How to Train Your Dragon Awards

It's June.

By the end of the month, everything published between July 1, 2017, and this June 30th, is eligible for....

The Dragon Awards!!

Yup, I'm going to do two more posts on this. One now, once in July, after the window closes.

This year, I have one horse in the race. One. I've got a single book that is eligible: Good to the Last Drop, book 4 of Love at First Bite... It is the last sequel to the Dragon Award nominated Honor at Stake, and Demons are Forever. Good to the Last Drop came out last year, and was removed for the rerelease. So we'll see what.

Anyone who has read the book and thinks the series deserves another Dragon nomination, feel free. Fire for effect.

If you have not yet read Good to the Last Drop .... sorry about that. But it'll make a good filler vote if you're missing something in fantasy, YA or horror?

As we get closer to the Dragons deadline, I've refined my thoughts along the way. Not much, though. If you have something you want to suggest, I am deadly serious, leave them in the comments.

Best Science Fiction Novel

Karl Gallagher: Torchship Captain.
Reviewed here. I enjoyed this book so much, that if David Weber needs some help getting Honor Harrington going again, he and Karl should talk.

Robert Kroese: Dream of the Iron Dragon
Kroese puts out good stuff, from Rex Nihilo to Erasmus Keane. This one is "Vikings in space." This is actually Jon del Arroz's pick for his Happy Frogs selection.

.... Yeah, I know, I still don't have more than that. I still haven't read Andy Weir's Artemis, nor has anyone else I know. It's been on my pile for a while now. Hopefully I'll get to it before heck freezes over.

I don't think that Brian Niemeier wants another dragon award.

Suggested by the internet.
The Recognition Run

TheMutineer’s Daughter by Chris Kennedy and Thomas A. Mays

Johnny Rockett and the Beautiful Six
In the Rift, Uphoff
Sheik of Mars

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

This one drives me crazy.

There's no Butcher.

I don't think that Monster Hunter Saints will be out by the end of the month. And Larry doesn't want another Dragon Award.

There's no Carrie Vaughn.

No Kim Harrison.

There's the sequel to Terry Goodkind's The Nest... which I haven't read yet.

Monster Hunter Files is an anthology.

The only thing I have is War Demons, by Russell Newquist, my editor and publisher over at Silver Empire books... he sent me the ARC, then my Kindle promptly died.  Take a look at War Demons, then tell me what YOU think.

Jon's Happy Frogs list has Lindsay Buroker for Dragon Storm ... whoever that is.

Other than that ... Good to the Last Drop if you want it for fantasy instead of horror? But my series has been horror in previous years.

So, right now, I'm going to back Russell at the moment.

Alternate suggestions brought to you by the internet.
The Mountain Throne: Book I of the Sindathi Twilight Trilogy (Volume 1): Aaron Moore
The Minäverse, Jill Domschot
A Tempered Warrior - Jon R. Osborne
kDira's World
Dark Moon Rising
The Sword of Amatsu (Empire of the Sun and Moon Book 1)
Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled

Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel

 
The Awful Truth About Forgetting (Rachel Griffin, book #4)....

Seriously, can we get Jagi an award for this series already? I reviewed it here, but really people, just do it already.

This is one category that I don't feel bad about only having one nominee.

Suggested to me by the hive mind of social media.
Valor's Duty, Kal Spriggs.

Devastator by Jason Cordova

Imani Earns Her Cape

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

I want to say David Weber. But I suspect that this might sooner go to Timothy Zahn for the Honorverse prequel novels. Just a guess. Again, I can't recall when their books came out last year.

You may also which to consider Daniel Humphrey's A Place Called Hope. Why? Because book 1 received the Dragon Award nomination last year in Apocalypse, and Dan mentioned online that book 2 is actually MilSF. So that's probably a good bet.

Also, Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy -- A Fiery Sunset. It's on my pile ... along with the other books they've put out. My backlog will soon smother me.

Suggested by the internet

Legend, Christopher Woods -- which was suggested as another candidate. It also seems set in the Mark Wandrey Four Horsemen universe, which is part of the backlog.

Last Flight of the Acheron

Best Alternate History Novel

 
Still no sequel to Another Girl Another Planet by Lou Antonelli Other than that...

Hans Schantz,  A Rambling Wreck. I've read it. It was awesome.  AND I HAVE FINALLY REVIEWED IT.

About damn time. Jon's Happy Frogs concurs.

Suggested by the internet

Minds of Men by Kacey Ezell
Capital: Abey's Saga

Best Media Tie-In Novel

The category probably opened up as a good way to avoid having a flood of Star Wars or Star Trek books flood a category.

