August is here and with it my thoughts on the first five books for the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off.  For more details on the first five books drawn check out this post.  I am intending to read 20% of each book and if one really grabs my attention to carry on and complete that particular book.

Without further ado here are my thoughts:

The Saga of Dirt and Poncho by Clayton D Baker and Michael H Kuecker

This is an unusual book so far and is the one I intend to continue reading.  I won’t say too much about this one here as I will review it once complete but at the moment it has me intrigued.  I can’t deny that there are a few mistakes here and there but because it has me wanting to know what happens next I’m currently overlooking those.

The Emperor’s Horn by Jordan R Murray

I thought the Emperor’s Horn was likable to the point I read up to – 20% – but, as I’ve decided to read no more than 20% I can’t really say that I’ve got a good feel for what the story is really about at this point.  I think the writing and attention to detail is good – maybe even a little bit overly so – but I don’t have any negatives other than not enough has happened at this point to draw me further in and I’ve reached my cut off point.  I would say it’s quite a gentle read and perhaps as an introduction to fantasy for a young person it might work well although maybe the pace needs to be picked up a bit.

Wishful Thinking by James Beach

I’m not sure if this really is a self published novel to be honest as I don’t seem to be able to find it anywhere.  I don’t want to be discouraging though so I have read it – there was approximately 30 pages and it was submitted as a word document.  I wouldn’t say the story worked for me, there was a lot of dialogue and jumping about, it was an original idea but far too short to ever be a serious contender for this contest.  For clarity: I’m not saying that a book has to be a tome to be considered worthy – just that at 30 pages this is more of a short story.

The Tralls of Nindarry by Gayle Torrens

I think this book is aimed at a much younger age group to be honest.  The writing is quite promising but for the percentage that I read I felt there was too much repetition in terms of Germaine having flash backs – again, I don’t want to be overly critical but I thought considering the age group this seems to be aimed at perhaps the action should be a bit more forthcoming and the reminiscing could be more in the form of occasional flashbacks in between.  It felt like the story should have made considerably more progress by the time I reached 20%, as it is by the time I reached my cut off point I didn’t feel a strong enough pull to continue.

Sand and Storm by Patty Jensen

I think this made an interesting start although maybe a little bit ambitious in terms of what’s going on.  It’s not that the book is too fast paced but more that the ideas at this stage leave me puzzled and with my 20% cut off point the book hasn’t grabbed my attention enough.  It’s a shame really as there are some interesting ideas but at the moment they’re failing to grab my attention in a way that makes me want to return to the book after putting it down, I haven’t really been able to form a connection with any of the characters and I’m a bit perplexed by the world itself.  No doubt some of that could be resolved reading forward so I don’t want to discourage others from reading.

I will post shortly with the next five books that I intend to pick up.