What is SPFBO? Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.

I am teaming up again with the ladies from The Critiquing Chemist.

Today’s post is all about highlighting my second batch of  SPFBO books.  I have fifteen books altogether and I’m trying out a different process this year.  I’ve randomly chosen three batches of books, five per month for the first three months.  I most likely won’t start to make cuts until I have a good chunk of my reading underway.  As I previously mentioned I will be giving every book in my batch a fair chance to grab my attention so without further ado let’s take a look at my next five books:

Candle and Claw by Stephen James Taylor

Giovel Ullin’s job is to stop witches from crafting experimental magic and destroying the world. It’s a job he never wanted. Every time he hunts a witch, he’s reminded of the ones who stole his wife away and sent her back distant, delusional, and dying. Even worse, the same magic that ruined her life is now part of his​​-a tool Giovel’s expected to master for the sake of his duties.

When a coterie of witches begins systematically removing Giovel’s companions, he has little choice but to fight back. But the more he learns about his own power, the more he sees himself in the very witches he hunts.

Candle and Claw is the first volume in The Witherclaw Trilogy. Packed with hard magic, nuanced characters, and epic conflicts, Candle and Claw will appeal to fans of Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson.

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The Lich of Thandorien by Zak Dragon

Old high school classmates and current drinking buddies, Phil and Don find themselves transported into a Crypts & Crusades role-playing adventure they had abandoned five years earlier. If that wasn’t bad enough, it seems that some of the non-player characters, or Extra Dungeon Personalities (EDPs) as they now prefer to be called, have taken on a life of their own during the extended downtime and have veered away from the normal script. Fortunately for the daring duo, there is plenty of beer and they manage to get a little help along the way from an inquisitive but emotional ranger, a home-brewing, pub-owning dwarf and his ogre bartender, a grumpy old gardener and a host of other colorful characters. But will it be enough to defeat the crypt’s antagonist, locate a powerful relic and get out alive?

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The Blood of Crows by Alex C Pierce

Ren, a state-trained thief working in a world where everyone has magical ability except for him, doesn’t kill people.

Tensions are already high in the walled realm of Lenmar, and when the nobility start dying with no trace of magic that isn’t from the victims, Ren immediately becomes the prime, and only suspect. Hunted by magic-eating Inquisitors and the Captain of the Royal Guard, his life becomes one of flight and fear through a realm on the brink of civil war.

All Ren wants to do is stop a serial killer, clear his name, find his mentor, and protect the people he cares about.

To do that, he’ll have to pull one more high-stakes heist— And steal the proof he needs from the very people who want to catch him.

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Scarlight by Evid Marceau

A life saved is a soul owned.

When she was six years old, Bryn was saved from a wolf attack by a prince from a rival kingdom. Rangar Barendur’s people believe that a life saved is a soul owned, and ten years later, Rangar returns to collect his prize: Bryn. Yet Bryn is the youngest daughter of a ruthless royal family, and Rangar arrives on the night the Mir people rise up against their despotic rulers. With her castle on fire and most of her family dead, Bryn has no choice but to escape with Rangar’s help.

Is she rescued…or abducted?

Taken to Rangar’s wild seaside kingdom, Bryn slowly finds beauty in the harsh Outlands. There, she discovers magic is not the sin she’s been led to believe it is. Magic can heal the sick and summon rain for the crops. As she learns the full truth of her own family’s tyrannical rule and plans to take back her kingdom by the sword or by marriage, Bryn falls under the spell of each of the three Barendur brothers. But which one will end up with her hand—and her heart—not even magic can foretell.

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The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic of a Dead Wizard and an Average Bard by Kian N Ardalan

George is a legendary hero… wait, no. George is an incredibly powerful sorcerer…also no? Okay, fine. George is an unremarkable human bard who made a promise a long time ago. A promise that set him on a path to find the remains of Simantiar, the greatest wizard who ever lived. Though all that was left were bones, Simantiar was still very much alive and quite…underwhelming. This is their story.

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I can’t wait to tuck in – good luck everyone.