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.
| Title | Author | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Paul J. Bennett | ||
| S.C. Stokes | ||
| Hero Forged | Josh Erikson | 8.3 |
| The Endless Ocean | Toby Bennett | 8.3 |
| Staci Olsen | ||
| Virgil Debique | 5.0* | |
| David J. Normoyle | 6.5 | |
| Justin Lee Anderson | ||
| Michael DeAngelo | ||
| Cat Hellisen | ||
| Peter North | ||
| M.J. Kobernus | ||
| The Blighted City | Scott Kaelen | |
| Symphony of the Wind | Steven McKinnon | 9.0 |
| Moroda | L.L McNeil | |
| Kay Ling | ||
| City of Shards | Steve Rodgers | 7.5 |
| Aderyn Wood | * | |
| C.J Erick | * | |
| Craig A. Price Jr | ||
| A.Z Anthony | 7.3* | |
| Revenant Winds | Mitchell Hogan | 7.8 |
| Dee Dickens | ||
| Lorri Moulton | ||
| Jonathan Green | 6.5* | |
| Steven Smith | ||
| O.L Eggert | * | |
| Dean Rencraft | * | |
| The Vale | Brian D. Anderson | 8.5 |
| Mike 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.
| Title | Author | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Hero Forged | Josh Erikson | 4 / 8.0 |
| Servant of Rage | A.Z. Anthony | 3.5 / 7.0 |
| Symphony of the Wind | Steven McKinnon | 4.5 / 9.0 |
| The Endless Ocean | Toby Bennett | 3.5 / 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.
| Title | Author | Judging Blog | Blog’s Rating | My Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords | Benedict Patrick | The Qwillery | 4 / 8.0 | |
| Kingshold | D. P. Woolliscroft | Lynn’s Book | 4.25 / 8.5 | |
| We Ride The Storm | Devin Madson | Booknest | 4 / 8.0 | |
| Song | Jesse Teller | Kitty G | 3.5 / 7.0 | |
| Aching God | Mike Shel | The Qwillery | 3.75 / 7.5 | |
| The Great Hearts | David Oliver | The Qwillery | 3.5 / 7.0 | |
| Sworn to the Night | Craig Schaefer | Lynn’s Books | 4 / 8.0 |
Guest post and interviews with authors of FBR’s group
Guest posts and interviews with past and present SPFBO participants
To find out what we were up to in the finals, please check out my SPFBO 4 Finals page!