Welcome to my first round of reviews for SFINCS 2! I’m just one judge representing Team Swordsworn this year for the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship AKA SFINCS. Our team has been allocated twenty books, and I fully intend to read all of them before helping the team choose our semi-finalists.
You can learn more about SFINCS and our allocated books here.
So this year, my process is to read each book in alphabetical order and then review five books together for a total of four rounds. I’ll give each book a fair shake by reading then to 100% and sharing my honest thoughts. Bear in mind that this review does not represent the opinion or final rating of the team.
We’ve now reached the fourth and final batch of my reviews! This means I’ve now read all twenty of Team Swordsworn’s books, each to 100%. What happens next is that the rest of my team will finish reading these books as well and we’ll decide which to name our semi-finalists and finalist! Thank you to all authors for submitting their books. I’ve had a great time reading them, and I wish you all luck for the decisions to come.
You can still read the first batch, second batch, and third batch of reviews. Here is the fourth and final round:
The Whisper that Replaced God by Timothy Wolff
Murder is just, so long as it serves the crown.
Hidden behind a mask and with a dagger in his sheath, Mute serves the crown with pride. A fair life, if not a monotonous one. But his next contract nicks too close, for murder within a brothel is always nasty business, especially the one which Mute frequents. The brothel his Dorothy works, his Dorothy who awaits Mute and only Mute. Surely none would dare touch her, for if they did, royalty or not, they would fall to Lord Mute, the Silent God’s chosen one. They would scream…
And not a sound would be heard.
I was expecting this to be quite dark fantasy. I wasn’t expecting it to be hilarious! This is the story of Mute, a royal assassin who wears a mask and also has the unique ability to silence all sounds around him for a brief time – a special power granted from the Silent God, and one that is feared across the realm. One day, Mute is tasked with an assassination in a brothel that he frequents, but it all goes wrong when he catches his uncle bedding his favourite lady. This then starts an unfortunate journey where Mute is offered an opportunity – assassinate his brother, the king, and become king himself.
Mute’s quest is naturally filled with bloodshed and comes with a few harsh life lessons, especially about being careful for what you wish for. I believe this story is a standalone, though it felt like it could belong to a much larger story, and that I would certainly like to see a larger story where Mute’s past, life, and relationships were fleshed out more. Mute himself struck me as an assassin version of Forrest Gump to begin with. He’s got a dark sense of humour and a quip for every situation, but he’s also a bit dim.
I don’t think this type of humour will be for everyone, but that said, I enjoyed Mute’s antics and the author’s writing style, and will definitely check out more of the author’s books!
To Catch a Witch by E.L. Montague
Caught in a scandal with Lord Arle that draws the attention of King Harald’s Inquisition, Shenagh is forced to flee her home into the Dark Wood. The young hedge witch, pursued by Master Macon den Lough and his henchman, Cobb, is tested by the forest’s rugged terrain, dangerous predators, and legendary monsters.
I said in my preview of this book that I’d always take the side of the witch, and that hasn’t changed! This story begins with a witch hunter-type questioning an event that he believes was caused by a hedgewitch on the run. Armed with information, he and his henchman go on the hunt. The POV then switches to our heroine, a young girl from unfortunate circumstances who was forced to flee into the forest. She knows she can’t go back, which means there’s only one way forward – through the foreboding dark woods, said to be filled with dangers and mythical monsters.
This then begins a cat and mouse-like chase as the POV’s switch between hunter and hunted. Shenagh, our young witch, is desperate. She ran away with no clothes, no provisions, and a magical sickness coursing through her. But she’s determined, resourceful, and knows enough about herbs and potions to get her through. I really enjoyed her journey through the dark woods, and all the dangers she stumbled into. I especially loved that the author didn’t hold back on describing certain elements of Shenagh’s plight, with some artfully described situations that made me cringe. This certainly felt like a mature fantasy story.
Sadly for me, the ending was a tad inconclusive, and hinted towards a future series I’d love to read more of, but having looked at the author’s Goodreads page, I don’t see any related works. Perhaps the author could enlighten me!
Unburnt: a speculative firefighter novella by A.M. Weald
A different kind of superhero story…
After emerging unscathed from the house fire that killed his father, Ed Stoneman had recurring dreams about rescuing himself as a boy, sitting amongst the flames, unburnt. The dream stopped once he became a firefighter, later earning the nickname of “Dodge” by surviving a lethal flashover fire. Dodge embraced his supernatural imperviousness to the heat of fire by going in when no one should, breaking the rules of rescue because he had to, because he could. With the Wyoming steppe becoming increasingly arid and fires igniting every few days, his ‘talent’ is needed now more than ever.
On his 50th birthday, Dodge dreams of the boy not on fire for the first time in over 30 years. Chalking it up to stress, he thinks nothing of it. With retirement from active fire duty in his near future, he’s depressed and aimless. Other than firefighting, what purpose does he have? Twice divorced and childless, believing himself to be infertile in exchange for his superpower of unknown origin, he has no one to confide in but his cat, and he daydreams of walking into a wildfire just to see if he’d finally burn. But when he answers an emergency call about a local house fire, renewed purpose greets him in the flames, making him question everything he once believed.
