SPFBO 4

SPFBO 4 Phase 1

Welcome to my not-so-official SPFBO page!

To find out what we were up to in the finals, please check out my SPFBO 4 Finals page!

Let’s get the formalities out of the way first:


What is SPFBO?

The Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off is hosted by none other than Mark Lawrence, author of The Broken Empire, The Red Queen’s War and The Book of Ancestor trilogies. 300 books compete, judged by 10 blogs and at the end of 10 long, bloody months 1 winner will emerge. You can find every detail on Mark’s SPFBO page along with the process of all 10 blogs in Phase 1.

What do I have to do with SPFBO?

I am honored to tell, that this year I act as advisor for Fantasy Book Review‘s judgeing team. What this means, is that I don’t make decisions, but I will read and review the semi-finalists picked by Emma, Adam and James, and will help to choose our finalist at the end of the year. I have plans to read some of the others in our group, depending on my time schedule, but can’t make any promises.

What this page is for?

I’d like to keep track of my and FBR’s progress. You will find a list of the authors and books in our lot, the reviews we post, my reviews of other SPFBO entrants I read this year or will read in the coming months. I also plan to post some interviews and guest posts exclusively offered to the authors in our group. You’ll find every relevant link and information here 🙂

Our 30, FBR’s process

As the other blogs, FBR got 30 books assigned to them. We have 3 judges, who each will pick 2 semi-finalists. They won’t write a review of every book. In the spread sheet below you can follow our process. Those who are marked with green got elected as semi finalists. Clicking on the rating you can read the review by the assigned judge. Where there is no rating, there is no review either.

TitleAuthorRating
Servant of the CrownPaul J. Bennett 
Dying to Meet YouS.C. Stokes 
Hero ForgedJosh Erikson8.3
The Endless OceanToby Bennett8.3
Defender of DragonsStaci Olsen 
Angel of DestructionVirgil Debique5.0*
The Mage TeamDavid J. Normoyle6.5
Carpet DiemJustin Lee Anderson 
Silver SerpentMichael DeAngelo 
Empty MonstersCat Hellisen 
The Boy Who Fell Through The SkyPeter North 
Blood in the SandM.J. Kobernus 
The Blighted CityScott Kaelen 
Symphony of the WindSteven McKinnon9.0
MorodaL.L McNeil 
Wards and WondersKay Ling 
City of ShardsSteve Rodgers7.5
DragonshadeAderyn Wood*
A Season of Pure LightC.J Erick*
Dragonia: Rise of the WyvernsCraig A. Price Jr 
Servant of RageA.Z Anthony7.3*
Revenant WindsMitchell Hogan7.8
I Woke Up EarlyDee Dickens 
Moonlight, Roses & MurderLorri Moulton 
Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)Jonathan Green6.5*
Dragon’s ReclaimSteven Smith 
Vincent, SurvivorO.L Eggert*
MabusDean Rencraft*
The ValeBrian D. Anderson8.5
TruthStoneMike Shelton 

*Adam decided to give a series of mini reviews for all of his 10 books, which you can find here on FBR’s blog!

My SPFBO reviews

FBR

My review can be reached by clicking on the rating.

TitleAuthorRating
Hero ForgedJosh Erikson4 / 8.0
Servant of RageA.Z. Anthony3.5 / 7.0
Symphony of the WindSteven McKinnon4.5 / 9.0
The Endless OceanToby Bennett3.5 / 7.5
Entrants in other groups

To read my review click on my rating, to read the assigned blog’s review click on their rating. Those who get elected as semi finalists will be marked with green. I usually use the 1-5 rating scale, but I converted them into a 1-10 scale too since SPFBO uses that.

TitleAuthorJudging BlogBlog’s RatingMy Rating
Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of SwordsBenedict PatrickThe Qwillery 4 / 8.0
KingsholdD. P. WoolliscroftLynn’s Book 4.25 / 8.5
We Ride The StormDevin MadsonBooknest 4 / 8.0
SongJesse TellerKitty G 3.5 / 7.0
Aching GodMike ShelThe Qwillery 3.75 / 7.5
The Great HeartsDavid OliverThe Qwillery 3.5 / 7.0
Sworn to the NightCraig SchaeferLynn’s Books 4 / 8.0

Guest post and interviews with authors of FBR’s group

Josh Erikson interview
 A.Z. Anthony: Lessons from Writing 1,000,000 Words in 2018 – guest post
Justin Lee Anderson interview
Lorri Moulton: Moonlight, Roses & Murder – excerpt
L.L. McNeil interview
Staci Olsen interview
Michael DeAngelo: Plot Generators: How to Always Have Ideas at the Ready – guest post + excerpt
Mitchell Hogan: Shadow of the Exile – excerpt (his SPFBO book is Revenant of the Wind)
Steven McKinnon interview
Mike Shelton interview
Aderyn Wood: Dragonshade – excerpt
Scott Kaelen interview
Toby Bennett interview
Steve Rodgers interview
Kay L. Ling interview
Steven Smith interview

Guest posts and interviews with past and present SPFBO participants

A.M. Justice: Soundtracks – guest post
Andy Peloquin: My Four Favorite Fantasy Anti-Stereotypes – guest post
Benedict Patrick interview
Damien Black interview
Jesse Teller: Waiting for the Sun to Go Down – guest post
Keith McArdle: So You Want To Be An Author? – guest post
Martin Owton: A Matter of Blood – short story
Megan Mackie: The Finder of the Lucky Devil excerpt
Ulff Lehmann interview
Ulff Lehmann: The Shrouded Evil – short story
D.P. Woolliscroft interview

To find out what we were up to in the finals, please check out my SPFBO 4 Finals page!