What I would like to happen is to nominate Timothy Zahn's Thrawn book of last year ... but that came out too early for this year.

Don't worry, there's a sequel!

.... Except that Thrawn: Alliances is coming out in July.

Argh.

Well, at least it's eligible for NEXT year's Dragon Award.

But now that we have a Media Tie-in category, can we have a best comic book movie now? That way it's not a Marvel Vs DC knock down drag out every year?

There is only one problem: This category replaced best Apocalypse. Huh. I wonder if everyone hit peak Distopia fatigue all at the same time.

And yes, you'll notice that, no, I don't actually have a nominee for this one. I have nothing. If you have something, comment below.

Jon del Arroz and Happy Frogs suggests Deadlands: Boneyard .... who or what, I don't know. Moving right along...

Best Horror Novel

And we're back to this.  Sorry, but the only horror I go near is what I write.

So, there's Good to the Last Drop. Again. Yes, sorry about that.

Now, I could argue that Good to the Last Drop is the culmination of the previous three novels, two of which were nominated for Dragon Awards. I've got demons, Vatican Ninjas, vampire hordes, shapeshifters, and anti-Vampire "civilians" (a collection of police, street gangs, and the Mafia, because welcome to New York, you bloodsucking bastards).

Personally, this might be more Urban Fantasy than horror, but the last two were in horror, so I guess no one at the Dragon Award committee objects.

Suggested to me by readers are
Footnotes From the Apocalypse, by L.A. Behm II
Ghosts of Baikonur (Footnotes from the Apocalypse Book Two), by by L.A. Behm II

A Time to Run by Mark Wandrey

Happy Frogs suggests Russell for this. For conflict resolution, I have some thoughts below.

Best Comic Book  / Best Graphic Novel

 
Dark Maiden #1 -- by  Jonathan Baird, this one looks like fun. It really does.

"Dark Maiden" is the continuing story of Joan d'Arc the young girl who was the savior of France during the 15th century. The story picks up almost 600 years after her death with her resurrection on Earth. Armed with knowledge of the truth behind the afterlife, and pursued by agents of both God and Satan, she journeys through our modern world on a quest for meaning in life beyond simple good and evil. She is empowered with the ability to see past the mundane world and into the spiritual realm. This time around, unlike during her first life, she sees the universal conflict between the forces of chaos and order in a new light.

Dark Maiden is an examination of the metaphysical question... "What does it mean to live a moral life outside the confines of traditional religious belief?" Joan's story is one of personal sacrifice and heroism without the comfort that her reward is in heaven. She knows what awaits her in paradise and it is anything but a reward.

She is also haunted by the question "What is the favor she must perform to pay for her soul's freedom?"

Happy Frogs wants Timothy Lim -- My Hero MAGAdemia #1. 

Because Jon.

TV Series, TV or Internet

iZombie ... Was okay this season. I'm not sure they deserve it this year. They need a better class of brains. Because while in season's past, Liv could toggle off and on brains, this year, she ate someone and seemed stuck in that persona for most of the episode.

Midnight Texas was fun, and Charlaine Harris has a solid fan base. Truthfully, I'd vote for this.

Lucifer ... is dead. The series is canceled. I'm not sure if a Dragon Award would be a good consolation prize.

Arrow ... is on my s*** list. They get three episodes next year, otherwise I'm done with all of CW DC TV.

The Punisher .... no.

The Defenders ... No

The Orville. Probably. Also the Happy Frogs pick.

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

Justice League?  No

The Last Jedi: Hell no.

Thor: Ragnarok ... maybe.

Spider-Man: Homecoming ... eh. I liked the three main characters. Why was anyone else in the film? They were a waste of time.

Bright ...? No. It was okay, but I wasn't anywhere near as blown away as everyone else. Happy Frogs wants this to win. I rate it a solid meh.

Black Panther ... was overhyped.

Right now, I'm thinking Ragnarok.  I haven't seen Infinity War yet, but the reactions are so mixed, I wouldn't bet money one way or another.

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game

This is a problem when you have so many games doing loot boxes that I have urges to just tell all of the games to go screw themselves.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War
X-Com 2: War of the Chosen
Cuphead
Super Mario Odyssey .

There are, of course, Persona and Yakuza games that came out this year.... just don't ask me when. Nier: Automata I've heard great things about, but it came out in January or February 2017, and thus isn't eligible.

You know what? This might come down to Cuphead or Super Mario Odyssey.

