The title says it all really.
If you were after the paperback - go for it!
This is what they think of the book on Amazon!
And as a bonus for scrolling down ... here are some pretty sprayed edge examples of the last 2 books...
Sunday, 29 March 2026
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Daughter of Crows ... it's out this month!
It's 3 weeks until the book hits the shelves.
Waterstones sold out of their 1,000 signed copies, so I really need to actually sign them. Which is why I took a quick trip to CPI at their facility in Ebbsfleet just outside London. A vast number of books are printed here - including those of many very famous authors. There's heavy security because some of these novels are in great demand and it's important that copies don't escape early!
From the signing room you can see the whole factory floor - a lot of it automated but still with quite a few people in the mix. It was, sadly, mostly turned off while I was there. For maintainance and for repairs.
They printed off this nice poster for me, and I got to take it home with me at the end of the day.
The pile of books on the big table included the 1,000 for the Waterstones signed edition, and a block destined for various independent bookshops across the country.
And for a Celyn update - still in hospital, still not well (obviously).
She's now had a PET scan and is still radioactive as I sit by her typing this blog post. She had a radioactive market injected into her blood, which then generated antimatter (positrons), which then annihilated with electrons and generated pairs of photons (gamma rays) that were used to image her interior with the hope of finding out what's wrong with her.
We're waiting on the results.
Friday, 27 February 2026
At the limit.
This is day 33 of my youngest child being in hospital.
On day 21 the consultant took us into a side room and said, "Tell me about Celyn. What does she like doing? What are her days like?"
Celyn 15 years ago.
This is code for 'how hard should we try to save her?'. It's a quality of life question.
Celyn is severely disabled. She was born that way. Starved of oxygen in the womb. Fucked over before she drew her first breath. Almost everything taken from her before she even knew what she didn't have.
People say, "if I'm ever like that, just kill me."
I get that. I've been that.
But Celyn loves her life. She laughs a lot. She loves gossip. She loves going out. She adores company.
And when the consultant - a kind giant of man - said that if she went to the Intensive Care Unit - her best chance - there was a 97-98% likelihood that her time would be measured in days, one, two, maybe three ... but that staying on the ward would offer more peace, more privacy, away from the bright lights and intrusive treatments, at the price of that 2-3% probability of survival ... we said she needed to take that chance, however small. Not at any cost. But at the cost of that peace and quiet, yes.
My composure, such as it was, held until the doctor left the room. My jaw, which would ache for the next 24 hours from those minutes spent clenched against emotion, relaxed and ... I broke. At least as far as my conditioning allowed. I am the cliched WASP without the P. I am the brittle that I ascribed to Jorg Ancrath - I will break before I bend.
The carer assigned to Celyn that night - a lady who has helped look after her for two years - was far more honest in her reaction when she heard the verdict not long afterwards, falling to the ground as if struck by a bullet.
It's not a point of pride that I did not. It's a point of shame.
Against expectation, Celyn's kidneys recovered in the ICU and the sepsis that had threatened to overwhelm her subsided. Those nights I spent sleeping beside her bed in a W-shaped chair were, to coin a phrase, the long dark nights of the soul. It's a phrase that romanticises and simplifies a far more complex, messy, uneven reality. Grief is a thing that comes in waves. High emotion can't be sustained. Guilt and duty and boredom and love overlap in dirty little circles.
Poor Celyn, innocent and blameless, never given the chance to be anything but wonderful, is still in hospital, still fighting. We're hoping to take her home soon, but stumbling blocks keep being strewn into that path. I'm hoping she won't spend her 22nd birthday in hospital, and she has just over a week in which to avoid that.
In the long days spent haunting this vast hospital - the size of two cathedrals end to end, I've wrestled with the experience in what might be called 'a writer's way' but which is just the way I've wrestled with this business of being alive for the past sixty years.
Words, I've said before, are blunt weapons. The writer's skill, such as it is, is to somehow achieve a finer resolution than that commonly achieved with such a broad brush. It's the height of ego to focus on my own experience whilst my child lies in a hospital bed. But writing is an act of ego.
A parent is not supposed to outlive their child. Few of us will ever suffer that fate. It is a terrible thing but it is not a simple thing. It is not something that an honest accounting would render in romantic terms, though it is more digestible in such a form. Reality though is a dirty, complex thing. We call it ugly crying because it's not a beautiful person with their forearm pressed to their perfect face. It's snot and gasping and broken cries and the indignities of biology. It's the fragility of mental health. It's post traumatic stress and crippling anxiety.
