#SPFBO 7 : My First Batch of Books
Woo hoo, the 1st of June is upon us and with it SPFBO 7 begins. Release the Krakens, unleash the warg riders, saddle your dragons and let’s go.
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 are:
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Stranded (The Shorten Chronicles #1) by Rosalind Tate
Sophie Arundel is stranded in history, stuck in a grand house in 1925 England. Thankfully, she has her faithful dog Charlotte with her. Oh, and fellow student Hugo, annoying and charming in equal measure.
Baffled by upper-class rules, courted by boring suitors, Sophie is desperate to get back to the twenty-first century, but the only way home is through a hidden portal — and she must work with Hugo to unlock its secrets.
As one clue leads to another, Sophie and Hugo discover that history is unfolding differently. Mobs rule the streets. And when chaos turns into a deadly revolution, anyone in a grand house is fair game.
Sophie and Hugo are running out of time…
About the Author:
Rosalind Tate is the author of the Shorten Chronicles — the acclaimed time-travel series featuring Sophie Arundel and her dog, Charlotte.
Join Rosalind’s ♥ Readers Club ♥ and get the short-story prequel, completely free, at www.rosalindtate.com/home-impossible-…
Visit Rosalind’s website: www.rosalindtate.com
Find out more about Charlotte: www.rosalindtate.com/meet-charlotte.
Follow Rosalind on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/strande…
Follow Rosalind on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheShortenCh…
Follow Rosalind on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shortenchro…
Follow Rosalind on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@rosalindtate1…
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Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned (Reed Lavender #1) by Ashley Capes
At least when you’re Death’s nephew the bad guys literally have nowhere to hide, right?
Meet Reed Lavender, a mostly-human detective with the uncanny ability to hear the final words of the dead. But on this case he’ll need more than his usual tricks to solve the murder of a teen runaway – he’ll need something that just might be more trouble than it’s worth – the help of his ragtag Reaper-cousins.
But the deeper Reed digs the more he realises there’s something far bigger and darker beneath his city, something vast, something that is ripening to rot…
About the Author:
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Deathborn (Sovereigns of Bright and Shadow #1) by CE Page
Corruption is a disease with no cure that ends with a rapid descent into madness and violence. And until now it only targeted mages.
When an infected warden shows up challenging everything Margot thought she knew she is thrown into the chase to find the impossible cure. But to understand this new revelation she needs someone who knows possession … She needs Nea and lucky for Margot, her warden friend Garret has been tasked with tracking the rogue necromancer down.
Garret is used to dealing with dangerous mages so this should be like any other job: find the mage and deliver her to the king. But from the moment he finds Nea he is dragged into a deadly game of dark secrets and brutal machinations. Now he must make a choice: deliver Nea as promised and place a weapon in the hands of a madman or deny his king and change the lives of wardens and mages forever.
About the Author
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One of Us: the City of Secrets by ML Roberts
The witch wants her dead, the fae want her alive, the police want to bring her in for questioning. High school should not be this way.
Olivia knows the rules: study hard, never lie, do unto others, but when a witch makes the rules and the others are fae, telling the truth will get her locked up.
Last month she saw the impossible, now she sees it again. She tells herself it’s all in her head. How else explain a shining man who fell out of nowhere or a student who died but still lives?
She carries on with her usual activities: volleyball, pop quizzes, a favor for Mom, but denial won’t make it go away. When she thinks it can’t get any worse, it does.
Friends, enemies, the police, someone is lying. If not one of them, one of us.
About the Author:
Finally, good luck to everyone. Don’t forget, if you want to pay me a visit here on the blog you’re more than welcome. Just email or leave a comment. 😀
The Ikessar Falcon (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #2) by KS Villoso
31 May 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #2, KS Villoso, The Ikessar Falcon
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Fantastic setting, great characters. Dragons
The Ikessar Falcon is a book that I was eager to read. As it happens I picked this one up when I was having a little bit of a reading low and although I probably read 40% I decided to stop and return to it at a later date. That is probably one of my better decisions because I started this book again from the beginning, I part read and part listened to it and in fairly short order I was immersed in the world and caught up with the drama surrounding the characters.
Where in the first book Queen Talyien left her home to try and make reparations with her estranged husband and found herself at the centre of a very tangled web, this second book follows her struggles as she tries to return to the son she left behind, desperate to keep him safe. Now obviously, I’ve over simplified that – a lot – but, if we leave all the titles, the back stabbing and the politics behind this is about a woman desperately trying to return to her child to save him from imminent threat – and the fact that many people are about to stand in her way and try to make the journey impossible.
Two stand out elements to this book.
