REVIEW:2015 Self-Publish Fantasy Blog Off Final Round

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It has been a rough but rewarding slog as I finish up the final nine books in Mark Lawrence's Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. However, at long last I am finished. As I did in the knockout rounds, I will give a brief synopsis about the books and then my thoughts. I figured I would also talk about the runner up and finally, will give my thoughts about the winner. I will say that each of the books covered the gambit of the genre so it made for some interesting reads and kept me from seeing the same themes over and over. Lastly, before I go into the reviews I want to thank Mark Lawrence for the opportunity to take part in the challenge.

1. Weight of a Crown by Tavish Kaeden

Thousands dream of it; still more die for it. Yet once obtained, how many can truly bear it?

After centuries of bitter conflict the realm of Esmoria is at last united under the banner of a single king. On the surface the realm appears to be enjoying its first taste of peace, but lingering resentment and the untimely death of the new ruler threaten to return Esmoria to political chaos.

Meanwhile, in the farthest reaches of the frozen north, a dethroned monarch’s plot for revenge awakens a long-forgotten evil. As darkness and treachery descend upon the realm, a young escapee from a forced labor camp, a disenfranchised soldier, and an epileptic engraver’s apprentice find themselves at the heart of the troubles.

This book had a lot going for it as it felt epic in scale but my biggest complaint was that it seemed to tell me instead of showing me. There was a lot of descriptions that could have benefited the reader had it been shown or talked about.
Score 7/10

2. Soul for Trouble by Christa McHugh

Arden Lesstymine (known to everyone as Trouble) likes attention as much as the next girl, but this is
getting ridiculous. When an insane stranger is murdered at the inn where she works, Trouble becomes the next Soulbearer for the disembodied god of chaos, Loku. Yes, it comes with the ability to channel the god’s limitless power, but at the cost of her sanity — literally. Now she has a sexy but cynical knight claiming to be her protector, a prince trying to seduce her to his cause (and his bed), and a snarky chaos god who offers a play-by-play commentary on it all, whether she wants to hear it or not. To make matters worse, a necromancer wants to capture the soul of Loku for his own dark purposes, and the only way he can get it is by killing her first.

This was my choice for the final round and you can read my full review here.

3. Bloodrush by Ben Galley

"Magick ain't pretty, it ain't stars and sparkles. Magick is dirty. It's rough. Raw. It's blood and guts and vomit. You hear me?"

When Prime Lord Hark is found in a pool of his own blood on the steps of his halls, Tonmerion Hark finds his world not only turned upside down, but inside out. His father's last will and testament forces him west across the Iron Ocean, to the very brink of the Endless Land and all civilisation. They call it Wyoming.

This is a story of murder and family.

In the dusty frontier town of Fell Falls, there is no silverware, no servants, no plush velvet nor towering spires. Only dust, danger, and the railway. Tonmerion has only one friend to help him escape the torturous heat and unravel his father's murder. A faerie named Rhin. A twelve-inch tall outcast of his own kind.

This is a story of blood and magick.

But there are darker things at work in Fell Falls, and not just the railwraiths or the savages. Secrets lurk in Tonmerion's bloodline. Secrets that will redefine this young Hark.

This is a story of the edge of the world.

This had the feel of the old west meets the fairy world. While it was quite bloody and violent in some scenes, there were times when it had a distinct YA voice at times. To an extent, the main character felt like Lawrence's Jorg at times where the young boy would be wise beyond his years.

Score 7/10

4. City of Burning Shadows by Barbara J. Webb

Joshua “Ash” Drake is a man in hiding.


Hiding from the past, from the horror of his life as a priest after the gods disappeared.

Hiding from his emotions, denying the nightmares that haunt his sleep and the anger that fuels his days.

Most of all, hiding from the truth—that no matter how much he keeps his head down, no matter how he clings to the echoes of everyday life, his city—his world—is dying.

When a new technology offers salvation to his desperate city, Ash must reach out to people he left behind and step back into the world that almost killed him. But coming out of hiding now could be the worst mistake Ash has ever made.

Because there are monsters in the darkness, feeding the chaos, watching the city burn. And once those monsters know his name, Ash will never be able to hide again.

A former priest from a dead religion now works for a legal firm and takes on a case. There was a lot to unpack here as there are a pantheon of gods and several different races to account for. Then you have a populace that is ahead of us technologically and the inclusion of magic. The book definitely didn't shy away from building a new world but it was a lot to take on and there was a mystery too.

Score 7/10

5. Priest by Matthew Colville

For centuries the people of Ollghum Keep relied on the knights of the Green Order to protect them from the horrors of the haunted wood. Now, as before, a monstrous army marches on their small town. But this time, the Green Order is nowhere to be found.

The Bishop sends the priest Heden into the wood, to find out why. Arriving at their secret priory, Heden discovers their commander is dead, the remaining knights paralyzed with despair. They will not act, they will not tell him what happened, and with each hour the monstrous army gets closer to Ollghum Keep. Thousands will die if the priest fails.

When the knights start dying one by one, Heden must race to unravel the conspiracy of silence and save the knights from themselves so they can save the people they were sworn to guard.