The true art of writing is to take the blunt instruments provided by the dictionary and to somehow communicate more subtle truths that they were never fashioned to deliver. It's to share truths that lie beyond our collective experience. And such things cannot be delivered directly, like a weather report. Single sentences, whole paragraphs, just can't contain them. They need to be approached sideways, to be slipped between the lines, to grow from seeds planted on page one, watered in chapter two, blossoming on page 200 after illumination from an unexpected angle.
I can't tell you where I've been. There's not world enough and time. Not here. Perhaps never, given my own meager talents. But I know enough to know that at its heart this is what writing is for.
I may never have the talent to express what it is like to be told that your child is going to die. And I certainly don't have the desire to wound you with that knowledge. But there is, within this experience, something of value, some strength that I hope you never need, but that you may well. And if writing is for anything other than to devour a handful of hours with distractions, then it is to communicate these things that regular dialogue is too narrow to admit.
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
I have my UK copies!
Next month you'll be able to get a copy in exchange for nothing more than money.
I've started mailing signed and dedicated copies to folks on tier 4 & 5 of my Patreon.
The 1000s signed editions from Waterstones are sold out.
There may be special edition/s in the pipeline but it is not my place to make such announcements.
Sunday, 4 January 2026
SPFBO 11 - Phase 1
This is the allocation of SPFBO 11 books to blogs.
Visit the homepage for all the background.
There will be some swapping & replacement for a few days as conflicts with bloggers and with the rules are identified.
But first, some traditional stats/demographics:
The male/female ratio was essentially equal last year - strangely, this year it has swung significantly towards male!
There has been a very small increase in audiobook percentage (19.5%, up from 18.7%)
And here's the familar word cloud from the titles, with DRAGON, DARK, BLOOD and SHADOW continuing as perennial favourites!
Here are some factoids about this year's entries:
(taken from this list very helpfully compiled by author N.E White.)
4 have 1,000+ ratings on Goodreads (6 last year)
34 have 100+ ratings on Goodreads (50 last year)
66 have 50+ ratings on Goodreads (80 last year)
Here are the high-rollers:
All the ratings charted and then just the 234 below 100 ratings.
The oldest book in the contest this year is Chameleon: The Awakening - published 13 years ago and collecting 63 ratings along the way.
Here are the 6 oldest.
I have books published that are older than all of them 😅 Stop making me feel old!
And finally, the chonkers. We have 7 books with 700+ pages this year!
Reviews as they come in.
They're also linked from the book title.
Earthcore Planetwide 1: Yellowstone Calling by Grace Bridges (
)
)Apocalypse Assassin by J.J. Thorn (,5)
,5)The Goodness Potion And Its Side-Effects is reviewed on The Weatherwax Report.
Noah Brisk hits us with an update.
A 5th semi-finalist from The Fantasy Hive.
Team Fantasy Book Critic delivers a 5th semi-finalist.
Another semi-finalist from FanFiAddict.
Team Weatherwax review The Stonebound Heir.
FanFiAddict give us a semi-finalist.
The Weatherwax Report reviews In My Time Of Dying.
Another semi-finalist from the Fantasy Book Critic crew.
The Fantasy Hive deliver semi-finalist number 4.
Blackwater is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
The Weatherwax Report reviews Before the Sky Breaks.
The Weatherwax Report reviews Born of Shadow.
The Weatherwax Report reviews The Edge of the World.
A third semi-finalist is selected by The Fantasy Hive.
Grave Covenant is reviewed by FanFiAddict.
The Fantasy Hive selects their second semi-finalist.
Fantasy Book Critic select their third semi-finalist.
The Weatherwax Report reviews Dogged.
Dreams of the Fallen is reviewed on The Weatherwax Report.
Seven cuts from Noah Brisk.
Abel Montero's team reviews Heart of Dust.
Abel Montero's team reviews The Conqueror's Plague.
Abel Montero's team reviews Gateway to Hell.
The Fantasy Hive deliver a semi-finalist.
Flint in the Bones is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
Fantasy Book Critic find their second semi-finalist.
Shadow of the Sword reviewed by FanFiAddict.
Shadows of the Sundered Lands reviewed by FanFiAddict.
FanFiAddict reviews The Golden Princess.
A Fallen Hero is reviewed for team Weatherwax Report.
Abel Montero's team reviews Soul Cage
Abel Montero's team reviews Darkness and Blight
Abel Montero's team reviews Reborn Heroes
Abel Montero's team reviews Choice
Abel Montero's team reviews Original Sin
Abel Montero's team reviews Apocalypse Assassin
Abel Montero's team reviews Yellowstone Calling
The Darrian Shift is reviewed on The Weatherwax Report.
