiction Competition have contributed greatly to this.
We still have a long way to go in these areas but I have seen a significant sea change that I hope continues to grow bigger and bigger. I’m a person who is tired of having to hear the same three or four establishment names being talked about ad nauseam ,and would like to see more love shown to those who are putting out just as good of a product if not better. Let’s keep shaking things up because in the end it makes everything better for everyone and opens up so many opportunities for authors who are incredibly deserving in their own right. We are headed in the right direction, but must stay the course.
ToW: If you’re not reading or working on reviews/posts etc., where can you usually be found?
NB: Well as I said earlier, I have very limited free time, but when I do I enjoy spending it with my family. I’ve been so unbelievably blessed with two smart, funny, creative, caring, and loving daughters and a beautiful, extremely supportive, superstar wife who I don’t deserve. They are my rock and the light of my existence. And just being able to take trips with them, relax at the local beach or park, have dinner on the back deck, or just be around them in any capacity is me living my absolute best life. I enjoy cooking a great deal and so that’s a bit of a relaxer that really decompresses me when I’m stressed, and is something that I can focus my mind on that also brings me joy.
I love listening to my favorite 80’s/90’s Britpop and alternative bands on Spotify. Many of my Twitter followers will know who those are from my past and current tweets. Music has always been a big part of my life, including singing and playing bass for a couple of less than successful cover bands in my late teens and early 20’s. But that’s about it. I’m a pretty simple guy who likes to keep it low key for the most part. I really love my life and my family and wouldn’t trade either for anything in the entire world.
ToW: Finally, tell us about the book (or books) that you’re most looking forward to reading in the coming weeks or months.
NB: There are a couple of books that I’m really looking forward to reading in the next couple of months. The first is Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan. I just kept seeing this book on Twitter and the more I found out about it the more I knew it was a book that I just had to read. Has kind of a grimdarky thing going on and heavily inspired by the Dark Souls games from what I’ve heard. What’s not to like about that? I should be getting an ARC of this one pretty soon because the author was nice enough to mail me out a copy last week.
The other book that I’m chomping at the bit to read is The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan. It’s book two of his Empire of the Wolf series and I couldn’t be more excited to get this one in my hands. The first book in the series, The Justice of Kings, completely floored me so this has been on my most wanted list for quite a while and I’m glad that advance copies have started to circulate. Hopefully I can track one down at some point and jump back into this awesome world. Those are the two that have my excitement level at a fever pitch right now. You can be sure that I will be reviewing both over on the blog.
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I’d like to say a massive thanks to Nick for taking the time to talk to me for this interview, for writing such great answers and for being such a positive presence in the SFF community! Make sure you check out all the great content Nick puts out on Out of This World SFF, and I would strongly recommend you follow him on Twitter too.
I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I did putting it together. I’ve got lots of great plans for future SFF Community Spotlight interviews, but I’d love to know what you think, and what you’d like to see in future interviews. Let me know (either in the comments below, or over on Twitter) if you’ve got any ideas, requests or suggestions!
Check out the other SFF Community Spotlight interviews
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Great Interview!
Really glad you enjoyed it! 🙂