* Disclaimer *

Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It could be your next favorite, who knows?

However, since this is a contest, there can be only one winner. Hence it is necessary to work our way down to our favorite from our batch of thirty titles. We will be letting books go four or five at a time. These groups are being let go in no particular order. So, the books we say goodbye to today are not worse than books we let go in the next batch. They are just the first ones we read that didn’t quite click with us as a group.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can learn more about the contest here.

Today we are also announcing, our last semi-finalists! Check in tomorrow (Monday October 30th) to see our official semi-finalist ranking AND our finalist announcement!

Soul Relic by Samuel Hinton

Born with an enormous well of power but no way to regenerate it, Raysha will risk anything to fix herself, even if it means venturing into the unknown with nothing but her brother, an enchanted water bottle, and a stubborn attitude.

Without the ability to cultivate aeon from the world, Raysha has been treated like an outcast her whole life. While she has to ration her power drop-by-drop, others use it as commonly as breathing. In a world where true masters of aeon have slaughtered gods, Raysha’s future in her village is limited to babysitting pre-awakened children who inevitably surpass and mock her.

So when her brother visits from the Academy with a dangerous new idea to help her, Raysha jumps at the chance to finally do something. Her brother believes with three simple things, they might have a cure: an enchanted water bottle, a simple change of scenery, and—of course—the crystalized heart of an ancient spirit. Raysha is skeptical, but with her refreshing drink in hand, the pair head out into the wider world in search of the impossible.

Soul Relic is yet another progression fantasy in our batch, and one we really enjoyed! Some liked the tone right from the start, enjoying a supporting family and an amusing entry scene. Others took longer. It wasn’t until the MC left her hometown that she finally started to grow into her own shoes, and really click with them.

At first it seemed to be the typical magic school, but it luckily deviated from that prediction and instead found its own way. This fresher take was also aided by having a female mentor, and a hulking warrior, who is also an artist. Subverting the tropes enough to appeal even to those of us who don’t enjoy progression fantasy, but also satisfying those of us who do is quite a feat!

While a really fun and quick book, it simply didn’t stand out as much as some of our titles, so we’ll have to let this one go.

HERETIC by Chris Mayne

Arlex just became the most powerful person on the planet, and it is the worst thing to ever happen to him.

The awakening of Arlex’s abilities kills thousands of innocent people. He wakes up dazed, in the centre of an impact crater that levelled a third of the Palace District—without a scratch on him, and no idea what happened.

He is now the most wanted terrorist in the land, pursued by the overlord’s monstrous horde of nephilim. And he hasn’t a clue how his new powers work, or when they could go off again.

Joined by a devious cleric and a dangerous pair of escapees from Downshade Asylum, and hunted by an assassin bounty hunter, Arlex must come to terms with the idea that somehow he caused the devastating explosion. Arlex embarks on a journey to clear his name and uncover the secret of his newfound powers. He will need to learn if he is meant to be this world’s saviour or the one destined to destroy it all—and usher in true hell on earth.

We did enjoy the dystopian feel, and appreciated how the city in the beginning was called New Tartarus.

New Tartarus is an advanced city for certain people, there are genetic modifications, dispelling the need of women for birth and there is modern technology in weaponry, transport, and communication. There were plenty of excellent action scenes though they often had that “action movie” feel to them, where the hero always manages to escape by the skin of their teeth or luckily “magic” solved the dilemma with very little explanation. 

While we enjoyed the mystery, setting adventure and the plot, our main problem was that all our judges had a problem to really connect with the characters. This seriously impacted our otherwise good time with the story, as we just didn’t care about the outcome as much as we would have, if the characters had more of an impact on us.

If you like a book that is action packed, with some extremely nasty demonic assassins, an ongoing battle between good and evil and a little twist at the end then HERETIC will be an ideal series to sink your teeth into. 

Roots and Steel by Casey White

Hunters of the guild wait all year for the Festival of Knives, when they put their skills to the test and claim new ranks with every fiend they slay. Trapped helping the family business instead of pursuing his own career, Trellin has never been allowed to participate. But when he risks expulsion to sneak out and claim a kill beyond his rank, his hunt is spotted by a senior guildmember.

Rather than turn him in, she offers him a chance for freedom: Join her, and sail to the distant isle of Deldynne to compete in the bloody race for the rank of Guildmaster. If they can kill the monster that calls Deldynne home before the other teams do, he’ll soar to new heights as apprentice to the leader of the Hunter’s Guild.

But not everyone wants his new mentor to be Guildmaster—and if they fail, neither will leave that island alive.

Roots and Steel manages a great feat—it captured even two of our judges who aren’t usually into litRPG! Being big on the setting and the relationship between our main character and his mentor, this has few stats and rather uses tattoos and auras as game mechanics, along with gear upgrades.

We enjoyed a female fighter as a mentor, and the friendships that evolved along the way. The main villain seemed to be a villain just for the sake of it, and some of us would have preferred a little more nuance there, but the banter between the others, and the fun side characters made up for that.

The world building is immersive and descriptive.

“When we were climbing up a branch bigger than Mersali’s roads, scaling a tree bigger than any tower I’d seen in Linead, well, it just put your mind to thinking—if the tree was this big, how big were the fiends?”