Butcher Boy is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
The Weatherwax Report reviews Stormvalor.
Budding Rhythm is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
FanFiAddict review The Forgotten Dawn.
The Way We Were Hunters is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
The Weatherwax Report reviews The Witch and the Woodcutter.
Children of Nemia is reviewed on FanFiAddict.
A review for Blackwater from the FanFiAddict team.
Fantasy Book Critic select a semi-finalist.
Beneath God's Tree is reviewed on Superstar Drifter (Team Weatherwax Report)
Noah Brisk reviews Lightbinder.
Our first review is for Tooth Sucker, from The Weatherwax Report.
Reviews linked from the book titles.
Author in RED = cut.
Dull GREEN &/or with + suffix = semi-finalist.
Bright GREEN = finalist.
225 of 300 books remain in the contest.
We have 13 semi-finalists.
We have 0 finalists.
| Matt Falcon | Tethered to Darkness |
| Alex Larkspur | Sweet & Wild |
| Brendan Noble | The Crimson Court |
| Jean K. Silver | Changebringer |
| Alexa Grave | Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned |
| Willamette Sutta | Adamant in Dust |
| Eric Lewis | The Artificer's Knot |
| K R Solberg | Remnant |
| R. T. Silveus | Shadow of the Pyre |
| Elizabeth Daly | Legacy Bound |
| Erebus Esprit | Project Tartarus: Arche |
| C.K. Kesterson | Heroes of Valhalla |
| Olena Nikitin | Oath of Betrayal |
| N.A. Betts | The Waking of Storm and Flame |
| T.C. Smith | Song of the Wolf |
| Rosaire Bushey | Sigil of Enderune |
| TJ Muir | Winter Mage |
| Megan Russ | Shattered Peace |
| John B. Cheek | The Fire Within |
| Simon Shugar | Hunter's Apprentice |
| Rel Carroll | Of Mages and Makers |
| HJ Tolson | Liches Get Scritches |
| Margaret Feuerman | Keeper of the Gate |
| Nathan Taylor | The Non-Magical Declan Moore |
| William C. Tracy | Physical Magic |
| Grace Zhu | Moon Witch |
| Ronit J | Island of the Dying Goddess |
| M. K. Casperson | Dragon's Son |
| SF Sowter | Criminal Cove: Home for Retired Supervillains |
| K.T. Holder | City of Stone |
| K.J Wagner | The Raven’s Revenge |
| Robin Rakkeby | Those We See in the Dark |
| Joe Dawson | The Goodness Potion and its Side-Effects |
| Juan Patmos | One Hit Wonder |
| Susan Maxwell | Death at Hallowtide |
| L.M Douglas | Gharantia's Guardian |
| S. Kaeth | Beneath the Gods' Tree |
| Aengie Scevity | The Moonlight Lies |
| Scott Kay | Tale of the Four Winds |
| Starr Z Davies | Stormvalor |
| Rai Bowyn | SynWorld Chronicles |
| Kate Samuel | The Fifth Branch |
| Owain Oakwood | No Fae Back Now |
| Artemis Quinn | Lemon Balm |
| Michael R. Fletcher | Dogged + |
| N.J Guay | Before the Sky Breaks |
| K Scriven | Taking Flight |
| L.A Barnitz | The Stonebound Heir |
| Slater Hamilton | Curse of the Claimed |
| A.S Colworth | Dreams of the Fallen |
| Sara A. Noë | A Fallen Hero |
| J.D Rivers | The Edge of a World |
| Kenneth Harrell | A Comedy of Monsters |
| Nicole Conway | Born of Shadow |
| Tobias Begley & Travis M Riddle | The Loss of the Star's Tranquility |
| Noah Flynnt | The Darrian Shift |
| Dax Murray | Stars and Soil |
| L.S. Walker | The Witch and the Woodcutter |
| Kaden Love | Toothsucker |
| Sherrie A Bakelar | In My Time of Dying |
Before We Go Blog
| L. Lyons | The Black Bane |
| Jacob Penrod | The Seven Rangers - Volume 1: Harvest |
| Kevin Wright | Plague Maiden |
| Ayleen K. Kyrstin | In Ice We Steel |
| Benjamin Keck | The Pits of Itar |
| V Ananya | The Young Foreigner |
| L.N Holmes | The Floating Castle |
| Angelika Rust | Downtown Selkie |
| Darby Vernon | Madness of the Elder Vampire |
