SPFBO 10 Semi-Finalist Reveal: Jen

This year, we decided to mix things up a bit and we are not waiting to finish up with the Elimination Round to start having Semi-Finalist Reveals as well. You can just never know what’s going to happen in this Asylum. It’s Jen’s turn to bring our fourth SPFBO 10 Semi-Finalist Reveal! She will share her thoughts on her remaining 3 titles, and tell you if she picked a semi-finalist!

A bit about our process ICYMI. Each of us cuts 2 of our titles in the Elimination Round. During the Semi-Finalist Reveal, we look at our remaining titles and at the end of the post we announce our semi-finalist. Fair warning: not all of us might pick a semi-finalist. Once we are all done, we’ll be reading each others’ picks and reviewing those titles individually. Finally, we reveal our finalist in October.

We’d like to thank each and every author who submitted their book to SPFBO this year. We know how hard it must be, but sadly, we can’t forward all of you to the finals. As a reminder, you can check out our SPFBO 10 page to see how we allocated our books and follow our progress.

In the Elimination Round, I said goodbye to two titles: Where Fate Whispers by E.G. Tudor and Silverskin by Caitee Cooper (full Elimination Round post here). Below are my thoughts about the rest of my batch, in alphabetical order:

The Dark Frontier Adventures: Dango by Jack Long

Dango, a retired half-elf army scout, sets out with his friends to start a quiet new life on The Dark Frontier. Maybe raise some tuskers, no more fighting. But fate has other plans.

Kidnapped by savage elves Dango must fight for survival, but escape is just the beginning of his trials as he finds himself embroiled in a struggle for dominance of the territory with the vicious Gradokk Gang.

Join Dango and his friends as they fight corrupt ranchers, murderous elves, and the mountains themselves.

Welcome to gritty and visceral chases, murders, pit fights, betrayals, battles, and redemption on The Dark Frontier with this volume of The Dark Frontier Adventures – DANGO!

Read: 100%

I had only skimmed the summary for The Dark Frontier Adventures: Dango and the cover in thumbnail made me think this was going to be sword and sorcery – the style was giving me Frazetta’s Conan cover vibes. I was a bit surprised to find it a Western! Once I opened it in my reader and got a better look, I could see the Louis L’amour inspirations in the cover.

Dango’s world has an early America’s kind of feel with The Empire moving to expand west, and for every able-bodied person willing to brave the wild Dark Frontier- the opportunities are there for them to settle and become land owners.

Dango a half-elf scout and his buddy Chatty, are two who are intent on taking advantage of those ripe for the picking land opportunities.

Dark Frontier Adventures: Dango was a very fast-paced read. The short chapters help lend to that speed along with lots action, violence, and surprisingly – comedy. It’s kind of this blend of classic western, fantasy, with touches of Mel Brooks/Blazing Saddles type of humour rolled into it.

I enjoyed the humorous tone and the outrageous characters made it fun to see who would be introduced next. I think the story got stronger as it went, especially as you get to know the personalities.

There were a few things in the beginning that threw me off – the time jump mostly. I think because it was such a short time, and because the next part was not low on the action-scale either so it did make me wonder why the choice, since it made it a bit choppy feeling but it does settle quickly.

Also later, the letters exchanged with the children, while they were rather funny – I had to wonder if they were really needed since they interrupted the flow, for the little amount of information that they gave us.

There are certain things I’d come to expect when I’m reading something that borrows or is inspired by a classic Western like this and we did get a bit of that with our gang of bad guys, shootouts, and hangings. But what I liked most here was that it wasn’t quite the expected stuff – for instance, the shootouts weren’t with guns but crossbows, and there was lots of knife-use and spears, which made it feel more fantasy to me.

As a huge fan of stuff like The Raid, John Wick, and all those silly MIA movies from the 80’s I have to say I quite enjoyed the showdown between Dango and Manjinn. It was quick, bloody and brutal and I loved that the characters were both capable and smart, and the win was not easy at all.

Dango might be a bit niche, being it’s a Western inspired fantasy – not something I see often (maybe I’m just not looking hard enough) and possibly a bit divisive depending on your humour-style and tolerance for cussing – the story has an older audience feel to it which I found a little refreshing tbh. Most of the humour worked for me, and I can tell you with a certainty of having worked with them, that nothing teaches you to cuss quite like working with cattle/livestock or in the case of The Dark Frontier Adventures – Tuskers.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this just for being so unlike the usual fantasy, while still being exactly what you expect… I know I did, but be warned it’s violent, dirty-mouthed, and all-around bloody fun.

BUY THE BOOK

ADD IT ON GOODREADS

Merewif: The Mermaid Witch by Amanda Adam

When Madge receives a moonstone necklace on her sixteenth birthday, she discovers she is not only a mermaid, but also, a witch.

Problem is, she never knew either existed in the first place.

