Good day Factioners! 2021 certainly was a thing wasn’t it?

Let me answer my own question. This post was supposed to go up at the beginning of December. So, yeah we’re a bit behind.

But! I have some exciting news to share with you!

Our judges in the First Annual Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) have pick the top 10 of our original 30, AND our top 3 semi-finalists that will move onto Round Two! (For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, you can learn more here.) But first…

Let’s Recap

The SPSFC started with 10 teams and 300 books. Each team was given 30 books. Out of those 30 we chose the 10 best, and out of those 10 our top 3. If you’d like to see all the books and their teams you can check out the main website or Fantasy-Faction’s Pinterest board.

These were our 30 original books:

• A Summer in Amber by C. Litka
• Ad Luna by Hûw Steer
• Altered by D. L. Gardner
• Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere by Joyce Reynolds-Ward
• Captain Wu by Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster
• Chroma by Isla Molina
• Colony by Max Florschutz
• Devon’s Island by Si Clarke
• Echoes of Angels by Matt Larkin and J. S. Morin
• Galaxy Cruise: The Maiden Voyage by Marcus Alexander Hart
• Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet by Philip Harris
• Grey Engines by Gareth Lewis
• His Name Was Wren by Rob Winters
• In Times of Peace by The Loneliest Lone Wolf
• Malfunction by J. E. Purrazzi
• Monster of the Dark by K. T. Belt
• Muses of Roma by Rob Steiner
• Political Nightmare by Rainbow Maccabre
• Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips
• Safe Passage by Rachel Ford
• Starlight Seized by China Dennington
• Starshine by G. S. Jennsen
• The Infinet by John Akers
• The Last Noah by David Cuff
• The Lighthouse in the Sky by B. Y. Yan
• The Player Blackout by Lucas Flint
• The Soldiers’ Perspective by Phillip Murrell
• Utopia PR by Adam Bender
• What Branches Grow by T. S. Beier
• Zero Car by Alex Knowles

The Top 10

This being the first year of the contest, we weren’t sure what to expect. What we got were books from multiple subgenres that really highlight the varied subjects science fiction can offer. It’s not always grand space battles or murderous robots. There are deep characters, humor, and a creativity you can’t get anywhere else.

Faced with this is was hard to pick our top ten (one of the reasons this post is late). But here they are:

10. His Name Was Wren by Rob Winters

9. Starlight Seized by China Dennington

8. Ad Luna by Hûw Steer

7. Muses of Roma by Rob Steiner

6. The Infinet by John Akers

5. Chroma by Isla Molina

4. Starshine by G. S. Jennsen

The Top Three

And that brings us to our semi-finalists! These are listed in alphabetical order and will be getting their own reviews this weekend!

Captain Wu by Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster

Captain Wu’s the name. Smuggling’s her game.

To be fair, they only started shooting after she started insulting them.

She was just about to hand off the package—Wu didn’t know what was inside, and she didn’t want to—when three tentacle-faced strangers attacked.

Wu loves a good fight and lives for a good heist. The Captain and her crew make their living taking undercover assignments from questionable clients… and it pays. Or at least, it used to.

But this time the merchandise is a little too hot to handle. So when the squid-shaped xenos show up and destroy the guys who are there to receive it, Wu is barely able to make it back to her ship alive. Soon the Nameless is racing around the galaxy with not only the powerful Commonwealth on its tail, but another dangerous creature bent on revenge.

And then an unexpected visitor arrives, putting Wu and her crew in the position of taking care of some very precious cargo. Is it time for the Captain to give up criming and retire to a sedate life more suitable for a woman of her age?

Not a chance.

Monster of the Dark by K. T. Belt

Carmen Grey always knew she was different. None of the other children seemed able to read minds. None of the other children were able to manipulate their toys without touching them.

On the morning of her sixth birthday, three men dressed in black arrive to remove her from the loving care of her parents. She is taken to an underground facility meant for others like her, for Clairvoyants.

Stripped of her name and identity, over the years she is fashioned into something scary—something lethal. Each day is an endless struggle, and every night is plagued by nightmares. Yet Carmen’s ultimate battle won’t be to save her life but to keep her soul.

What Branches Grow by T. S. Beier

A quest through post-apocalyptic America, where human nature is torn between the violent desperation to survive and the desire to forge connection.

Thirty-five years ago, the world was ravaged by war. Delia, driven from her home in Savannah by loss, travels North in search of a future.

Gennero is tortured by his violent past and devotion to his hometown. Ordered to apprehend Delia, he follows her into the post-apocalyptic landscape.

The wasteland is rife with dangers for those seeking to traverse it: homicidal raiders, dictatorial leaders, mutated humans, and increasingly violent and hungry wildlife.

The survivors of this world have an audacious dream of a better life, but their quest may end up being a fruitless endeavor in a world openly hostile to hope.

These three titles will go on to the next round and be pitted against the 3 semi-finalists from each of the other nine blogs. Who will win? We can’t wait to find out!

– – –

We would like to thank all the authors for letting us read their work! We congratulate you on having the courage to enter the contest and wish you all much success in the future!

And a big congratulations to our semi-finalists!

Our judges this year are A. A. Freeman, Kartik Narayanan, Kerry Smith, Max Freeman, and Jennie Ivins (me). You can read more about us here.

Any queries should be directed at me, Jennie Ivins, via DM (Facebook/Twitter).

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