This was my lowest scoring book, I just didn't care for how dated the book felt. It was easy and entertaining to read but just felt like it was written a few decades ago. The character of Heden was also the only fleshed out character in the book, others felt one and two dimensional. However, if you are hankering for a little bit of nostalgia this book might be up your alley.

Score 6/10

6. Shattered Sands by W.G. Saraband

For years, Tamazi felt she was nothing like the other slave-girls. It was not until her master
disappeared, the Great Vizier of the desert kingdom of Rilmaaqah, that a power older than the sands themselves took hold of her; a power that could finally free her, or enslave her forever.

Rilmaaqah is in chaos. The fires of rebellion spread, and the winds of change threaten the Mageocracy, as the common people rise with the courage to claim their share. But the sands hide many things, and it falls to an unlikely group of people to put a stop to death, before she sings her lullaby to the living.

This book will grab you fairly early, as the world in which the author has created has a very unique and distinct feel. While I rated it high, I think it would have rated higher had there not been some jarring sentence structure and expressions that took me out of the moment. It is worth checking out.

Score 8/10

7. Sins of Sovereignty by Plague Jack

From their prisons, the old gods watch, and wait.

Calcifer, the arrogant and obtuse sorcerer turned monster hunter, wants nothing more than to bleed his country of its gold, and return to his lover. When she is assaulted and her mind is left in tatters, Calcifer seeks vengeance by any means necessary.

Sir Clark Pendragon has murdered more men than he cares to remember. Tired and battle scarred, the old knight just wants to live out his last days in peace. When he is needed to stop an assassination, Pendragon is ripped from his retirement and sent north to save his country one final time.

Shrike, keeper of Amernia's secrets, spends his days combing through letters in search of blackmail. Cunning, and with a mind sharper than a blade, Shrike's luck is slowly running out, as sinister shadows conspire against him.

War is coming to Amernia, and the Blood Queen stands at the heart of the chaos. A wave of hatred ripples across her country, and she maintains order with fire and fear. The rift between rich and poor, human and nonhuman, divides the kingdom more everyday, as a spectral rider streaks across the sky, heralding the death of kings.

The fates of Calcifer, Pendragon, Shrike, and the Blood Queen are hopelessly intertwined, and new alliances will be forged and broken as war threatens to tear Amernia asunder.

This book had to work hard to keep my attention. Mainly because the main character's name was Pendragon. The name is synonymous with King Arthur, which automatically made me skeptical. There is no mistaking this book for anything but grimdark with plots within plots and excellent world-building. My one minor complaint was the dialogue, it felt a little off at times. Some of the themes of the book had a Dragon Age feel to them in how they dealt with racism.

Score 7/10

8. Under a Colder Sun by Greg James

Khale the Wanderer: dark warrior of legend, a reaver with a demon’s soul. King Alosse: ruler of

Colm, willing to risk everything to save his city and its people. Princess Milanda: an innocent, kept pure since birth, unknowing of her fate. Neprokhodymh: the cursed city of sorcerers where Khale must make a choice that will scar him for life, or fall into darkness forever.

If there was going to be a successor to the Conan books, look no further. The author will definitely draw some comparison as Khale exhibits many of the same traits. The one difference is that Khale is an anti-hero, his previous deeds make him something to fear but also to be reviled. It was a nice change of pace even though many of the themes were familiar.

Score 7.5/10

9. RUNNER UP What Remains of Heroes by David Benem

Lannick deVeers used to be somebody. A hero, even. Then, he ran afoul of the kingdom’s most powerful general and the cost he paid was nearly too much to bear. In the years that followed, his grief turned him into a shadow of his former self, and he spent his days drowning his regrets in tankards of ale.

But now an unexpected encounter casts Lannick upon an unlikely path to revenge. If he can just find the strength to overcome the many mistakes of his past, he can seize the chance to become a hero once more.

And with an ancient enemy lurking at the kingdom’s doorstep, he’d better…

Make no mistake, this is a tale of vengeance and done quite well. The author does a good job of setting up the characters and putting all of the chess pieces on the board before taking them off the board. The biggest issue I had with the book is that at times it felt like he was going to give me something special only to tone it down a notch and played it safe giving me not quite the satisfaction of seeing what the reader really wanted.

Score 8.5/10

10. WINNER The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids by Michael McClung

They butchered Corbin right out in the street. That’s how it really started. He was a rogue and a thief,
of course. But then, so am I. So when he got himself hacked up in front of his house off Silk Street, I decided somebody had to be made to pay. They thought that they could just sweep him away like rubbish. They were wrong."

Amra Thetys is a thief with morals: She won't steal from anybody poorer than she is. Fortunately, anybody that poor generally doesn't have much worth stealing! But when a fellow thief and good friend is killed in a deal gone wrong, Amra turns her back on burglary and goes after something far more precious: Revenge.

In full disclosure, I have read the previous short story by the author, The Thief who Spat in Luck's Good Eye (REVIEW HERE)so I was familiar with the characters ahead of time, although it had been some time since I had read the first short story and had forgotten some of the elements. Another story of revenge, only this time it was fleshed out really well. The author does a great job setting the tone. My one complaint is that the pacing at times felt sluggish and it resulted in a few scenes feeling a little to long in the tooth.

Score 9/10
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