#SPFBO – Not a Review : Finalist Reading Schedule, Book #5
20 February 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Wind from the Wilderness, Book No.5, Not a Review, SPFBO, Suzannah Rowntree, Watchers of Outremer #1
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. Stage 1 is now complete and the finalists can be found here .
During Stage 2 I will read, review and score the remaining 9 finalists as will the other judges until a winner is revealed. As with previous years I have given each of the 9 books a number and randomly selected a reading order. Today’s post is to highlight the fifth book I will be reading and provide information regarding that particular finalist. The first finalist I read was Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire. This was a great start to the finals and my review can be found here. My second book was The Fall of Erlon by Robert H Fleming which I posted my review here. My third book was Shaun Paul Steven’s Nether Light, my review for which can be found here. My fourth book was a Norse myth inspired story called Darkness Forged by Matt Larkin and my review is here..
My fifth finalist will be :
| A Wind from the Wilderness by Suzannah Rowntree |
A Wind from the Wilderness (Watchers of Outremer #1) by Suzannah Rowntree is the finalist selected this year by the Fantasy Hive and their review can be found here. .Below is the description and author details:
Hunted by demons. Lost in time.
Welcome to the First Crusade.
Syria, 636: As heretic invaders circle Jerusalem, young Lukas Bessarion vows to defend his people. Instead, disaster strikes.
His family is ripped apart. His allies are slaughtered. And Lukas is hurled across the centuries to a future where his worst nightmares have come true…
Constantinople, 1097: Ayla may be a heretic beggar, but she knows one thing for sure: nine months from now, she will die. Before then, she must avenge her father’s murder–or risk losing her soul.
Desperate to find their way home, Lukas and Ayla join the seven armies marching east to liberate Jerusalem. If Lukas succeeds in his quest, he’ll undo the invasion and change the course of history.
But only if he survives the war.
Only if his enemies from the past don’t catch him.
And only as long as Ayla never finds out who he really is.
A Wind from the Wilderness is Book 1 in the new Watchers of Outremer series. If you love stories full of dark magic, bloody warfare, and star-crossed love, then you’ll be spellbound by this sweeping historical fantasy!
Author:Hi! I live in a big house in rural Australia with my awesome parents and siblings, writing historical fantasy fiction. You can visit me online at https://suzannahrowntree.site
If you like the mythic fantasy of Stephen Lawhead, S. A. Chakraborty or Naomi Novik, you’ll probably like my stories too!
Website : https://suzannahrowntree.site
Twitter : suzannahtweets
Books and travelling with Lynn 
I’m just amazed at SPFBO. It’s such a cool idea to find new SFF gems and to spread the word about them. Looking forward to see who will be this year’s “chosen”!
I think there are probably already a couple of front runners. I really like seeing how the opinions of the judges vary.
Lynn 😀
I always loved this cover. Looking forward to your review😁
Yes, it’s a great cover and in fact I did highlight it during the first stage of the competition. Hope it’s a great read.
Lynn 😀
This one looks interesting, looking forward to your thoughts on it!
It really does – and I love the cover.
Lynn 😀
Gorgeous cover! I hope the book is as good as it sounds!
I hope so too 😀
That cover really is outstanding – I hope you enjoy this one, Lynn. The blurb sounds really interesting, too:))
The cover is really impressive and it’s a good historic style fantasy with some very strong writing.
Lynn 😀
Duly noted:))).