Happy Frogs wants the "Doki Doki Literature Club"... whatever the heck that is.

Best SFF Mobile Game

Middle Earth: Shadow of War:

Yes, I like the mobile game. Move along.

Happy frogs will go along with it.

Best Board /Miniatures / Card / Role-Playing Game

Star Wars: Destiny - Fantasy Flight Games  (stolen from Happy Frogs)

Alternate Nominees

Now, of course, there are alternate options. Brian Niemeier went from Horror to SF. I, Daniel or Russell could be in any of several categories. So could Jagi.

So let me run down the list of awesome and I'll give you some suggestions in case you have definite nominees for certain categories, but not others. Think of these as filler nominees for categories you're not just certain about.

Good to the Last Drop .... Fantasy / Paranormal. Military SFF (I have Vatican Ninjas), Horror (because Vampires) ... and YA, as I had written for that reading level originally.

Karl Gallagher: Torchship Captain.  Best SF or best MilSFF. I really doesn't fit anywhere else.

Robert Kroese: Dream of the Iron Dragon -- Best SF, Best MilSFF. Perhaps Alternate History.

War Demons, by Russell Newquist, -- fantasy / paranormal; MilSFF (war veteran comes home with a magic sword); horror;

The Awful Truth About Forgetting (Rachel Griffin, book #4).... YA, fantasy / paranormal.

Daniel Humphrey's A Place Called Hope.... MilSFF, Horror, Fantasy (it has zombies)

Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy -- A Fiery Sunset. Best MilSF, Best SF,

Hans Schantz,  A Rambling Wreck: Best Alternate History, or best SF.

Right now, that's all I have. Suggestion box is open. Please submit.

Anyway, the Dragons are coming. Knock yourself out. 

The Top 11 Catholic Geek Radio shows

Since the radio show is back on the air, it's probably time to once again look at the best of the program.

This is not going to be a voter show, or my personal favorites. This is based solely on the episodes you, my listeners, tuned in to hear.

Why top 11? Because I like to go one step beyond.

11) Fred Hembach on Alternate History (11/01/2015)
I'm fairly surprised that this made it into the top anything. Not because that Fred is a bad guest, but because he didn't show up -- meaning I was the only one talking for most of the time, aside from one call-in guest.

10) God, Robot, the panel (5/15/2016)
Not surprising that this one makes the top ten, this had everybody: the Marchettas, Josh Young, John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter, Steve Rzasa, and even Vox Day.

9) Honor at Stake and Sad Puppies Bite Back (1/31/2016)
This one is ... strange. Most of this was just me doing readings from my various projects at the time. It was only 40 minutes long. Who knew?

8) Animal Farm with Cats (2/28/2016)
Kia Heavey discussed her book Domino. It helps that she brings her own audience.

7) Live with Jeffro Johnson, (1/22/2017)
Is anyone surprised? Author of Appendix N, then the author of the Castalia House blog. I'm not surprised at all.

6) Catholic Geek Radio with Lamplighter and Wright, (2/26/2017)
John and Jagi came on and hosted the show themselves. Awesome, isn't it? Again, not surprising. John and Jagi are in THREE of the top 6 shows of all time. How's that for an audience grabber?

5) Synods and Starships, (11/08/2015)
My show, guest-hosted by Matthew Bowman, the Novel Ninja, who brought in some heavy Catholic hitters.

4) With John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter, (7/12/2015)
The first appearance on the show, they came on to discuss the Superversive literary movement, and some of their projects. I had no idea what I was in for.

3) Chasing Freedom, (1/24/2016)
Marina Fontaine came on to discuss her Dragon Award nominated novel, Chasing Freedom.

#2) John C Wright's Iron Chamber of Memory, (5/01/2016)
I don't need to explain this part, obviously.

#1) Sad Puppies 4, the Embiggening, from 1/10/2016

Starring Tom Knighton, this was during the final Puppies campaign, but almost a year and a half before we knew it was going to be the final campaign. Knighton lays out a history of the Hugos, the Puppies, and everything in between. 

Now that we're back, let's see if we can make 2018 interesting

The Dragon Nominees, on Radio

Three items to discuss before today's post begins.

• Please remember the Dragon Bundle has kicked into high gear, and works through next week.
• Please vote in the Dragon Awards
• Remember that Good to the Last Drop is up and running for Preorder.

One of the nice things with all of the Dragon Award nominees ... I've interviewed most of them before, on my radio show.

Since loading all of these players onto the main page at once will jam the blog from loading, you're going to have to click below.

