Hello everyone! We were given 28 books in our allotment for this year’s Self Published Science Fiction Competition. It’s our job to narrow those books down to 3, which we’ll put forward into the finals to duke it out for bragging rights and a sweet ray gun. That time has come and, let me tell you, it was a tight race, with just tenths of a point separating the top competitors.
Before we get to that, though, I want to go over how we as a team decided to handle the process of elimination. We decided to divide our 28 books up evenly, with each of our team members getting a handful of books to read and score. We took great care to make sure that each book was read by at least two judges so that nothing was knocked out of the running due to a single person’s tastes or opinion. Some of our judges were able to read and score more than others, but each book was read by at least two people. From there, we were able to narrow our pile down to 8 quarterfinalists. Each of the quarterfinalists were then read and scored by each of our judges and the score averaged to determine their ranking. The top three go through to the next round as semifinalists in this year’s SPSFC.
One last thing before we get to it; it’s truly an honor to participate in the SPSFC as a judging team this year. Our whole identity at Escapist Book Co. is based around uplifting and celebrating excellent books and, more specifically, excellent self-published books. SPSFC, like its older sister competition, SPFBO, is a wonderful way to highlight terrific books that may otherwise get looked over. Additionally, reading is subjective so don’t forget to check out the books that don’t make the cut today. You might have a new favorite among the fallen.
Team Escapist’s 3 Semifinalists Are…
“Those Left Behind is everything a sci-fi fan wants in a great story. There are spaceships, unique alien species, war, mysteries of the universe slowly coming to light, hidden outposts, cyborgs, radiation magic, and of course humanity fighting to survive. While this might sound a little tropey for some of you book critiques out there, I argue that Scrimgeour has managed to tie all these up into a complete package that is well written and highly enjoyable.” – Neil
“This was one of my most anticipated to read when we chose initial allotments, and it didn’t disappoint. The tone and atmosphere of this first contact space opera was very clear from the first pages. Filled with ancient technology, memorable characters, and fantastic dialogue, Those Left Behind left its mark long after finishing.” – Ash
Those Left Behind received an average rating of 8.80!
“With unique and creative worldbuilding, a style of writing that is effortlessly funny and inventive, and a cast of characters that you can’t help but love, Debunked is a gem. It reminded me so much of the heart and humor of Terry Pratchett along with the adventure and wit of A Series of Unfortunate Events.” – Justin
“A fun filled adventure story.” – Jordan
Debunked received an average rating of 7.70!
“Clearly a well-edited book, with the polish and finesse of a traditionally published book. The story exhibited a defined beginning, middle and end, while entertainingly sticking to its storyline/throughline. Intelligently written, with captivating characters that stuck to who they were. Each character properly had an agenda, held agency and served to enhance the story. Being on the shorter side of a full novel, the story didn’t waste time with naval-gazing or boring segments of TMI.” – K.
Night Music received an average rating of 7.63!
Congratulations once again to Team Escapist’s Semifinalists and condolences to those that were cut!
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