As if wrapping her head around the fact that she’s a mermaid-witch isn’t enough, it also turns out her parents were royalty to her kind and didn’t die as she’s been told her entire life. Instead, they were murdered by her estranged aunt Viviane, who is now after her.

If Madge is to prove herself fit to lead her kind, she’ll have to hone her newfound Vala and unravel clues from her mother’s tome. But when Madge uncovers the dark power her murderous aunt wields, will she have what it takes to save them all?

Read: 100%

SPFBO has graced me with a few mermaid books over the years and not one has been like the other. I was pretty thrilled this one landed in my group though, because I do love mermaids. This was also quite a bit different for me, as it leans more into the contemporary fantasy side (or whatever subgenre this is) under a very broad YA-Adult umbrella.
There was so much I enjoyed about this story and I was surprised to find this was Amanda Adam’s debut book when I checked out her GR’s page.

The story – check out the summary it says it better and saves me extra space to gush about the book…

Merewif: The Mermaid Witch has a lot going for it, starting with a very likeable lead in Madge and the rest of the cast is just as enjoyable too. I loved Madge and her Grandpa Ollie. I loved the friendship between Madge and her bestie Ash, especially their willingness to accept the new girl Selene into their little circle, without any cattiness about her possibly being the girlfriend of the hot broody Max. I also liked how unsocial Max was at times; it gave me a chuckle when he’d be in a scene and not say a word.

There were a couple of moments character-wise that didn’t feel as smooth to me – mostly to do with reactions feeling a little extra. One with Selene comes to mind. Most of the time Selene was pretty chill and I enjoyed her character but then she has a bit of a meltdown making me question if she was pretending to be chill or if she was going to end up the Queen B after all.

Merewif does a decent job of feeding information within the context of the story and plays with stuff we know like Camelot/Greek mythology in creative ways… using it to fill-out the in-world stuff while making it into something new.

I found the story was pretty accessible all-around, even being an older adult. So, say when we do get a little lesson on energy exchange it’s easy to understand for a newbie while not being too much for the been-there-done-that crowd. Also the cast, though most were younger than my youngest child, never were too teen for me.

I found this to be a fun read that moves along at a nice pace with very little repetition or lessons on things that are so ingrained in society, that we know them without even knowing how we know them – something I appreciated a lot.

There were some typical YA tropes, like the hidden princess who is the only one who can do the thing that needs to be done, but Adam’s holds up all those special-girl tropes and says what we all are thinking… Hey, why are you so special? It kind of pokes fun here and there, lightening up the mood and making me snort a little because she seemed to be reading my mind every time.

The magic is fast and loose and just mostly done instinctively.

The atmosphere was freaking fantastic. I can’t say enough about this. It sometimes was creepy, especially with stuff like the haunting call of the sirens or the voices in the air. Sometimes it was just creative, like the sea nymph in the painting. Or it was just cool as heck, like the siren in the Treoliffruma tree.

What I really loved the most though was how Amanda made the scenes with Madge turning into a mermaid just incredibly cool.

The first, almost change, was so spiked with anticipation that I was holding my breath waiting for it to happen (don’t worry I never once forgot to let my breath out). Later on in the story, after the change, I loved the feeling of awe of Madge’s first swim!

These were things that really made the story stand out for me because I felt like I was experiencing it with her and I had the best time with this book for this reason.

Merewif: The Mermaid Witch is a solidly entertaining story. I loved it!

BUY THE BOOK

ADD IT ON GOODREADS

Wolf of Withervale by Joaquín Baldwin

An ambitious, sweeping saga. As epic as it is queer.

Lago was only a child when the shapeshifter entrusted the wolf-like mask to his care—an artifact so powerful that it could come to shape the entire world of Noss.

Now that he is coming of age, Lago is becoming ever more fearful of the ominous relic’s influence, of the empire who has scented its trail and is coming after it. Coming after him.

Aided by his best friend, an enigmatic scout, and his trusty dog, Lago seeks refuge in the vastness of the Heartpine Dome. The eighty-mile-wide structure had remained sealed for centuries, safeguarding more than mere secrets. Now that the dome’s entrails are stirring, the mysteries of the long-vanished Miscam tribes are coming to light, and the shapeshifting animal spirits are making their return.

Powers untold hide behind the blinkless eyeholes of the canid mask, powers that could tip the balance in the war. Lago is barely beginning to learn how to wield the dark visage, but he can already feel its potential.

… And he can feel a different change coming, deep in his marrow.

Riveting in scope and worldbuilding, and exquisitely illustrated by the author, this tale of transformation and self-discovery is filled with unabashed wonder and a lust for places unknown. A profoundly queer adventure that explores sexuality, our connections to other species, unconventional kinds of love, and the very nature of consciousness.

Wolf of Withervale is the first installment of the Noss Saga, an epic LGBTQ+ fantasy series.

Read: 100%

My notes for the Wolf of Withervale were just ridiculous, so hold on to your hats because this is going to be a long one. I even cut two pages off this because Timy said 500 words, which obviously she forgot who is writing this and was joking, right?

