SPFBO 7 got off to a great start.  I’ve read my first batch of books – you can find my feedback here plus links to reviews for all four books.  I have to say my first batch was very good and has set the bar high.  Let’s see what comes next – I’m hoping for lots of good reads.

For those of you unfamiliar with SPFBO here and here are two posts that might provide some enlightenment.  Basically, SPFBO is the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off, brainchild of Mark Lawrence.  300 hopeful authors submit their word babies.  10 Judges are allocated 30 books each.  Each judge chooses a finalist, the competition narrows to 10 hopeful candidates.  Alas, there can be only one winner so following an intense reading session where all the judges read and score each others finalists a winner finally emerges.  

The main change for myself this year is that I am joining up with the wonderful Critiquing Chemist and her lovely boffin.  We are very excited to start reading our batch (at the moment equally divided between the two blogs).  I love this part of the competition, it’s full of expectations and hope.  As in previous years  I will give a brief introduction to the books and authors that I’m picking up that month together with an update at the end of the month where I may roll some books forwards and cut others.  I know!  It’s a part of the competition that I’m not overly fond of but it is unavoidable.  Personally, I like to think that as the competition begins we already have 300 winners who each took that bold step to throw their hat into the ring and join in.  So, enjoy yourselves, take the opportunity to make friends and become part of the community.  

This month the four books that I will be reading from me second batch are:

Berserker (Apocosmos #1) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris 

Alex is a game developer though he’d much rather stream RPG classics or spend time with Louie. That’s his adorable corgi.
He also hates people. Not in a homicidal way but rather in an extremely-antisocial one.
Unless you hurt Louie.

In such an instant, Alex is pulled in the Apocosmos, where our whole world is just a blip in a colorful tapestry of million others.
A multiverse ruled by a strict system.
Where Norse, Greek, and Celtic pantheons clash.
Where dwarves craft, dragons hoard, and vampires don’t glitter.
A world that is as cruel as epic.

Alex wants none of that though. He just wants to earn an early retirement somewhere in Spain.
There’s money to be made in the Apocosmos.
Alex will take advantage of the market just like he did in his MMORPG days, in what seems like an error-proof plan.
But it’s a zero-sum game and some would do anything to eliminate competition. 

About the Author

The three things Dimitrios would grab in case of a fire, would be his Lord of the Rings book collection, his Chrono Trigger SNES game, and his dog, Poko.

July 2020 marked the beginning of his author career with the release of the Mana Trilogy, an epic fantasy saga focusing on world and civilization-building.

Dimitrios was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and is now living in Berlin with his partner and his doggo.

Book of Secrets (Merged Series #1) by Claudia Blood 

Joshua Lighthouse never wanted to save the world, but now he has no choice.

Three hundred years ago, the human world and the world of Myth underwent a cataclysmic Merge. Those who survived – both human and Others – formed factions. Joshua led one faction, the Human Protection Agency, which is charged with maintaining the safety of the humans in his city. He secretly protects an artifact more powerful than even he knows…

About the Author :

In spite of a busy life wrapped around a military husband, two young children, a dog, bunnies, and a day job, Claudia Blood manages to pen epic, urban, and science fantasies.

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