Review: Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dream Land

Poor Rachel Griffin. She's spent the last six weeks going through a lot of trauma. She's been sent to the infirmary so much, she's bucking for a record. She holds secret that could destroy the universe. Friends have died. She's been shot at more than most veteran police officers. We won't even touch on the dragons, the death cults, the demons, the angels, the elves, gods or monsters. The weight of whole worlds is on her tiny, 13-year-old shoulders....

This isn't even counting school work.

Welcome to round three of the Rachel Griffin novels, Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland.

To be fair, the plot is described as follows.

It’s Halloween at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, and Rachel Griffin is stirring up the dead!

All her life, Rachel has wanted to visit Beaumont Castle in the kingdom of Transylvania, the last known location of her hero, librarian-adventurer “Daring” Northwest. Only falling out of the land of dreams onto her face was not how she had expected to arrive. 

Now, the castle is right there, looming over her. Only her best friend, the Princess of Magical Australia does not want to go in, so as to avoid an international incident. But what if the castle holds some clue as to her hero’s final fate?

And who was that mysterious figure hanging by the neck she glimpsed in the dreamlands, just before she fell. Could the Dead Men’s Ball, where the spooks and ghosts of the Hudson Highland gather once a year on Halloween to dance to the music of some very unexpected musicians, be the key to discovering the hanged man’s identity?

Where do we start?

Let's start with some SPOILERS FOR BOOKS ONE AND TWO....Yes, you'd think after my The Raven the Elf and Rachel review, that would have been spoilery. It seriously, seriously isn't.

So, Rachel has defeated the demon Azrael, fought off a death cult -- twice -- including a dragon. Surely the cult out to destroy the world is no longer a problem, right?

Oh. Wrong. So very, very wrong.

Due to a magical experiment gone wrong, Rachel goes from New York and ends up in Transylvania, and the children of the night are restless. Due to circumstances beyond their control, a demon is unleashed, Morax .... servant of Moloch.  If you don't know what Moloch is, then read through the book, and expect it to go dark. And by dark, I mean "When did early Peter Jackson start directing this film?"  Let's just say that, during the climax of the novel, there is a scene that Ray Harryhausen and Sam Raimi would have loved, because there's going to be an army of darkness, with no Bruce Campbell. And no, I was looking for a chainsaw.

And dang, the references. I wish I could tell you all of the references. From comic books to Norse and Greek mythology, to Biblical in-jokes about the Temple of the Unnamed god (for you biblical type folks who read it, think Saint Paul in Athens). We won't even go into the lion the size of a plushy doll. I'm trying to figure out if Jagi is amazingly subtle, or hitting readers over the head with a brick. I guess it depends on if you're an information sponge, like me.

Now, I'm not going to say there's a shootout every 25 pages .... but there's at least a shootout every 50 or so. Though this one also places an emphasis on emotional conflict, internally and externally. The Magical Princess of Magical Australia is magically annoying at times, and is getting into problems with Sigfried, who is one part Dickens Character, and one part Parker from Leverage. ANd, of course, Rachel has do deal with all of the various and sundry crap she never dealt with from the first two novels -- ie: she's dealt with none of the trauma she's already gone through. That'll make for a mentally healthy 13 year old.

I do so enjoy these books. There is no question of Rachel just happening along as she trips over the solutions to problems. Rachel is a highly active character. She knows there is an enemy, and is doing everything in her power to stop it. It's highly refreshing after certain other YA novels spend most of their time overhearing just the right conversation to get some detail, and have some Hermione look up the data for them.

It's also nice to see that, in all three of these novels, the adults aren't completely useless. In fact, they're doing something odd -- like THEIR JOBS. The adults have a learning curve. Like "Gee, maybe we should listen to the children here." Or even better: "Hey! Maybe we should give our kid a fast-acting wand to shoot spells against the bad guys who seem to be actively out to kill them." The adults here are at least smart enough to conclude that, yes, the kids really are in danger, they really do know that something is going on, and the next time something like this happens -- because it's obvious even to the characters in universe that something is going on -- that the kids should be allowed to defend themselves...

... I didn't realize this while reading it, but looking over that paragraph makes me think this novel has a Second Amendment commercial in there somewhere.

Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland also expands the world. We know more of the culture of Australia and Transylvania, and even hints at Bavaria.  More importantly, we get more and more glimpses at what the "World of the Unwary" looks like, from cops to how historical events are handled.

Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland wraps up many of the plot points in a neat little bow. The main plots of the book are neatly cleaned up. But that never stopped Rachel from getting into trouble, usually on the same exact day the last book ended. And there are still enough dangling threads that show some of where book 4 is going to go: more interpersonal complications to wrap up, psychological damage to at least two of our main characters to fix, as well as the hole in the world that needs to be dealt with. Heck, we've barely touched on a violent episode that happened back in book 1, but was revealed in book 2, and only barely mentioned later on....Right now, I don't know if I approve, or disapprove of how it's being handled, or not handled, as the case may be. I'll bring it up in a later review, should they focus on it some more.

All in all, I am enjoying the heck out of this series. Keep in mind, I typically hate YA novels. You have to be Timothy Zahn or David Weber to make me read it. But, like Narnia, this series really is too good for children.

Anyway, go, buy Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland, and please consider it for the Dragon Awards. Enjoy.

The Dragon Awards are open and ready for nominations, and I have a list of suggestions you might want to take a look at. If you already  have a good idea of what you want, just click here to go and vote for them. The instructions are right there.

Or: sign up for my mailing list in order to get free stuff.

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

The Catholic Geek with Lamplighter and Wright 02/26

Catholic Geek Radio with Lamplighter and Wright 02/26 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:




Rachel Griffin and Sigfried Smith will interview characters from other books written by John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter.

Yup. I'm still not there. The Wrights will be.

If you haven't already, check out some of the books below.

And if you have, please leave a review.

Thanks.

    

Review: The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin

L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright once described her Rachel Griffin books as Fringe meets Narnia in Hogwarts. I don't see the Fringe, but the Harry Potter is easier to see.

And now, I've finally gotten to book one, The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin


The plot is ....

Rachel Griffin wants to know everything. As a freshman at Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, she has been granted to opportunity to study both mundane and magical subjects. But even her perfect recollection of every book she has ever read does not help her when she finds a strange statue in the forest-a statue of a woman with wings. Nowhere-neither in the arcane tomes of the Wise, nor in the dictionary and encyclopedia of the non-magic-using Unwary-can she find mention of such a creature. What could it be? And why are the statue's wings missing when she returns?

When someone tries to kill a fellow student, Rachel soon realizes that, in the same way her World of the Wise hides from mundane folk, there is another, more secret world hiding from everyone-which her perfect recall allows her to remember. Her need to know everything drives her to investigate. Rushing forward where others fear to tread, Rachel finds herself beset by wraiths, magical pranks, homework, a Raven said to bring the doom of worlds, love's first blush, and at least one fire-breathing teacher. Curiosity might kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin!

Imagine end of Harry Potter -- you know, where the school is under full assault, things are blowing up, students are fighting, and great beasts are tramping around? -- only as the prologue. There's a dragon, and possession, and hordes of the possessed out to slaughter the school. There's even an evil math tutor (Moriarty, anyone?). I was expecting a few lines from Maleficent, but not this time.

Rachel Griffen is 13 years old, in Roanoke Academy for magic, in New York, English royalty in a new world, with classmates from all over the world. This alone puts it had and shoulders above the next nearest competitor, which treated America as a nonexistent land in the world of magic.

Chief among her new acquaintances is Sigfried Smith, who comes with a background of a Dickens character, and all the psychology that should come with it. (Oliver Twist is less fiction and more fantasy, orphans in the system aren't that cute.) Siggy is an acquired taste. But he grows on you. Then there's the magical princess of magical Australia.

And then we're off to the races.

The easiest way to review this is to compare it to Harry Potter. It's not fair ... to Harry Potter. Don't get me wrong, while I did enjoy the books, the world of Harry Potter was so narrow and confined, you never really got the sense of the larger world. What did it look like? what would it look like?

The nice thing about this is that we get the perspective of someone who lives in the world of magic, excluding the Stranger in a Strange Land effect.

That's right, unlike Rowling, who relied on the tried and true "Alice in Wonderland" variety of dropping an outsider into a new world, make them the primary narrator, and explain it to the narrator and the audience, Jagi has managed to make a complete world, encompassing every question one might have about how things work. We haven't gotten to the economic system yet, but I suspect that that's next.

And instead of three primary characters, excluding almost all others (let's face it, Neville Longbottom was a punching bag until he became a sword swinging badass out of nowhere), there are friends and acquaintances all over the place. There are mean girls, certainly, but nothing fits into the nice, neat little boxes that Rowling jammed her characters into. There is no one house of "obviously villainy" here.

Sure, there are plenty of ominous characters. There's a Victor von Dread, who I expect to talk in all caps about Latveria. There's a Salome Iscariot, who worried the heck out of me from the moment she was introduced. The characters are vividly drawn, and deeper than you'd expect.