The Wolf of Withervale is an incredibly ambitious story; a complex blending of races and world-building, with a future-recovered world built on the collapse of ours. It’s familiar, beautiful, and strange all at once.

The story begins with a grandma’s dying wish to have a mask returned to her grandson, via our main character Lago and builds from there.

Wolf is a slower kind of building story in the way of most fantasy epics. For the most part, there was always something keeping me turning the pages and interested. A lot of the wonder of this world was in the joy of discovering, and in the relationships/friendships that the characters built while doing so. I loved those moments, especially when you could feel the importance of what they were learning.

The story never settled in one place for too long, at least in the first half, though there were times I wished it had settled in more in the places it didn’t, and moved on more in the places it did. If that makes sense.

I adored Lago. He’s kind of an underdog in some ways but doesn’t allow himself to be tromped down. He’s smart, curious, and he kept me invested in his life. I’m probably a bit old-school but there’s nothing I like more than having a lead that is genuinely great, because when I am spending this many pages with them, I want to enjoy their company.

I also adored Alaia and Lago’s friendship/found family relationship (if you read my reviews, you’ll know by now that this is my jam in any book) and also the time Lago spent with Crysta and others at the monastery. Everything about that time, let me experience and learn the world that Lago lives in, care about the life/family he has built for himself, all while building the anticipation for the tipping point when you knew it was going to all come crashing down. And it does splendidly.

In the first part of the Wolf of Withervale, I could feel the story building into an Avatar-esque/Fern Gully kind of feel, with the Negian Empire coming to use all the resources of these clans that are tightly balanced to their surroundings with nature, etc. I was ripping through the pages as fast as my little ebook could turn them.

The trip to the Heartpine dome and the time spent in it, was everything I hoped for, and from the way the story felt like it was building in the beginning, I thoroughly expected the events of this book to take place during the time spent travelling and discovering the one dome, only.

The story slowed a lot in the second half. That’s not to say I didn’t love it to pieces. I did. Just not with the same page-turning fervor of the first half. The fact that I think of the story in two halves probably says a lot about how different they felt to me.

The back-end while still epic, essentially felt more like a cozy fantasy version of Attenborough’s The Living Planet. You know, like the ones where they follow a cute little field mouse around, show you their families and them stuffing their cheeks full, and then, bam! A snake eats them on the way home to their little mouse family… just kidding that didn’t quite happen here but I did keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the book to race to a big finish.

Though the storytelling in the back half was just as strong and Banook was just as loveable as the rest of the group, I found myself getting antsy and counting remaining chapters.

I think mostly it was the pacing/tonal shift.

That and the focus was more on the exploring and building of Lago and Banook’s relationship and it almost felt like we were starting over. Lago was still front and center, but the friends in his group faded to the background, along with the events with the Negian Empire that were building outside of this bubble of our group. They were there, but you’d almost forget about them between stop-ins to see what they were up to.

We did have a few side-trips and lots of stories and lore being told-which were amazing btw (and would make great extra content) and even though Banook was the sweetest old man bear you ever did see… I think by this point I had become a little exhausted by the sheer amount of information, coupled with the group being mostly static for so long at their safe place. I was more than ready to move on, long before we actually did.

And here it is… my favourite criticism; this could have stood dropping a couple of hundred pages. Even if the book is the tightest written thing I have read in a while and I am enjoying the hell out of it, if I begin checking the percentage bar is a good sign to me that it has more baggage than it needs or I’d prefer.

Despite my complaints about length, I enjoyed the hell out of this story and I’m positive I could go on about this book for another three pages because it was pretty damned amazing.

There was so much I didn’t even touch on in this review- like the excellent use of breadcrumbing, or the conversations, or how alive/real everyone felt. Nor have I scratched the surface of the Negian Empire, The Red Stag, or anything to do with the “bad guys” or to do with the cultures, the shifting, or even the masks. And let’s not forget the authors’ gorgeous illustrations throughout the book.

In fact, I pretty much left all the cool stuff unsaid, so that you all can experience the Wolf of Withervale for yourself. What a story!

BUY THE BOOK

ADD IT ON GOODREADS

This was the toughest choice I’ve made in my 6 years of SPFBO. Like even harder than when I had to choose between Benedict Patrick’s To Dream and Die as a Taniwha Girl and Damien Shillingford’s I Am King.

All three of these were in the running and I wanted so badly, if I couldn’t have all three to at the very least send a couple forward. But it just wasn’t feasible or fair to the rest of my group – who also had the hard choices to make within their batches.

Regardless of my choice, The Dark Frontier: Dango, Wolf of Withervale, and Merewif: The Mermaid Witch, all are very worthy of being semi-finalist material.

They’re all so different and each of them offers something special and unique in their own way. I do hope this helps them garner some readers because they deserve eyes upon them. So please, give the ones that I had to leave behind your attention as well.