Today I thought I’d do a recap and conclusion post for SPFBO 9 (which came to it’s dramatic conclusion at the end of April).  It was such a close competition this year and it was definitely a dramatic finale with the place for top spot switching hands on an almost indecent basis.

Now, if you’re aware of this competition (which I’m sure you are) you’ll know that the tenth competition has already opened its doors to entrants and Phase 1 is about to commence at the beginning of June.  I wanted to take an opportunity before all the ferore of the new competition takes over to look back at year 9 and shine a light on some of my personal highlights.

Anyway, for more information about the competition and the finalist chart look here and here.

The winner of SPFBO 9 was Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang.  This book was such a lot of fun, slightly chaotic and blended fantasy and mystery in a really winning fashion.  I highly recommend this and in fact book 2 is already published and I can’t wait to give it a shot.  Here’s the cover and my review.

Seriously folks, I cannot say enough good things about this book and I hope you’ll give it a try.

This year I had three books with a top score of 8.5.  Murder at Spindle Manor, our own Finalist – A Rival Most VIal by RK Ashwick and The Fall is All There Is by CM Caplan.  I don’t think you could pick three more different books if you tried and surely there’s something to suit all tastes right here.

A Rival Most Vial is a lovely, slice of life, cosy fantasy.  This isn’t a story where you’ll be following epic battles or saving the world, this is more about what goes on behind the scenes.  Who forges those weapons, brews those potions, hones those blades.  The characters are absolutely lovely and there’s a romance thrown in for good measure.  I will say that romance isn’t usually my thing but this book just worked for me.  It’s fun, it’s cosy, the writing is easy to get along with.

The Fall Is All There Is by CM Caplan, was actually my favourite read for SPFBO 9.  I loved this book.  It was so different, the writing was great, there’s banter and sarcasm.  Set in a post apocalyptic world this is brutal and grimdark.  It perfectly blends sci fi and fantasy and brings to us a protagonist that I can’t wait to read more about.

Hills of Heather and Bone by KE Andrews was a very strong contender for first place.  Exquisitely written with an absolutely beautiful setting.  This is a standalone book that packs an enormous emotional punch.

Anyway, my intention is not to give a brief highlight of all the finalists in this post.  Put simply, they wouldn’t be finalists if they weren’t good.  Check them all out at the link above.

Next week I’m going to be looking at some of the semi finalists I’ve chosen during previous SPFBOs and hopefully bringing to your attention some very good books – because we wouldn’t want your TBRs to start to dwindle now would we.

That’s all for my first instalment.