Firstly the characters are all strongly written. There is such a depth of emotion with this book. we see Tali revisiting events from her childhood that really demonstrate the relationship she had with her father. We also gain insight into her relationship with Rayyel and look at events from both perspectives. It’s fascinating watching Tali struggle with who she is and what she’s done in the past that has led to her current path. She veers from guilt over her previous actions, to desire to change her life to resorting to who everyone expects her to be when conflict arises. She is without doubt a fascinating, frustrating and compelling character. I admit that I went at times from feeling exhilarated by her lack of caution as she flings herself recklessly into dangerous situations to despair as she revisits old ‘mistakes’.
Secondly, the world building. Tali encounters a lot of obstructions along the way. This isn’t an easy journey, rife with people who want to use Tali for their own advancement, I was fascinated by the blood magic, in awe of the imagination and of course wowed by the dragons – which I’m not going to spoil here – but they come with some amazing surprises of their own. Also, I suggest you keep snacks on hand when reading this one – lots of lush descriptions of delicious sounding food.
This is a well written, deep and emotional read. It has plenty to entertain and yet doesn’t balk at taking a good strong look at the characters and digging below the surface level to explore who they really are.
In terms of criticisms, I don’t really have much to be honest. I mean, this is a long book – but it doesn’t feel long because there is plenty to keep you entertained. I think my biggest issue relates more to Tali and the fact that she reacts impulsively and doesn’t always make the wisest choices – but then she’s human, she makes mistakes.
Overall, this is an excellent second in series that leaves me very eager to pick up the third book (although I would like to wait for the audio so I can both read and listen again – I definitely recommend both versions)
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars
Booking Ahead/Weekly/Monthly Wrap Up
30 May 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Caffeinated Reviewer, Monthly Update, Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up
I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing a round-up of the week just completed and also take a look at my plans for the forthcoming week. I rather got out of the habit of doing this last year but I would like to reinstate this type of post as I feel it keeps me on track. So, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Last week:
The end of May is nigh so my weekly wrap up will also include a short monthly update. I have been busy this week again. I’ve done quite a bit of reading and I’ve managed to squeeze in three reviews. Of course, when you’re reading just as many books you never quite catch up. I went off plan a little but still reading review books so it’s all good. This week I’ve read three books and started two more. I read and already reviewed The Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean – spoiler alert – it was very good. I’ve also read and enjoyed Day Zero by C Robert Cargill and Near the Bone by Christina Henry. I’ve started my buddy read of The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and I’m about a third of the way through the audio version of Hyde by Craig Russell.
Hopefully complete Hyde by Craig Russell. I have three other books in mind, not that I anticipate reading them all, just I haven’t decided which to read first. The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley, For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten and Wendy Darling by AC Wise. Has anyone read any of these yet? Any thoughts?? Next Tuesday I will also be posting the first four SPFBO books that I’ll be reading this month.
- The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis
- The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
- The Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean
- Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop
- The Ikessar Falcon by KS Villoso
- The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
- Near the Bone by Christina Henry
- Day Zero by C Robert Cargill
My Monthly Feedback and plans for May.
Books read : 11 (assuming I finish Hyde which I hope to do:
- The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
- Later by Stephen King
- Ikessar Falcon by KS Villoso
- The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
- The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
- The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis
- The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
- Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean
- Day Zero by
- Hyde by
- Near the Bone
Reviews : 6
Books I’m hoping to read this month:
4 books (to be detailed next Tuesday) from my SPFBO books
Review books:
#SPFBO 7 Introductory Post
Today I’m taking the opportunity to post a brief outline of my process for this year’s SPFBO Competition. SPFBO 7 will begin on the 1st of June. Stage 1 of the competition lasts for five months and during that period each team/judge will read their 30 selected books before choosing a finalist.
I already took the opportunity a few days ago to announce that this year I will be teaming up with the Critiquing Chemist and her fellow boffin, (our posts can be found here and here). We’ve already split our books equally into two groups, we will be approaching the contest in a similar way and the Critiquing Chemist will also be posting soon to outline their approach.
At the start of each month I will post which books I will be reading during that month (these will be randomly selected using a number generator), at the end of the month I will provide an update of those books chosen and which ones I will be rolling forward. Between myself and the CC we will be aiming to read at least 30% of every book but the likelihood is that we will read much more than that.
As with previous years I will write full reviews for the books that I complete. Any books that I don’t read fully will receive short summaries.
Hopefully, the Book Gods being willing, we will be able to choose 5 or 6 SFs before narrowing our choice down to one.
For more information about the other judges and the books submitted this year check out Mark Lawrence’s post here.
You can also follow the competition on Twitter (#SPFBO) and through Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/122875124938545/
Check out this page for the results of the recent cover competition. So many beautiful, standout covers this year. Congratulations to the winners.