Be aware this is a monster hunter fantasy, so if you can’t stand fiends (mutated animals) being hunted, this might not be your cup of tea. If you do enjoy some good action in a big book, this might be for you! Despite us enjoying this quite a bit, other books managed to grab us even more, so we have to say goodbye here.

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This Week’s Semifinalists

imPerfect Magic by C. N. Rowan

After hundreds of years of dying, you’d think I would’ve perfected it by now.

One moment I’m a heretical priest in the twelfth century, hunted, hated.

The next, I’m waking up in the nearest corpse. Stuck in a cycle of instant reincarnation, popping back up like a tarnished penny. Fast forward eight hundred years, and you might think I’d learned a thing or two. Nope. All I’ve learned is how to die far too easily, far too often.

Now my territory in the South of France is under threat and I find myself trapped by impossible angel-made runes. If the angels have gone full red lightsaber evil, it might not only be my territory in danger, but the whole of reality itself.

I need to stop whoever is behind this, now. After all, you can’t come back to life, if there’s nothing left to come back to.

This was a fun read, all around. We got a few urban fantasies this year, and imPerfect Magic was our judges’ favorite! It has some standout worldbuilding that sets it apart from your typical urban fantasy fare, including being set in Paris instead of the US or UK! The mythology and historical pieces of the worldbuilding were fascinating and well researched. And the world itself is deep and interesting.

It is a humor heavy book, which some of our judges adored, while some thought it was a bit much at times. The found family and friendship aspects of the story were also a highlight, especially since things stay platonic instead of turning to romance, as happens often in these stories. The characters are flawed and human and very well written.

The biggest issues our judges had, besides the like/dislike of the humor, were some of the handling of the “badass” female character, the flashbacks, and the main “villain’s” motives (though it seems more is cleared up about the “villain” in book two, as at least two of our judges have already started reading it)!

Quote from Yaniv:

“I love humour that helps subset the dark themes. The characters and plot were fun and the historical background mixed with urban setting were awesome.”

Overall, it is a unique urban fantasy with great prose, fascinating characters, and wonderful geeky banter that we highly recommend to those who love the genre!

Hills of Heather and Bone by K. E. Andrews

The bones of the dead hold stories.

On the fringes of Errigal, Morana longs to exchange a life of hiding for a peaceful one with her husband, Percy. While Percy’s bloodgift lets him grow plants and heal broken bodies, Morana’s a boneweaver, despised and feared because she can hear bones and raise the dead. Morana doesn’t want to be seen as a villain from the old stories and instead spends her time gardening, writing the stories of the dead, and fending off a spiteful chicken.

Morana and Percy’s lives are shattered when a group of Failinis tasked with capturing boneweavers and rogue bloodgifted find them. On the run and battling the elements, ancient creatures, and the loss of all they called home, Morana and Percy search for any sanctuary left in Errigal. Morana must choose between the call in her blood or the family she holds so close to her heart if she and Percy are to survive.

Hills of Heather and Bone surprised our judges. We are not normally a group into romance or cozy stories. But this story stole our judges’ hearts. The main character is a woman with arthritis and is married to a shorter man with a visual impairment. Her and her husband have been through serious trauma even before the book begins, which was handled beautifully. But they are also fully and truly in love and help each other as they flee from the mob of people chasing them who don’t understand her abilities. Her chronic illness was well handled and their relationship was a breath of fresh air in and amongst the fiery and “will they, won’t they” couples in most fantasy stories.

While there is a lot of action, the book’s pace forces the reader to slow down at times and take in the gravity of the story and the emotions it contains. The worldbuilding and magic system is unique, but it’s the characters, their highs and lows, flaws and traumas, that grabbed our judges and wouldn’t let go till the end.

Quote from Kerry:

“It was wonderful having a long term married couple as the main characters (none of the angsty ‘will they, won’t they’), and the story of their initial romance as well as the ups and downs of their marriage is interwoven beautifully throughout the book, without it feeling like info dumps.

Having protagonists who aren’t “perfect” is empowering to read too, Morana is tall, gangly, and suffers arthritis, whilst Percy is slight and without his spectacles he is visually impaired—I can relate to both characters as I too suffer aching bones, and without my glasses I’m almost legally blind. These ordinary things make escaping the Failinis so much harder.

And then Morana discovers she is pregnant whilst they are fleeing, which just adds to the trauma (it also made me painfully aware of all those people fleeing wars and climate disasters who have to carry their elderly or sick relatives as well as themselves even whilst they themselves may be suffering). They also have Morghenna, a prickly, unpleasant chicken along for the ride.”

Overall, our judges loved this book and suggest it for those that don’t normally read romance heavy books, and of course those that do as well! They have compared it to writing by T. Kingfisher (for its cozy-dark tone), Staci Olsen (Falling Through Stars, for its interesting lore and mythical beings, and its overall similar vibe), and Sarah Chorn (for its disability representation and stunning prose).

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Congrats to C. N. Rowan & K. E. Andrews for making our Top Five! We will announce our semi-finalists’ scores and our finalist tomorrow (Monday October 30th)!

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!

Our judges this year are Adawia Asad, Agatha Lopez, Blake Skelton, G. R. Matthews, Lana Taylor, Julia Kitvaria Sarene, Kerry Smith, Robert Max Freeman, Yaniv Rosenfeld Cohen, and Jennie Ivins (me). If you’d like to learn more about us, including our likes and dislikes, you can read about them here.

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

Title image by Jaredd Craig.

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