#SPFBO 9 Finalist Announcement
31 October 2023 
What is SPFBO 9? This is a competition where authors of self-published fantasy can enter their work. The objective to find a winner out of the 300 entries submitted. Ten judges (or judging teams) each receive 30 entrants. Each judge/team will eventually submit one finalist to the second round where a winner will eventually be decided upon. Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.
Our batch of 30 books was split equally between myself and the Critiquing Chemist’s team. We have both now completed our reading, we chose three semi finalists each and we have read each others choices. So, today is tough decision time. And, I can say, all these semi finalists were so good. I really enjoyed them and have no hesitation recommending them all, which certainly made choosing just one even more difficult.
However, I’m not going to prolong the announcement – details of the semi finalists can be found below. We went back and forth with debate and our chosen finalist for SPFBO 9 is:
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A Rival Most Vial by RK Ashwick is a wonderful cosy fantasy that we thoroughly enjoyed. Congratulations to the author.
My condolences to the other authors. We had six superb SFs this year – all quite different. Here are my reviews for the others.
The First and Last Demon by Hiyodori. This is a unique story, really engaging and quite compelling and I loved the twist in the tale. It’s quite insular with a very small cast of characters but is a standalone that leaves no threads hanging. I literally read this in two sittings because I had to have answers.
Twicetime by Carol Carman. This story was like my very own personal ‘pick me up’. It was such good fun. I simply don’t know why this book isn’t receiving oodles more attention. I loved it and can’t wait to read my next book by Carol Carman.
Dream of Death City by PJ Nwosu. Wow, what a fantastic imagination this author has. This world is dramatically painted in reds and golds. The way of life is harsh. I love the ideas on display and the two central characters are easy to get on board with. A must read. I want more.
Under the Lesser Moon by Shelly Campbell. This book is a difficult read and undoubtedly not for everyone but I thought it was brilliant to be honest. It’s a cruel world, bad things happen (really bad things) but there is hope as well and the ending had me immediately rushing to see when or whether the next book was released.
The Many Shades of Midnight by CM Debell. Another standalone. A story with epic scope but told from a much smaller perspective and focused primarily on the characters. Lovely writing and a fascinating world not to mention a lovely character in the apprentice surgeon.
Finally, don’t forget to stop over to the Critiquing Chemist to read their thoughts.
Books and travelling with Lynn 
Congratulations to the author, and how nice to have so many great choices. I’ve missed some of your reviews, I’ll be checking them out soon😁