Now that SPFBO has completed 10 competitions, Mark Lawrence has started a "Champions League" where each of those winners will be ranked against one another. The competition has concluded with the winners announced on Facebook and on Mark's blog.
I've read most of the winners, but not all. With that in mind, here is how I would rank these champions.
I've segmented this into tiers as there are some books that far outshine the others. And other books that...welllllll. You get the point. Links to my reviews are included where available. Included in the comments is where the book ended up in the competition.
| First Tier - Must Read | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Author | Dann's Rating | Brief Comments |
 | J. Zachary Pike | 5 Stars | Solid mix of humor, old-school, hack-and-slash AD&D, economics, and the financial crash of 2008. Our hero is an adventurer in the old school D&D sense. He assembles a team to go acquire treasure. Along the way, he learns how his expedition gets monetized and how the adventuring system creates victims unjustly. [Came in second in the competition. Great book, great series.] |
 | Jonathan French | 5 Stars | A bunch of half-orcs are charged with defending civilization (read humans) from predation by full orcs. This is a surface level "guys" book that includes an important subtext about questioning the accepted narrative. A "must read" for any fantasy fan. [Came in 8th in the competition. I'm not sure why. I may have to read the judges reviews.] |
 | Morgan Stang | 4 Stars | I should not like this book. It combines a Cthulu-esque mythos, with a Sherlock Holmesian protagonist, with a steam punk vibe. But I love this book. Our hero and her sidekick are engaging and entertaining. The mystery takes time to resolve and kept me guessing. Lots of dry British humo(u)r. Well worth the time to read. [Came in 7th in the competition. Again, I'm baffled, but to each their own dentifrice.] |
 | M.L. Wang | 5 Stars | The book is a tour-de-force of Asian inspired fantasy storytelling. Our protagonist isn't supposed to be good with a sword. Turns out she is great with a sword. Lots of culture/norms busting subtext included with a main story and characters that are engaging and thought provoking. [Came in 1st in the competition. This is a worthy victor and well worth your time.] |
Second Tier - Good Books, Solidly Entertaining | |||
 | Olivia Atwater | 4 Stars | [I haven't formally reviewed the book.] This is one of those "cozy" novels that have become popular lately. Great characters. The storyline is mostly OK and would be great were it not for the unforeseen resolution that smacks mightily of Deus ex machina, literally. It turns out that angels and demons really do live among us. And sometimes they do miracles. [Came in 4th in the competition. It's a good book. If you like "cozy" coupled with "don't think too much about it", then this is a great read.] |
 | Justin Lee Anderson | 4 Stars | I'd almost put this book above "Small Miracles". It was a well told story with engaging characters. At the end of the book, there is a big reveal that causes you to reconsider all of the other actions in the book. A real mind-bender. [Came in 5th in the competition and 6th on my list, so pretty close!!] |
 | J.L. Odom | 4 Stars | While I enjoyed this book and wish the author, a fellow Marine, great success, it just left something out. Mostly this is the first book of a series and it largely sets up the later books without really resolving any issues in the first book. [Came in 3rd in the competition. There was a lot of great writing and worldbuilding in the book. But it isn't a complete story. And the fantasy elements were minimal.] |
Have Never Read - I'm working on it. | |||
 | Michael McClung | -- | I haven't read this, but I've heard lots of good things about it. [Came in 6th in the competition.] |
 | Rob J. Hayes | -- | I haven't read this one either. But the author is well known in the self-publishing and Grimdark communities. I'm reading this book right now. Not the best first few chapters. I thought this was going to be a DNF for a while. It's picking up. Unless it sticks the landing, it will end up in the Second Tier, above. [Came in 9th in the competition.] |
Last Tier | |||
 | J.D. Evans | 2 Stars [2.5 Stars] | This is a romance novel smeared with a layer of fantasy-ium. Our protagonists smash for no good reason. The magic and political intrigue is stated but never really shown. There are the bones of a good story here that are occluded by "romantasy". [Came in 10th. I agree!!] |