| N.E White | The Legend of Damndrake |
| T.L Bellia | Beneath the Ashen Sky |
| Emily Renk Hawthorne | Of Mountains And Seas |
| Sydney Faith | Revenge of the Druid Queen |
| Justin Greer | The Servant |
| Jennifer Taylor-Gray | The Old Crones Club |
| Y.R Liu | The Whisperer in White |
| M.T Kadisin | An Oath Sworn |
| Alexandra Kathleen Blade | Edenlost – The Borderless City |
| Ben Moxon | The Redstone Rescue |
| WE Singh | A Djinnfernal Conspiracy |
| Lilly Lockwood | Songs of Broken Bells |
| Joel Flanagan-Grannemann | Talia: Heir to the Fairy Realm |
| Edward Nile | Godless |
| Simon Steele | Wolfblight |
| Ashley Capes | Knee-Deep in Cinders |
| Lissy Porter | The Throne of Ash |
| Miriam Yvette | Excalibur's King |
| R.M Schultz | The Hunger of the Dragon |
| Tim Carter | Jester |
| Chanchito Massoni | Jane is the End |
FanFiAddict
| Rhys Price | Errant Gift |
| Emily Blakeney | Blackwater + |
| Stephen Jarocki | A Mage's Mentor |
| Eva St. John | Flint in the Bones |
| Camilla Andrew | When the Stars Alight |
| Seth Hobbs | Black Powder, Black Heart |
| Aaron Daggit | Butcher Boy |
| Nicole Leland | Hearts of Bark and Scale |
| Amanda N. Newman | The Snatcher |
| Michael Goe | Children of Nemia |
| Sai Xande | An Oath to Eternity |
| J.K Divia | A Sea of Blood and Tears |
| CrimCat | Budding Rhythm |
| Kai Zeal | Riyati Rebirth |
| KD Lumsden | Secrets of Urthis |
| Megan Leigh | The Sorcerer's Valley |
| Laura A Blake | The Forgotten Dawn |
| Bart Carroll | Bolted to the Bone |
| Tobias Youngblood | Grave Covenant |
| M.E.Moirin | Threadbound |
| Thomas Perkins | The Ruined |
| Dust Kunkel | Fly Stone, Fly |
| Brien Feathers | The Way We Were Hunters |
| Patrick McNaughton | The Heart of the North |
| Benjamin Barreth | No More Levels |
| Chloe Cahenzli | The Dragoneers of Longbourn and Pemberley |
| Corbin Rook | Shadows of the Sundered Lands + |
| Emmanuel Akeyo | A Night of the Burntmen |
| C.J.R Isely | Shadow of the Sword |
| Brian Braden | The Golden Princess |
The Fantasy Hive
| A.C Cross | The Boddicker Letters + |
| Cass Reid | Loyalties Divided |
| Rowan Silver | Dragons of Frost and Fang |
| T. Alan Horne | Secret Sky: The Young Universe |
| J.J.N Whitley | The Orichalcum Crown |
| H.C Harrington | Dark Moon Rising |
| Rachel L. Tilley | Upon the Darkest Mountain |
| Maggie Lynch | Chameleon: The Awakening |
| Clay Vagrant | The Empire's Bladesmen: Forbidden Relics |
| Danie Ware | Lugan Vision Quest |
| Michael Widebrook | Poisoned Past |
| Darian Smith | The Lost Pendant of Pania |
| Darby Harn | Dead Malls |
| Elizabeth Schechter | The Sea Prince + |
| Jac-Ann Marie | Fall to Shadow |
| Jordan Smith | Mourn Not the Mortals |
| Andrea Marie Johnson | Shadows Dark and Deadly + |
| Justin Rose | Ariel's Tear: A Tale of Rehavan |
| Matthew J Turner | A Reign of Emerald Fire |
| Richard Fierce | Threads of Memory + |
| Megan Jones | Apex Division: A Drig Called Freedom |
| William Rafalko | The Demon Who Cried Murderer |
| Jack T.A Echlin | Regalian |
| H.L Tinsley | The Hallows + |
| Molly Blake | Vampire Mall Cop: Damien vs. the Entrail Eater |
| Nick Newlin | The Swordmaster |
| M.J Pankey | Epic of Helinthia |
| T.E Janota | Born Today |
| Liz Delton | Flames of Gold |
| Kristina Kamaeva | The Usurper |
SFF Insiders
| Peter J Aldin | Last Among Equals |
| Cal Logan | ShadowBane |
| Morgan Shank | Die Young |
| Andrew Gillsmith | The Desolation |
| Amelia Maria Vergara | Firefax |
| B.A Pepper | Daughter of Stone |
| Tim Facciola | The Scales of Balance |
| CW Okey | Bellcaster |
