And our second round of cuts for SPFBO 10!

As always, let me preface this with the fact that all reading is subjective. So, what we didn’t like might be someone else’s favourite book, and if what you read here sounds like something you’d enjoy, please check them out!

Thank you very much to all the authors who entered, we know it is tough to get judged like this, and we definitely appreciate the courage to put your work forward to a contest!

If you have no idea what we’re talking about, you can read more about the contest here.

Lady of Dragons (Part One) by Shelby Elizabeth

You will be bound, dragon and human.

Finlay McDonough wants nothing more than to be a Dragon Knight: a warrior bound with a dragon partner, intent on ridding the kingdom of its dragon-killing monarchy. Well, she might want one thing just a bit more … Evander, her childhood friend, now keeper of the dragon sanctuary. Scouting with Evander one day, Finlay’s attempt to save a dragon goes horribly wrong, and she inadvertently ties her fate to the dragon’s—their souls bind, lending Finlay powers like those of the Mages the Knights are sworn to destroy.

After passing the trial to train as a Knight, Finlay discovers a devastating truth about a beloved dragon. To save them, she’ll need to risk her dream of becoming a true Knight, her chance at a happily-ever-after with Evander . . . and maybe her very identity.

Fantasy romance with a fierce heroine, gentle love interest, sassy dragon companion, and more than a dash of adventure awaits.

Our Thoughts:

While there wasn’t anything specifically wrong with lady of dragons, it just didn’t stand out enough for any of our judges to be finalist material. The main problem is that this just feels like so many books we’ve read before. There’s some good things, like the tiny dragon who helps organise the dragon sanctuary, but overall it just lacked something unique enough to keep us hooked.

One judge also found that the writing style was just a bit too easy, and felt more like middle grade, despite the teen protagonists and love angle.

If you however enjoy a YA romance with dragons, this might definitely be for you!

The Ashen Orb Bounty by Patrick Dugan

Cowboy Bebop meets the Witcher

In a land torn asunder by a monstrous invasion, the only thing protecting the enclaves of thinking
people in Southern Holm are high walls and the valiant warrior troops that strive to beat back the
hordes, one troll at a time. When Saria and her Shadow Blades are asked to take on a secret
bounty to retrieve a magical artifact from a forgotten temple, Saria’s suspicions aren’t aroused.
She’s too busy hiring an archer and preparing their new mage to worry about anything but the
job ahead of them.

At least not until another troop attempts to collect a bounty—on the Shadow Blades’ heads.
Saria should have known better than to accept a mission to recover this Ashen Orb for the
notorious sorceress Brar Opalback. After surviving the assassination attempt, she and her fellow
warriors—Lithia, the shadow fae archer, Perric, the human paladin, Ayre, the elven thief, and
Jileli, the half succubus blood mage—must outwit wild and deadly forests, ingenious traps, and
undead armies if they hope to get any answers.

It would be a shame to die without ever finding out who wanted you dead.

The Ashen Orb by Patrick Dugan

Our Thoughts:

This one split our judges a bit. Some of us.enjoyed it more than others, though all of us agreed it just was not unique enough to be a finalist.

This book reminded us of basic D&D games. We have the Swords woman, Paladin, Elf, Archer and Mage (albeit the mage is a succubus blood Mage and the Archer is a Shadow Fae, both of whom are despised by many people, especially by the Paladin). 

There are some comedic moments as the Paladin tends to visit a lot of brothels and the Elf is an incorrigible kleptomaniac.

These bits were amusing to some, and a bit over the top and thereby annoying to others.

There’s a lot of tropes, and the story is quite straightforward, which made it an easy and quick read, but not for those of us who were looking for a bit more depth.

One of us found it started off well. But got more rough around the edges the farther in we got. Another judge found it a really enjoyable and fun read, just not standing out of the crowd enough to be memorable.

The end also got different reactions, with one of us thinking it was a nice open-ended mystery leading into the next book, and planning to read on, while another one found it all a bit pointless without a more satisfying ending.

Path of the Guardian by Paolo Danese

Execution. Escape. Epic.

From the brink of death, Boren’s journey begins—an epic quest laden with danger and ancient mysteries. With warrior mage Feridun by his side, they navigate through a land where dark powers and prophecies dictate their every move. Their mission: find the one who may hold the key to their world’s survival. As enemies close in and the stakes rise, they must confront their deepest fears. Will their path lead to salvation, or are they marching towards an inevitable doom?