The short version is that this book is awesome, and you need to buy it and read it today. Just click here. You won't regret it.

The Catholic Geek: Mythic Orbits and Christian SciFi

The Catholic Geek: Mythic Orbits and Christian SciFi 01/15 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:

Tonight, at 7PM, EST,,,




Host Declan Finn (Dragon Award Nominee, Best Horror, Honor at Stake), brings you a host of authors from the Mythic Orbits 2016 anthology, the best spec fiction from Christian authors. Mythic Orbits 2016 is an anthology of 14 authors. 7, plus the editor, are interested in calling in. This show will host: Lisa Godfrees, Kat Heckenbach, Kerry Nietz, Sherry Rossman, Mark Venturini, L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright, Joshua M. Young, and Travis Perry, editor.

And, while you're waiting for that. .... Try their book.

And if you have read it already ... review it already.

And if you've done both ... here, try these.

And if you've read these, a review would be nice. Thanks.

 

Sad Puppies 5 suggestions

EDIT: FOR THE READING BEREFT -- APPARENTLY, THE USUAL CROWD AT FILE 770 CAN'T READ -- I MUST PUT IN AN EVEN BIGGER NOTE HERE. I'M NOT IN CHARGE OF SP5. THE FOLLOWING IS, IN PART, A GUIDE FOR MY RECOLLECTION, SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE VOTING,  AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO GUIDE MY VOTING. APPARENTLY, SOME PEOPLE ARE TOO STUPID TO HAVE FIGURED THIS OUT FROM THE BELOW. THAT IS ALL.

Happy new  year. Time to start considering what should be done for Sad Puppies 5.

Yup,  you didn't forget, did you? We only have a few scant months to start getting together nominations for The Dragon Awards.

If you care about The Hugos, yeah,  that too. Though I suspect that's more Rabid Puppies than come to my blog.

I'm not sure about the Hugos, but I think I'll take a Dragon Award, thanks.

First things first. I'm going to put this initial list in a format similar to the Hugos  ..... for now. This is for two reasons: one,  I don't know how SP5 will be laid out, so the Hugo format is easiest.

Second reason?  If there are Rabids who stop here, they still care about the Hugos. So this will serve the dual purpose of catering to them. I'll do a separate list for a Dragon Award version. But the SP5 list is up first, mostly because the potential nominees are locked, as they go by calender year. Now that the scurge of 2016 has passed, let the games begin

To start with, remember that the rules of this game say that you can nominate 5 items per category. Though to be honest, I prefer the Dragon Award version, that nominates by genre. SP5 Might as well, we'll have to see.

THIS LIST WILL BE UP FOR REVIEW LATER ON. Why? Because I still have books left over from last year that aren't read yet (there are books from THREE years ago that aren't read yet) and there are some where I didn't remember the original publication date. I'm compiling this in December, while I'm sick, so we'll see how this goes.

If you are one of the authors mentioned here and you actually DO give a flying f*** about the Hugos, comment, I'll edit and note it

Best novel

Again, I'm going to have to treat this with the same restrictions as the Hugos.

1. John C. Wright's Iron Chamber of Memory. Please read the review, then buy the novel. IN THIS CASE, then vote in the Hugos. Why this case?  1) This blew away everything else I read last year, really. And (2) it does mean something to John, so if it were in my power, I wouldn't deny him that joy for all the world. Iron Chamber should win a Hugo, if there's any justice left. But there is no justice left in the Hugos,  so I'll keep going with SP5 nominees.

2. Marina Fontaine, Chasing Freedom. Why? Because it was one of the best scifi works I'd read last year. And Marina made a dystopia I could read, enjoy, finish, and not want to slit my wrists over. That's a major accomplishment. Words can't even express how good you have to be to pull that off. Please read the review, then buy the novel.

3. Robert Kroese, The Big Sheep. I really did enjoy this book. It's another one that made a dystopia readable. The mystery, he characters, the world building, all of them were stellar. And yes, for those who really care, I know, it's published by MacMillan, which also owns Tor books. If I were you, I wouldn't hold that against Robert.  Please read the review, then buy the novel.

4. Declan Finn -- Yes, I published three eligible novels this year. Funny enough, they're within the time frame for the Dragon Award as well .... which, come to think of it, I have Vox Day to thank for that. But, yes, I have Codename: UnSub and Murphy's Law of Vampires that can be nominated for a SP5 best novel. Huh. Throwing my hat into the ring is just padding the list.