Unburnt is probably the most unique entry in my batch of books. It’s more contemporary in style, and is about Dodge, a firefighter who’s just turned fifty and is contemplating what to do with the rest of his life. Part of his dilemma is the strange ability he’s been hiding – the ability to avoid being touched by flames. Somewhat handy for a firefighter! In this story, Dodge battles with feelings of depression while also battling flames, but everything changes when he rescues a young girl from a fire who seems to possess the same ability he does…
What I loved about this story was how much thought and research had gone into creating a believable firefighter. The book comes with a glossary of firefighting terms, and I liked how these firefighting scenes were handled throughout. I also appreciate reading a story from the POV of an older character, and all the stresses that come with turning fifty.
The story did feel a little predictable in places, but my main gripe is that, even with Dodge’s unique ability, I’m just not sure there are enough speculative elements that fit this contest. The story also ended just before the reveal of a secret, and that’s rather mean!
War of the Hounds by David Hopkins
A gripping tale set in the world of The Dryad’s Crown
Bren Caius is a living legend, the greatest warrior of her age. But much of her legacy is a lie, fabricated by those in desperate need of a champion.
The War of the Hounds is an epic tale of war against gnolls and other evil creatures that truly felt much larger than a novella. The story is somewhat split in two – it begins with a traveling group of performers from the POV of a younger boy forced to wear a squirrel suit as part of his act. These performers regularly act out the events of the above war, one of the darkest periods in their history, which focuses on the war hero of Bren Caius. As the act begins, the POV then shifts to Bren herself and shows the real side of war that may have been exaggerated in the bard’s tales. The story sometimes shifts back into the POV of the performers, but generally stays with Bren’s timeline as the war plays out.
And it’s a bloody war with difficult decisions. What I most liked about this book is also what I disliked about it – Bren Caius herself. She’s a rough character with plenty of her own ghosts. As leader of the war effort, she really has no time for bullshit, and I loved the fact that she was no dainty hero, but the way she treated her soldiers and comrades also bordered on cruelty, making her unlikable to me. This is, of course, part of the theme – the bards may sing of her legendary status, but was she a good person?
While this story was definitely an epic, it didn’t quite work for me. Telling the story as a play was an interesting angle, but it lowered the suspense in my opinion, as we were told the outcome of events and the story may have been stronger without this. I also wasn’t sure why it was told from the POV of a child, who didn’t seem to add to the story at all. That said, if you like military fantasy or epic fantasy focussed on wars, I think you’d enjoy the battles in this one.
Wedding of the Torn Rose by Brian A. Mendonça
As torn petals of a rose fall, a hero must rise in a race against destiny.
What starts as a fairy tale rescue spirals into an intricate web of dark fantasy laced with intrigue and magic. After the downtrodden merchant Kaine saves the runaway Princess Lydia from an unexpected monster, he feels inexplicably drawn to her. Lydia’s uncanny knowledge of his deepest secrets looms over him, suggesting she knows more about him than he has revealed.
However, there is little time to investigate this mystery. The princess is betrothed to the magic wielding Throatian Kingdom, and Lydia’s father has rewarded Kaine with a job offer he cannot refuse.
As the rehearsal dinner for Lydia’s arranged wedding unfolds, tension simmers amidst foreign customs and whispered conversations. The Throatian Royal family, draped in magic, is keen to forge an alliance with the Darian Kingdom. Meanwhile, Lydia, now fully aware of her royal responsibilities, summons Kaine for a private meeting in the chilling stillness of the graveyard. Her impending wedding signifies more than a pact of sword and sorcery, and something else—dark and twisted—stirs in the shadows.
With time dwindling short, and the ceremony happening the next day, will Kaine unshackle himself from his past to embrace the guardian he is destined to become? Or will the ties binding him to Lydia be torn apart like petals in the wind?
Journey with Kaine and Lydia as they attempt to prevent a war and save a kingdom in the first volume of the Symphony of Crowns and Gods series.
It’s not often you go foraging in a forest and happen to stumble upon a princess that needs rescuing, but that’s how this fantasy novella starts as our hero Kaine appears in the right place at the right time to save a runaway princess. After then escorting her back to the palace, he’s offered a job within the royal household he can’t really refuse and ends up in the middle of courtly politics as the princess prepares for her wedding day to a foreign kingdom who happen to wield mysterious magic.
While this story starts with courtly politics, it takes a dark turn with a twist, and the second half of the book becomes a chase with plenty of action thrown in. It’s fast paced, and at times a little unbelievable. You see, poor Kaine is thrust into a ton of responsibility, and not even he can understand why. It’s like starting your first day at McDonalds and suddenly you’re promoted to management and expected to run the place before you’ve even whipped up your first Big Mac. I think the limits of a novella meant that Kaine couldn’t be gradually introduced into his new life, which may had made more sense.
The story ends with another twist and a tease for the continuing series. What I most appreciated about this story was that Kaine held no romantic feelings for the princess, and their friendship was rather sweet. Fans of classic fantasy may enjoy this story.
Thank you for the read. There are over 500,000 words written in the Temere, they are just waiting their moment to be published. Shenagh will get her own trilogy and play a role in the main series that serves as the tent pole for Stories of the Temere.