‘Path of the Guardian’ marks an exhilarating debut in the YA Epic Fantasy genre by its author. Perfect for fans of action-packed, mysterious, and supernatural epics.

Grab your copy of ‘Path of the Guardian’ today and embark on an unforgettable adventure!

Our Thoughts:

This book does have potential, but it’s not yet there. Our main problem is the prose, which just feels rough and didn’t really draw us in. Instead of getting fully immersed, we got  snagged on clunky phrases, and there’s just way too many sentences with a similar structure, or names used over and over. 

The other problem is how tropey it feels. We don’t mind tropes, however in other books they just feel better handled. More like a comforting familiar feeling, than a tired joke you have heard way too often.

There is an interesting story in here, but in our opinion the writing itself just needs more polishing.

The Winds of Change by Sam Paisley

Destiny, personal responsibility, what the future holds – common concerns for anyone graduating high school. But usually not because of a cosmic war between timeless beings where you’re the central player.

As the end of school quickly approaches, and Cooper Bailey watches his perfect world slip away, his only concern is savouring every last minute of his high school career. For his best friend, Reid Patterson, graduation is a doorway to the future, where his discipline and focus will finally allow him to meet his true potential.

When a mysterious mirror-masked man begs for their help to stop a dangerous heretic, Cooper and Reid find themselves thrust into unknown worlds, wrestling with a destiny as old as time itself. As the truths about their roles in the universe unfold, and enemies disguise themselves as allies, their only hope is to trust each other – and learn fast!

Far from home and in mortal peril, Cooper and Reid attempt to hone their newfound abilities and come to grips with their purpose for being.

Inspired by classic and modern science fiction and fantasy, and drawing upon timeless themes of destiny and personal responsibility, The Elements of Time is a series written for anyone who loves an escape into a rich and deep world. With references to Star Wars (the Original Trilogy), Avatar: The Last Bender, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural, and much more, The Elements of Time: The Winds of Change is fun action-adventure, with it’s own unique magic system, and themes that touch what it means to grow up and take on the challenges of life

Our Thoughts:

This book isn’t a bad book, and we might have liked it, if we were still teens, new to the genre. However, having read a lot of these, it just felt like 100 other books we read before.

It starts with a fantasy prologue that feels very standard, and then it has the walking tropes: a super sporty boy who doesn’t really care about school, and the nerd, with glasses and everything, who has all the colleges sorted by a point system. From there it just doesn’t get much more unique.

It’s possible for a book to have nothing exactly wrong with it, but to be derivative enough that it doesn’t seem to have  many positive qualities either. The writing itself is fine, but both the characters and story are too similar to what we’ve already read. 

Seeds of the Fallen by Miriam Yvette

Celestials. Light vs. Darkness. Enemies-to-lovers?

A secret identity hides the truth, but what happens when it becomes a cage?

The irritable and uncommitted Lucan Greystone has to live under an alias, his true self, hidden in a human body. No one can know he’s a celestial of the cosmos, as those were the wishes of his mother before she was taken. But when a murder attempt sends Lucan to a small town, he must depend on the Harrow family to trek the long, perilous road back to his friends, all while suffering Elene Harrow’s company, the town’s heathen who nearly killed him.

Elene Harrow wants to undo the wrongs of her past, even if that means fulfilling a Vow of Marriage and leaving her romantic life in the hands of another. Upon meeting Lucan, she finds his existence a danger, yet he’s always the one who rescues her, even when he can barely stand her. When Elene discovers one of Rima’s children ensnared in darkness, the journey may be more than they bargained for.

Our Thoughts:

This sadly didn’t click with any of our judges.

The writing style just made both MCs exceedingly unlikeable to some of us.

Others mostly had a problem with the prose, and bits like this:

“Oscern sowed his eyes on him.”

One judge even wondered if sentences that made little sense to them were a failure to edit typos or if the author was deliberately attempting to give words new meanings. Either way, it didn’t work for them.

We also found there was a lot of telling, not showing going on…

We did like the illustrations, map and layout!

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By Julia Kitvaria Sarene

Kitvaria Sarene has been a bookseller in Germany from 2003-2024. Her love of books only grew over the years, just as her love for fantasy and sci-fi did! Especially interested in indie publishing and discovering new talents she joined reading for SPFBO 3 in 2017.

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