5. No Award. Yes. Really. I got nothing. I can't recall anything that I'd really submit (more on that below). I haven't read a Terry Goodkind in years (I'm saving them for when they stop ending with "To be Continued"). There are no Jim Butcher books out this year.

Notable books for consideration:
Karina Fabian's Discovery.  I read an earlier draft of this book many, many years ago (five years ago, to be precise), and I have yet to read the latest edition. But if the editing cleaned up the problems I remember, this is easily in slot #4 .... yes, slot #4, bumping me down a slot.

Brian Niemeier -- because he was up against The Martian last year, and that's hardly fair. Brian came out with two books last year, Souldancer and The Secret Kings. Read them, enjoy, and flip a coin as to which one you vote for. If Brian has a preference, I'll edit it and add his pick. It's "Notable" ONLY because I haven't read them yet. And I'd want to read Nethereal first .... which means by the time I get to them, the whole series will be out.

NOTE: Yes, I had considered John Ringo's books from last year, but I think Ringo would rather burn his books than let them be nominated for a Hugo -- though I'll have to see if he cares about Sad Puppies, he may not mind that. So ... perhaps Black Tide Rising, or Grunge, or Sinners? Larry may care about SP5 if they preclude a Hugo nomination, so expect to see Son of the Black Sword, which also came out last year, but I would rather nominate another Monster Hunter book.

Best related

Set to Kill -- I've made no secret about my ambition to make people pissed off about this one. If I were to have a serious horse in the Hugos, it would be here. I would want this just to see people's heads explode. If we're talking Hugos, yeah, shoot for best related in Rabid Puppies (Attn: Vox Day).

However, we're talking SAD Puppies, and Sarah mentioned adding genre categories, specifically mentioning mysteries.

Insert big freaking grin here. If that happens, count me in on this one.

If it doesn't happen ... well, throw this into the ring with Rabid Puppies, see who gets pissed off.

Best Novella

Marina Fontaine, The Product -- Yeah. Sorry. That's about all I can think of off hand that would really fit. I'm sure more will come to me when my brain reboots.

Best Short Story

Pick something from Black Tide Rising .... though I would recommend Kacy Ezell's story.

Now, I'm certain that there is a slew of short stories from Lou Antonelli, and Brad Torgersen, and even John C. Wright. Just don't ask me to remember them.

EDIT: Lou has been kind enough to comment what came out last year.

1. “Captain of the Clouds” – Aurora Wolf, January 2016

2“Higher Powers” – Sci-Phi Journal, February 2016


3. “The Milky Way Dance Hall” – Decision Points anthology. May 2016

4. “Lone Star, Lost Star” – Fiction on the Web, July 31, 2016

5. “The Yellow Flag” – Sci-Phi Journal, August 2016

6. “And He Threw His Hands Up in the Air” – Siren’s Call, No. 28 August 2016

7. “Time Like a Rope” – Silver Blade magazine, October 2016

8. "Three Twilight Zone Variations on a High School Reunion" - 3rd Spectral Book of Horror Stories, Oct. 31, 2016

9. “If You Were a Dinah Shore, My Love” – Gallery of Curiosities podcast, Dec. 26, 2016
My preference would be to include this,  This is golden from the get-go ... though it might be considered a short form Drama presentation. I'm not certain.

Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form

Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange:

Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent.  Oh yeah. This is going to be hilarious. This is only an audio book, so I think it works for a dramatic presentation. Now, in suggesting this, I know, obviously, that Larry wouldn't stand for this as a nomination for the Hugos, I'm certain about this, so if you're interested in the Hugos, DO NOT NOMINATE LARRY ... but I'm also a trouble maker, and this work was funny as hell. I would put this up for an SP 5 nomination ... and a Hugo, but not for Larry. Why? Because if Larry Correia doesn't want the Hugo for it, can we give it to Adam Baldwin? I'd consider flying over to Helsinki to see him give THAT acceptance speech.

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

Daredevil, Season 2 -- One Batch, Two batch.

No, seriously, did you people see this episode? This was powerful and heartbreaking, and the best treatment of Frank Castle, The Punisher, that I have ever seen. I don't care if you never watch another episode of Daredevil, watch this episode. Jon Bernthal carries this entire episode, and even most of the series.

After that ... Sorry, I binged on iZombie, and couldn't tell you what came out when without a cheat sheet. Something for Luke Cage? I haven't finished that one, so I couldn't tell you what episode would be best offhand.

