Indie Spotlight 1: Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off

So, this is a slightly belated introduction/ post on the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 2017, Mark Lawrence’s third annual self-publishing competition extravaganza. 300 fantasy novels are sent to 10 different bloggers who will, over the course of 2017, choose 1 winner. The one book to rule us all. Or something. As Mark Lawrence himself says:

“There’s no other prize. The winner will get the publicity of being the winner, plus the bonus of being reviewed on the blogs of 10 highly respected fantasy bloggers.

“Frankly you can’t buy better publicity than that.”

I missed the deadline last year by a matter of days, which was disappointing, but this time I was ready. I submitted Irons in the Fire a few months ago and am eagerly awaiting the results of Round One. The blogger my book was assigned to already posted the caveat that: “I’m not a particularly warm and fuzzy reviewer, but that’s not because I’m a dick.”

Which is, of course, encouraging.

I will admit that for about a split second, I did consider reading and review all or even most of my fellow SPFBO authors, but well there are 300 of us and not nearly enough hours in the day. So instead I thought I would take this opportunity to at the very least share them with anyone who is interested, starting with those who are in my group/ bracket. Maybe you’ll find something interesting.

 

The Devil’s Library: The Windhaven Chronicles by Watson Davis

A Rogue, A Renegade, and a Treasure Beyond Belief

Gartan finds a map to a treasure across the sea, and he decides he must have it. He plots and plans and refuses to be denied the greatest raid in history, even if he has to face down two of the greatest empires in the world.

And then the dragon arrives.

In this action-packed sword and sorcery novel of The Windhaven Chronicles, Watson Davis tells a tale of pride and greed, of magic beyond comprehension, and creatures beyond belief.

Life In The Fastlane: Brave New World by Philip Norris

An Empire past its prime struggles to hold onto what it has hoping to regain past glories.

A scientist trying to build on his father’s creation in the hope he can further mankind and bring an end to conflict.

A country torn by war that set brother against brother and nation against nation.

All three separate threads weave together to become one and result in ushering a new form of warfare that threatens to set the world on a path for all out war.

Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy

In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she’s willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

The Road To Cordia (A Cancordian Adventure Book 1) by Jess Allison

As far as her village elders are concerned, Ja’Nil, an orphan and of little consequence, is the perfect person to send on a dangerous mission. But the country is becoming more lawless by the day, how is a young girl from an isolated Fisherfolk village to know who is friend or who is foe? Only the mysterious golden haired Ee’Rick seems trustworthy, but what if she is wrong about him?

The Road to Cordia is the first book in the Cancordian series.

Wayfarers Highway by Peter Petrack

A camper travels the back roads of America, but it is not what it seems. Pursued by powerful forces: a mastermind, a maniac, and a terrorist, its crew wonders if they’ll ever reach Journey’s end.

When Eloise Corwin – a longtime patient in her desert hometown’s infirmary – finds a wounded young traveler sharing her sick room; she insists that he tell her about his adventures. The young man, Orson Gregory, tells her how he found and stole a glowing gemstone, hidden for decades beneath the government-built factory beside his family farm. He tells her how he’s been chased ever since – by mercenaries, by terrorists, and by other, stranger enemies. He tells her how he threw in his lot with a real adventurer, a mythology professor, an innkeeper, and a duo of hired guns on a cross-country journey to clear his name and return home – something he’s currently failing to do. To reach safety, the motley travelers will first have to deal with each other, evade the foes that follow their every move, and tangle with other forces both strange and powerful, their fellow travelers on the Wayfarers Highway.

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