Browsing all articles tagged with self-publishing.
The 7th Annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off – Submissions Open!
Hello everyone and welcome to 2021’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO)! If you’ve been following our site for awhile you probably know about this awesome contest started by author Mark Lawrence. But for those who don’t, let me give you some background. What Is The SPFBO? Mark created the SPFBO to highlight self-published fantasy novels, which […]
She Dreams in Blood by Michael R. Fletcher
First person narratives don’t naturally jive with me. Those in present tense bring to mind loquacious toddlers who narrate their existence to doting parents, and the ones in past tense undermine suspense. There’s no doubt the hero will make it through the present ordeal—after all, they lived to tell the tale! And yet, there are […]
The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
The war is over, but something is rotten in the state of Eidyn. With a ragged peace in place, demons burn farmlands, violent Reivers roam the wilds and plague has spread beyond the Black Meadows. The country is on its knees. In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically skilled […]
Voice of War by Zack Argyle – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
While preparing for the birth of his first child, Chrys Valerian is tasked with uncovering the group responsible for a series of missing threadweavers—those able to see and manipulate threadlight. With each failure, the dark voice in his head grows louder, begging to be released. A young girl from a secret city in the center […]
Leather and Lace by Magen Cubed
First Disclaimer: I received an advance digital review copy of this book in return for an honest review. Second Disclaimer: The copy used for this review is an uncorrected proof. The published edition may be subject to further editing and revision. With that in mind, I will not discuss editing, spelling or grammar in this […]
Scott Kaelen Interview – The Nameless and the Fallen
Scott Kaelen’s debut novel, The Blighted City, was a semifinalist in the Fourth Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO4), and one of my favorite novels to emerge from that annual fantasy competition (reviewed here). The audiobook version of The Blighted City was also a finalist in the fantasy category of the 2020 Independent Audiobook Awards. When […]
The Fall of Erlon by Robert H. Fleming – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
As empires burn, heroes must rise. Elisa Lannes was once heiress to the mighty Erlonian Empire. But when her mother abandons the empire and her emperor father is defeated on the battlefield and sent into exile, the world she would rule collapses around her. As enemies converge on the capital, Elisa must join with the […]
The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
Editor’s Note: Our overall rating for The Combat Codes is 7/10 as stated above. But our SPFBO rating is 3.5/10. See below for more details. “We fight so the rest shall not have to.” In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight so the rest can remain at peace. […]
Testament of Steel by Davis Ashura
If Cradle were set in South Asia with elves and dwarves. I had been aware of Davis Ashura as an author of South Asian fantasy for several years and got to see him speak on a panel about diversity in fantasy at DragonCon (before the plague cancelled all the cons). Duly impressed by demeanor and […]
Nether Light by Shaun Paul Stevens – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
Take a journey through a world punished by a dark, imprisoned magic. A world where children are given poison. A world where your talent is decided by the state. A world where reality is breaking down. When refugee Guyen washes up in the land of his enemy, he knows he will fight, but soon finds […]
Last Memoria by Rachel Emma Shaw – SPFBO #6 Finals Review
Sarilla has learnt one thing from stealing memories. Everybody lies. There’s nothing Sarilla hates more than stealing memories, but the king forces her to, just so he can keep his subjects in line. She wants to escape to where nobody knows what she is or what she can do, but her plans go awry when […]
Oh, That Shotgun Sky by Sarah Chorn
The other night I caught the Cohen Brothers’ remake of True Grit. When I saw it in the theater, I thought it a profound meditation on the price of freedom—that fabled freedom of the Old West, which comes at such a high cost that most of us would choose the safety and strictures of “civilization.” […]