Best Editor – Long Form (Rabid Puppies)

..... Huh. Yeah. Never mind. This is here just for the Rabids. Because if SP5 turns out to be all about the books, SP5 will probably not even have this section. If that's the case, assume this will be the Rabid lineup

Toni Weisskopf – Baen
Jim Mintz – Baen
Tony Daniel – Baen
Vox Day, Castalia House, if only because he did Iron Chamber of Memory

Best Fancast

Geek Gab
The Catholic Geek
Superversive Roundtable

Yes, three ... all that I've been on ... don't judge me. I'm happy when I manage to make my own podcast, don't start asking me to start hunting down other people's podcasts. I don't have the time lately.

But yeah, this is as best as I can figure until Sarah has up the rest of the rules and regulations.


Do you have suggestions? Please, but all means, leave them here. Like with SP4, leave a title, an author, and a reason why it should be in SP5. If you think it's worth a Hugo, or a Dragon ... I'll suggest that this is a different conversation. 

 

A Thank You Letter to John C and Jagi Lamplighter Wright

I have to thank the Wrights, both John and Jagi, for saving my backside yesterday.

During my "Series Starter Kit" $.99 sale for Cyber Monday, I had plans. Plans included multiple websites, posts, social media outlets.

And, quite literally a day or two before (perhaps a few hours before), I asked Jagi if it were possible --just if they had nothing else to post that day--for them to post about Honor at Stake. I went with only Honor at Stake because the last book John posted about (that I saw) was Brian Niemeier's, and I wasn't going to ask for anything less than my own Dragon nominated work.

Jagi said yes.

And almost everything else fell through. Gmail didn't work. Either my emails didn't get out, or they weren't received. Yesterday was the day to take Google out back and put it down like the sickly dog it is.  The only thing that happened was social media and the Wrights.

Between John and Jagi posting on their blogs, I did almost as well as when 5 books were posted up on Instapundit.

How do I know that it was the Wrights that did it, and not the retweeting, posting on Social Media, and everything else I tried?

Because what worked advertised all three books. Honor at Stake outsold the other two. It made up 77% of sales yesterday.

I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark that their efforts had an effect. Possibly the one key element that brought the day together

Anyway, thanks again, to the both of them. They made Cyber Monday interesting.

Back to the salt mines for me. Ciao, all.

The Catholic Geek: Making YA Fiction Great Again

The Catholic Geek: Making YA Fiction Great Again 11/20 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:




Join host Declan Finn as he discusses Young Adult fiction with the YA fiction roundtable, including authors Dawn Witzke, Amy Cattapan, Cynthia Toney, Jagi Lamplighter Wright, and Jane Lebak.



And while you're here....Preorder Set To Kill now, read it Monday, review it on Tuesday, order it for your nearest and dearest on Wednesday, and avoid the rush of Black Friday. Because it is just that awesome, and if you're a long time reader, yes, this IS the first time I've said that about my book.

And now, UNLEASH THE PREORDERS.

CLFA Book Bomb, October 2016

The Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance is doing their monthly book bomb. These are JUST the books I know of in particular, or the authors in particular.  These are not all of them. The total list is right here.

Enjoy.

New Releases

Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland (The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 3) by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Third Book of Unexpected Enlightenment: It’s Halloween at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, and Rachel Griffin is stirring up the dead! (See “$1.99 or Less” category below to get Book 1 – currently FREE.)

Dragonblood: A Collection of Short Stories by Sarah A. Hoyt
From the trenches of WWI where the Red Baron just can’t help turning into a dragon, to the desert sands of a future world where humans have become something else, from a coffee shop between worlds where magicians gather, to a place where your worst nightmare can love you, let Dragon Blood take you on a series of fantastic adventures.

Discovery by Karina Fabian
Humanity’s first contact with beings from beyond the solar system is bound to unlock the mystery of life in the universe, but the crew have their own secrets; hidden fears, desires, horrible sins – and a mission to kill.

Sad Puppies Bite Back by Declan Finn

Based on a true story, then completely twisted.

Days of Future Past – Part 1: Past Tense by John Van Stry
Paul’s instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he’s really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He’s now on a one way trip, forced to help a man who despises him while at the mercy of the world’s biggest trickster.

Van Ripplewink: You Can’t Go Home Again by Paul Clayton
48 years dead, seventeen year old Van Ripplewink wakes in a dark, muddy field…

$1.99 or Less (October 17 & 18)*

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1) by L. Jagi Lamplighter FREE!

Curiosity may kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin! “Fringe meets Narnia at Hogwarts”