#SPFBO – Not a Review : Finalist Reading Schedule, Book #2
14 December 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO, Book #2, Not a Review, Reading Schedule, Robert H Fleming, The Fall of Erlon

300 books 10 Judges 1 winner
The 1st of June marked the start of the sixth Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (details here.) My Introductory post is here. Stage 1 is now complete and the finalists can be found here .
During Stage 2 I will read, review and score the remaining 9 finalists as will the other judges until a winner is revealed. As with previous years I have given each of the 9 books a number and randomly selected a reading order. Today’s post is to highlight the second book I will be reading and provide information regarding that particular finalist. The first finalist I read was Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire. This was a great start to the finals and my review can be found here.
My second finalist will be :
The Fall of Erlon (The Falling Empires Saga #1) by Robert H. Fleming |
The Fall of Erlon is the finalist selected this year by The Critiquing Chemist. Their review can be found here and below is the description and author details:
As empires burn, heroes must rise.
Elisa Lannes was once heiress to the mighty Erlonian Empire. But when her mother abandons the empire and her emperor father is defeated on the battlefield and sent into exile, the world she would rule collapses around her. As enemies converge on the capital, Elisa must join with the last of the empire’s loyal soldiers to escape the evil that hunts her and her family.
With the help of her father’s generals, can Elisa find the strength to fight for her people? Or will a twist in the tide of the empire’s last war awaken an evil far greater than the enemy’s blade?
The Fall of Erlon is the first in the new military fantasy series from author Robert H. Fleming. If you like deep fantasy worlds filled with colorful characters and massive battles, the gods and generals of the Falling Empires Saga is for you.
#SPFBO – Not a Review : Finalist Reading Schedule, Book #1
15 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO, Book 1, Patrick Samphire, Reading Schedule, Shadow of a Dead God

300 books 10 Judges 1 winner
The 1st of June marked the start of the sixth Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (details here.) My Introductory post is here. Stage 1 is now complete and the finalists can be found here .
During Stage 2 I will read, review and score the remaining 9 finalists as will the other judges until a winner is revealed. As with previous years I have given each of the 9 books a number and randomly selected a reading order. Today’s post is to highlight the first book I will be reading and provide information regarding that particular finalist.
Without further ado my first finalist will be :
Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire |
Shadow of a Dead God is the finalist selected this year by Fantasy Faction. Their review can be found here and below is the description and author details:
A dead god. A brutal murder. A second-rate mage.
It was only supposed to be one little job – a simple curse-breaking for Mennik Thorn to pay back a favor to his oldest friend. But then it all blew up in his face. Now he’s been framed for a murder he didn’t commit.
So how is a second-rate mage, broke, traumatized, and with a habit of annoying the wrong people supposed to prove his innocence when everyone believes he’s guilty?
Mennik has no choice if he wants to get out of this: he is going to have to throw himself into the corrupt world of the city’s high mages, a world he fled years ago. Faced by supernatural beasts, the mage-killing Ash Guard, and a ruthless, unknown adversary, it’s going to take every trick Mennik can summon just to keep him and his friend alive.
But a new, dark power is rising in Agatos, and all that stands in its way is one damaged mage…
Patrick Samphire is the author of the adult fantasy novel SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, as well as the middle grade novels SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB and THE EMPEROR OF MARS. He has also published around twenty short stories and novellas.
Patrick has been writing stories since he was fourteen years old and thought it would be a good way of avoiding having to sit through English lessons at school. He was absolutely convinced that he would be famous by the time he was eighteen, but sadly, even infamy has eluded him.
He lives in Wales, surrounded by mountains, with his wife, their sons, and their cat.
When he’s not writing, he designs websites and ebooks.
He will now stop talking about himself in the third person.