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, Batch 4 and Batch 5 by clicking on the  links.

During the past week I have reviewed five of the ten books that I rolled forward.  Today I am announcing the first cuts from that batch of five together with the first semi finalists.  I would say that these cuts have been very difficult because I’ve enjoyed all of the books from both batches and so the decision comes down to really very minor issues.  My apologies to the authors from this next round of cuts and congratulations to the Semi Finalists.

The Usurper (Brutal Saga #0.50) by James Alderdice

I had a good time with the Usurper and really enjoyed the two different timelines.  Other than a couple of minor issues I think this is a series that I would really enjoy and fans of grimdark fantasy with a dash of heroic adventure might enjoy this one.  My review is here.

Conclusion : Cut

The Hammer of the Gods: So You Want To Be A Star (The Druid Trilogy #1) by Andrew Marc Rowe

The Hammer of the Gods is a tongue in cheek adventure that pokes a little fun at many well known characters, myths and gods from the fantasy genre.  If you don’t mind a bit of creative cursing and sexual references and a crazy and mixed up tale of two unlikely characters trying to change their way in life then this is a very promising start to series even with a slightly abrupt ending. My review is here.

Conclusion : Cut

Incursion (The Necromancer’s Key #1) by Mitchell Hogan

A tale of epic fantasy, on the face of it a story of good vs evil, scratch the surface and everything isn’t so clear cut of course.  Two characters discover there is more to their magic and in a realm of unrest dark abilities must remain hidden.  This is an impressive piece of writing and promises very good things to come.  I only had minor issues in terms of the level of detail but nothing that spoiled the read.  My review is here.

Conclusion : Cut

Calico Thunder Rides Again by T.A. Hernandez

Calico Thunder is a really very easy to read tale of a circus.  Set in an era of prohibition and speakeasies the bans here are on magic use not alcohol.  Calico Thunder is a dragon and part of the circus act.  Jake Strickland inherited the circus from his father.  Unfortunately he also inherited some rather huge problems at the same time and his attempts to solve said problems are the main driver of the story.  A very enjoyable read.  My review is here.

Conclusion : Semi-finalist

The Flight of the Darkstar Dragon by Benedict Patrick

I had such a good time reading Flight of the Darkstar Dragon.  The imagination and world building are absolutely fascinating.  This is a purple world where a dragon encircles the sun and rifts act as portals to other worlds.  A winning combination of super world building with the promise of many adventures yet to come.  My review is here.

Conclusion : Semi-finalist