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Shields in Shadow by Andy Peloquin – SPFBO #6 Semi-Finals Review
Today we present the second of four semi-finalists in the sixth annual Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off. The order of reviews posted this week does not indicate any rank or likelihood of being named the finalist, which will be announced on Friday, October 30th. In a weird, one might even say, fantastical, coincidence, three of the four […]
Tales of the Thief-City by Gareth Lewis – SPFBO #6 Semi-Finals Review
We close out the sixth annual Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off with four semifinalists, the highest rated books in our batch. We will share the scores when we name the finalist on Friday, October 30, and the order of the reviews posted this week should not be taken to imply the rankings of our final four. Today […]
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #6: The Fifth Five Fall + Our Picks for Semi-Finalists
Now is the winter of our discontent… All right, it’s not winter, and whether contented or not with today’s outcome, the nine authors still in the Fantasy-Faction batch can stop biting their nails, for today they learn their fate—or at least whether they’ve made the semifinalist cut. Once again, the experience of art is subjective, […]
The Worth of Hair by A. A. Freeman
In their original forms, fairy stories were often bloody and almost always filled with grim suffering. The grimmest of all were not the folk tales captured by the famous brothers of that name, but rather Hans Christian Andersen’s original fables. His “Little Match Girl” isn’t rescued by a fairy godmother or industrious talking mice from […]
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #6: The Fourth Five Fall
The last month of Phase I of the SPFBO is always a nail-biter for authors who remain in the competition, and it is with great sympathy that we say goodbye to our next five from the Fantasy-Faction batch. This week’s titles feature cool magical animals and shifters as well as some classic struggles between good […]
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #6: The Third Five Fall
The third group to be eliminated in this year’s SPFBO includes some really creative and ambitious explorations of intriguing themes, from gender roles to capitalism, to the nature of power and love. As we say with each batch we let go, just because a book appears on this page doesn’t mean it’s unworthy of love, […]
A Wizard’s Sacrifice by A. M. Justice
Spoiler Warning: This review contains mild spoilers for A Wizard’s Forge. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish book one. Conquering fate takes sacrifice. Victoria of Ourtown believes two things: the bright, wandering star in the heavens is an abandoned spacecraft which brought her ancestors to this world and that destiny and […]
Rogues Gallery by Richard A. Knaak – Kickstarter
This author has written books for World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Dragonlance amongst others. Anyway, with that in mind, when this most prolific of authors is running a Kickstarter we jumped at the chance to help out and pay him back a little for all the joy he had brought into our reading lives.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
When an author has an impressive debut year—as in being nominated for and winning several literary awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, etc.—the question is can the author go further and beyond with their stories and their writings after a strong debut? The answer is, yes! And several authors have managed to do this with their […]
Age of Sigmar: Soulbound – Role-playing Game Review
Big, bold, bombastic, and brutal—Age of Sigmar: Soulbound has swaggered its way onto the RPG scene with well-earned confidence. Players take on the role of larger-than-life heroes (literally, in some cases) at the forefront of the battle between the forces of Order and the hordes of dead, damned and demented foes who oppose them. Immortal […]
Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire by Dan Hanks
Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire is a fantastical pulp novel set during the 1950s. Captain Samantha Moxley herself is a retired British pilot who fought against the Nazis both in the air and on land. After that, she was recruited by an arcane and ruthless arm of the US government to help […]
Blade’s Edge and Traitor’s Hope by Virginia McClain – Cover Redesign Reveal
Covers. We like to pretend we don’t judge books by them, but on some level we do. And that’s really ok. Here’s why: It’s NOT okay to judge people by their appearance for a myriad of reasons, and that’s why we use the expression to talk about people, but books aren’t people. Books, by and […]