Finally, I would like to wish all the authors the best of luck. As with previous years, the best advice I can offer is to enjoy the competition as much as possible, make friends in the community and take part in as many events as possible. As with previous years I would like to extend an offer to any authors taking part to visit my blog either to post an excerpt, discuss covers or for a general interview.
Below are the list of books allocated to Team LB=TC2 :
- Deathborn by C.E. Page
- The End of the Line by David Nelson
- Orphan’s Rite by M Warren Askins
- Rising Shadows (The Pillar of Creation #1) by Phillip Blackwater
- Carrion by Alyson Tate
- Squire George & the Dragon by Adam Digger Stolz
- Stranded by Rosalind Tate
- As Fierce as Steel by Christopher P Walsh
- Iarraindorn by Philip Dickens
- Ghost Line by M.A. Poole
- By the Pact by Joanna Maciejewska
- Face of Glass by Damon L Wakes
- Stone Magus by Stephanie C Marks
- Blades Falling Softly by Sarah Lin
- Little White Hands by Mark Cushen
- Subversive (Clandestine Magic #1) by Colleen Cowley
- Dragon Birth by Raina Nightingale
- The Darkness that Slept by Tristen Kozinski and Keegan Kozinski
- Out of the Dust by Joe Coates
- The Ballad of the Songbird by Jon Ford
- Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned by Ashley Capes
- Children by Bjørn Larssen
- The Throne of Ice and Ash by J.D.L. Rosell
- Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater
- Berserker by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris
- Lycoris in Moonlight by Kova Killian
- Book of Secrets by Claudia Blood
- Hall of Bones by Tim Hardie
- One of Us by M. L. Roberts
- The Crown of Death by David Schratz
Friday Face Off : The Hood #wyrdandwonder
28 May 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #WyrdAndWonder, Books by Proxy, Eidyn #1, Friday Face off, Justin Lee Anderson, The Hood, The Lost War
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout. This week’s theme:
The Hood
May is the month of Wyrd and Wonder so for the FFO themes I’m choosing fantasy books. This is my last FFO that links to the Wyrd and Wonder event – I cannot believe we’re almost into the month of June. I’ll be writing a wrap up post shortly for what books I read this month.
I was looking forward to this week. I read quite a few fantasy books and hoods are quite often used on covers. I could do a medley but I already did a medley last week so instead I’ve chosen a very recent read and in fact the winner of the most recent Self Published Fantasy Blog Off competition. The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson is a very good book that I heartily recommend, and, unusually (for self published books) it has three covers to choose from all with hoods. Feast your eyes on these:
My favourite this week:
Do you have a favourite?
I’ve updated the list now to include themes for next year. If you know of an event that’s coming up let me know and I’ll try and include covers that work for the event itself so that you can link up to the Friday Face Off and, as always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know. Also, I would just mention that it’s very possible that some of these might be repeats from previous FFOs although I have tried to invent more ‘open ended’ prompt that can be interpreted differently and also prompts that relate to emotions. Finally, don’t struggle with any of these, this is meant to be a fun way of highlighting books. If you can’t come up with a book you think fits for a particular week use a freebie – perhaps a recent read for example:
Next week – The nose boop – any animal, or human, with a close up shot.
2021
June
4th – The nose boop – any animal, or human, with a close up shot.
11th – A cover that annoyed you and why
18th – Out of Perspective, or make you feel a bit dizzy
25th – Upside down, back to front or topsy turvy
July
2nd – A book with a landscape you’d like to visit
9th – A Wicked Grin
16th – Books with ‘book’ in the title
23rd – A Black Hole – could be in the universe or going deep into the ground
30th – Chaos – maybe too much going on in this one
August
6th – “They cluck their thick tongues, and shake their heads and suggest, os so very delicately!” – The Motel
13th – A favourite holiday read
20th – Dressed to kill (could be literally someone dressed to kill, or someone dressed up for a big night out
27th – Sunbathing or on the beach
September (RIP event)
3rd – 1920s feel, noir detective
10th – I’m Henry the Eighth I am – let’s look at Kings or other Emperors/rulers
17th – Books with ‘Murder’ in the title
24th – A favourite thriller
October
1st – A Halloween read
8th – Chills – anything at all that almost makes you too scared to pick up the book (your own pet hate)
15th – Your favourite book of magic
22nd – Books with ‘Queen’ in the title
29th – Must be gothic
November – Sci Fi Month
5th – Your earliest sci-fi read or the first sci-fi you reviewed
12th – A book with ‘star’ in the title
19th – Futuristic vista
26th – A Black Hole – in the universe or going deep into the ground
December
3rd – Windswept, the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way
10th – A fairytale retold
17th – Winter Solstice approaching – anything cold and seasonal
24th – All things fire – red hair, red covers, fire breathing dragons, simply fire?
31st – What’s your catnip – if it’s on a cover you have to pick it up
Books and travelling with Lynn 