* 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 five at a time, until we reach our semi-final list for Round One. These groups of five 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 say goodbye to our first group of books from Round One of SPFBO#8. In this group of five are some intriguing concepts, good writing, and interesting characters. Unfortunately, for different reasons, they didn’t stack up against the rest of the competition.
Here are our First Five to Fall.
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The Crypt Lord’s Call by Dawson George
If Hell is full, where do the sinners go?
Theodore Goss is minding his own damn business when humanity’s time runs out. Everyone is shunted off to Godguild, a new universe filled with magic, monsters, and stats, where the afterlife is determined by progression. It’s not about being good anymore, or even being strong. All that matters is being at the top
Hard though it is, Theo plays along as an Afterlifer, determined to make it to paradise eventually. But when a vicious guild drags him into a skeletal dungeon run, Theo realizes the monsters have it much worse than him.
Theo helps the surviving skeletons build a new home. To ensure their continued survival, however, Theo needs to navigate the minefield of unfriendly mobs, monsters of every shape and eldritch size, and of course, Hell itself peeking in at the edges, all while plumbing the secrets Godguild is hiding.
It’s going to take more than levelling up to make it in this cruel world, and Theo is just the guy to go above and beyond.
Can he survive? Maybe for now. But Theo is coming for Godguild itself.
The Crypt Lord’s Call is a LitRPG that looks at things from a different angle. What if, instead of clearing dungeons, you feel sorry for the mobs and realize the system is unfair to them and then try to change it. It has a unique idea, a good setting, and lots of interesting supporting characters, but unfortunately our judges didn’t gel as well with the main character, which made the story harder to get into. LitRPG has many flavors though, and we would suggest giving it a try to see if it might be your next favorite.
Dungeon Man Sam and the Orphaned Core by J. W. Benjamin
Samuel Tolliver holds a deep and abiding hatred for Dungeons. For years he’s been working and scheming to rid them from existence, and now he’s got a plan to do it.
But there’s a problem; Dungeons form the backbone of national economies, and their construction is big business in this world. It doesn’t help that Sam’s father runs one of the world’s premier dungeon construction companies, or that Sam works for the family business.
And when a series of disastrous events culminate in the death of Sam and everyone he knows, it seemed that all was lost. Until a voice came to him, offering a deal he could not refuse.
Now Dungeon Man Sam has returned to life as the guardian for a strange new dungeon core. To save himself and his family, Sam must construct a dungeon like the world has never seen and defend it against all comers, be they monstrous or adventurous.
If he succeeds, he’ll see his family once more. If he fails, oblivion awaits.
And somewhere, beyond his awareness, something ancient and terrible stirs and takes notice.
Dungeon Man Sam is another LitRPG entry that went at the subgenre from a different angle. Instead of building dungeons, the heart of most dungeon core stories, Sam wants to destroy them and the entire industry. Some of our judges liked the humor and banter between the characters, whiles others thought it was a bit more punny (full of puns) than they would have liked. It also felt like the “good guys” were a bit overpowered at times, which made the story less interesting by removing or lowering the stakes in many places. If you are a dungeon core fan this might be the read for you, but it didn’t quite stack up to our judges’ expectations.
Imagine the Fire by S. G. Gowland
Before the time of the walkers darkness threatened the land, the power of magic changed forever, and the future of the kingdom hung in the balance.
In the kingdom of Essealar, a rival power threatens the King’s plans to build his empire. As his sanity crumbles, a secret power must be found to help him achieve his aims. He will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal, but everywhere he looks is fire, and he cannot see the realm beyond his madness.
Daria Ravesh has spent a lifetime in loyal service to the King and is distraught at his decline. When she meets Edris Fane, she knows his unparalleled powers are all her King needs—but will he become her greatest ally or ultimate rival?
When Edris’ family is threatened, and his people attacked, he must join the King to fight for the freedom and peace he craves, but unleashing his anger reveals to him the true power of the darker side of magic—the Guldur—which could destroy him and all he holds dear.
Heroes will rise, enemies will fall, but chaos will reign.
Imagine the Fire and its intriguing beginning caught our judges’ attention from the get-go. The unique magic system and great hook set our expectations high. Unfortunately, our judges found the plot a bit too simplistic to keep up with the excellent opening, and we had to let this title go.
Gold Glamour’s Ghost by Neil Adam Ray
A legendary gunslinger returns, bringing his mythic revolvers and a host of eldritch magic back to the Wild West.
Carter Quinn might be Tarnation’s premiere scoundrel, charlatan, and snake oil salesman, but at least each of his overpriced promises of false hope comes with a good story pegged to it. All the man claiming to be Lucas Linden offers with his lies is a brief dance at the end of a short rope.
After studying the art of the scam for decades, Quinn knows a fraud when he sees one. Sure, the legendary gunslinger’s revolvers weigh down the stranger’s belt and he’s got the folk hero’s signature smile stretched across his face, but the real Lucas Linden disappeared thirty years ago. For him to come back after so long without a single wrinkle or gray hair, he’d need a hell of a lot more than a healthy diet—he’d need the kind of magic that only exists in stories more outlandish than those of Lucas Linden himself.
The fake Lucas Linden seems harmless at first, but when he appoints himself sheriff and claims to have discovered enough gold to reanimate the dried-up mining town, the simple townsfolk fall for the con hook, line, and sinker. They feed off the fervor of the lawless, godless hangings, growing more manic by the day, and it falls on Quinn and his soft-headed sidekick, Ron Chesterfield, to stop the grinning ghost before his festering evil consumes Tarnation and spreads its black tendrils to the rest of the world.
Our judges were excited to get into Gold Glamour’s Ghost. One of the subgenres we don’t see enough of is the Fantasy Western! But while the story sounded intriguing, the writing style just didn’t click for us. And while the prose was very cinematic, they felt more like a script for a movie than a novel. If this style is something you enjoy, we suggest you give it a try, but we had to say goodbye.
The Pirate’s Deal by Elayna R. Gallea
Everything changes when the Ice Mer King says, “I want you to kill my daughter.”
I am Erik, the Pirate of Death. I have spent my life on the seas, maintaining my reputation as one of the most fearsome pirates to ever sail the waters in Aranthium.
Then, the Ice Mer King makes a deal with me. Kill his daughter, and my life-debt is paid. Fail, and my life is forfeit.
Sounds easy, right? If only the princess didn’t have such a talent for getting under my skin and consuming my thoughts.
I am Helena and my father trades my voice for legs I don’t want. A whole month on a human crewed ship doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.
What I want is love, safety, and family. Somehow, I find myself tangled up with a dangerous Pirate whose fate lies in my hands. Falling in love with him is exciting, effortless. But I don’t want to be owned by anyone.
Our judges were unfortunately not the target audience for The Pirate’s Deal. It is marketed as New Adult, but our judges thought it leaned a lot more into YA. Not that YA is a bad thing, but it was hard for us older folks to vibe with this story. Part of it was the writing style and part was the setting. It initially had the feel of an old world pirate story, but then added in terms, phrases, and even emojis that set the tone to more of an urban fantasy world. We do enjoy YA, but this was too far off the mark of our tastes to beat out the other books in the contest.
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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 Julia Kitvaria Sarene, Kartik Narayanan, Kerry Smith, Max Freeman, 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 me, Jennie Ivins, via DM (Facebook/Twitter).
Title image by Roman Melnychuk.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene