300 books           10 Judges            1 winner

The 1st of June marked the start of the sixth Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (details here.)  My Introductory post is here.

You can find my updates for batch 1, batch 2, batch 3 and Batch 4 by clicking on the  links:

As with previous years I will read a batch of books each month.  I will read at least 30% (or 100 pages) and hopefully will choose one or two books from each batch to roll forward and read fully and review before choosing semi finalists and a finalist.  My book list is chosen randomly.  This month I will  have 7 books to check out (as I carried MidLich Crisis over in order to wait for the audio copy to become available).  I’m hoping to complete all of these fairly swiftly and provide an update asap (in fact I’ve already started reading in order to get a little ahead.  Expect my next update fairly quickly, maybe in another week or so if things go according to plan.

Long Stories: Early Immortals and the Birth of Death by) by Evan Witmer 

Immortals have infested the Earth, using dark magic to stay alive eternally. God creates an assassin, Death, to teleport around the world and kill them off one by one. All goes according to plan till Death meets Lucy, an adorable little girl that’s over a century old. Unable to cut her to bits, Death finds another way…

Author Info

Twitter : @FictionOdd

Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier

Raised a warrior in the harsh winter country, Ryo inGara has always been willing to die for his family and his tribe. When war erupts against the summer country, the prospect of death in battle seems imminent. But when his warleader leaves Ryo as a sacrifice — a tuyo — to die at the hands of their enemies, he faces a fate he never imagined.

Ryo’s captor, a lord of the summer country, may be an enemy . . . but far worse enemies are moving, with the current war nothing but the opening moves in a hidden game Ryo barely glimpses, a game in which all his people may be merely pawns. Suddenly Ryo finds his convictions overturned and his loyalties uncertain. Should he support the man who holds him prisoner, the only man who may be able to defeat their greater enemy? And even if he does, can he persuade his people to do the same?

Author Info

Website : http://www.rachelneumeier.com/

Voice of War by Zack Argyle

Chrys Valerian is a threadweaver, a high general, and soon-to-be father. But to the people of Alchea, he is the Apogee—the man who won the war.

When a stranger’s prophecy foretells danger to Chrys’ child, he must do everything in his power to protect his family—even if the most dangerous enemy is the voice in his own head.

To the west, a sheltered girl seeks to find her place in the world.

To the south, a young man’s life changes after he dies.

Together, they will change the world—whether they intend to or not.

Author Info

Twitter : SFFAuthor

Website : https://www.zackargyle.com/blog

The Flight of the Darkstar Dragon by Benedict Patrick

Impossible world. Impossible dragon. Impossible adventure.

Lost with her ship and crew in an unfamiliar land, Min’s first command could be her last.

Nothing here behaves the way it should:

The magic that powers her skyship has been drained, rendering it immobile.

The sky is an endless twilight, lit by the luminous fish that swim in it.

Off starboard, there’s also the country-sized dragon that is looking particularly hungry.

It will take all of Min’s training and experience to get her people safely back home, but as the truth about the Darkstar Dimension begins to be revealed, Min will have to prove to her crew – and to herself – that she is still the best person for the job.

Author Info

Twitter : benedictpaddy

Website : http://www.benedictpatrick.com

Warbringer by Aaron Hodges

Centuries ago, the world fell.
From the ashes rose a terrible new species—the Tangata.
Now they wage war against the kingdoms of man.
And humanity is losing.

Recruited straight from his academy, twenty-year-old Lukys hopes the frontier will make a soldier out of him. But Tangata are massing in the south, and the allied armies are desperate. They will do anything to halt the enemy advance—including sending untrained men and women into battle. Determined to survive, Lukys seeks aid from the only man who seems to care: Romaine, the last warrior of an extinct kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Queen’s Archivist leads an expedition deep beneath the earth. She seeks to uncover the secrets of the Gods. Their magic has been lost to the ages, yet artefacts remain, objects of power that could turn the tide of the war. But salvation is not the only thing waiting beneath the surface. Something else slumbers in the darkness. Something old. Something evil.

Author Info

Twitter : aarondhodges

Website : http://www.aaronhodges.co.nz/

Exile by Martin Owton

Aron of Darien, raised in exile after his homeland is conquered by a treacherous warlord, makes his way in the world on the strength of his wits and skill with a sword. Both are sorely tested when he is impressed into the service of the Earl of Nandor to rescue his heir from captivity in the fortress of Sarazan. The rescue goes awry. Aron and his companions are betrayed and must flee for their lives. Pursued by steel and magic, they find new friends and old enemies on the road that leads, after many turns, to the city of the High King. There Aron must face his father’s murderer before risking everything in a fight to the death with the deadliest swordsman in the kingdom

Author Info

Website : http://www.martinowton.com

Mid-Lich Crisis by Steve Thomas – I posted information about this book in Batch 2 which you can check out by clicking on the link.

That’s it for this month.  Good luck to all the authors.