| EBatzell | They Live Among Us |
| Matthew Siadak | The Backwards Knight |
| Cecilia Agetun | Forgotten Memories |
| Tabatha Shipley | A Spark of Magic |
| David T List | Violence & Vigilance |
| Samuel Chatman | Daughters of Darkness |
| Max Shepherd | The Blade Unchained |
| Lorain O'Neil | The Hilarious Dead Guy's Last Chance Undies |
| K.R House | The Call of Wind |
| Karim Soliman | A Ballad of Vengeance |
| Justin D Bello | The Gift of the Guardians |
| David Liberto | Reyuul's Redemption |
| Bill Adams | The Godsblood Tragedy |
| N.R Gravel | A Winnowed Truth |
| Alexia Muelle-Rushbrook | In the Name of the Flame |
| David Green | Magic, Maps, and Mischief: A Cozy Neurodivergent Adventure |
| Lyndsey Luther | Greencloak |
| Sebastien Menkes | The Purple Prince |
| Palmer Pickering | Dark Town |
| Kell Shaw | Reflections Upon the Anniversary of My Descent |
| R.E Sanders | Demon's Tear |
| M.J.G Pither | Slaying Dragons for Tail |
Abel Montero
| L.R Schulz | Soul Cage |
| E.A Rayner | First There Was War |
| Grace Bridges | Yellowstone Calling |
| Chris Adams | Sword of Vengeance |
| Melinda Kucsera | Gateway to Hell |
| Shermon Kodi | Immortal Dark |
| Dap Dahlstrom | Darkness and Blight |
| Colin Fenwick | Dream Weaver |
| Ann Yihyang Kim | Eye in the Blue Box |
| Drew Montgomery | The Conqueror's Plague |
| Andrew Platten | Strands of Time and Magic |
| Thomas K. Carpenter | Half Pint Hex |
| Michele C. Shaw | The Honorable Con |
| Kate Grove | Sword and Mirror |
| Ellysa Marin | Of Secrets and Solace |
| J.J Thorn | Apocalypse Assassin |
| G.D Burkhead | Original Sin |
| A.J Ashton | Outcast Origins |
| Peter Killey | Reborn Heroes |
| Tom Lloyd | Devil Inside |
| Jalal C Hockett | The Fracturing |
| Benjamin Twigg | Dad Magic |
| Thomas Tarasios | Fire and Lightning |
| Andrea H Rome | The Standard Book of Anything |
| C.E Wright | The First Steps of the Path |
| Anita Primrose | Dream |
| H.L Moore | Heart of Dust |
| Dusti Nalley | Of Kings and Shadows |
| Matthew Phillips | Under an Ever-Setting Sun |
| Lucius Tarquinius | Choice |
Tali's Library
| A.J Peterson | Oblivion's Hymn |
| Three Scribes | The Sapphire Heart |
| C Warner-Thompson | Moon Torn hearts |
| Blake Michael Nelson | Lillandra |
| E.L Reeves | Storm Captain |
| Kimberly Grymes | Shade of Light |
| Molly Dowd Sullivan | A Light From the Nether |
| Christian Warren Freed | Coward's Truth |
| S.A Moyer | A Prophecy Spoken |
| Maya Darjani | A Stellar Spy |
| Sage T Greene | Touched: Black Edition |
| C.E Page | The Devil's Tangle |
| Kristin L Hamblin | Sorcery and Stagecraft |
| Kia Leep | Friendly Fyre |
| Rose Garcia | A Storm Rises |
| Tycho Dwelis | Court of Snakes: This Desert Cage |
| Charlotte Saulter | Phoenix Rises Dragon Soars |
| Elinor Taylor | The Fisher Girl |
| David Trotter | Birthrights |
| Ben Logsdon | Memoirs of a Household Demon |
| Kaylea Prime | A Spark From Embers |
| Philip Wyatt | The Book of Mook |
| Marshall Cunningham | The Taste of Riverwater |
| Nicholas Ponticello | Satan's Diary |
| Ian Robert Ross | Crown of Caphedra |
| R. M. Krogman | Desert Rose |
| Dorian Rondo | Plaguewalker |
| Jill Chard | Child of the Goddess |
| Rick Waugh | Rogue God |
| E.K O'Connor | She-Wolf - A Beowulf Retelling |
Noah Brisk
| I.K Stokbaek | Moonward Chain |
| Brian Xavier Cole | Seekers of the Light |
| Mark Parker | Quin of Light |
| C.B Lansdell | Far Removed |
| Emily Devereux | Death's Emissary |
| A.J Calvin | Serpentus |
| John Nassari | Dark Rising |
| Emmylou Kotzé | Forest of the Morning |
| Alex Robins | The City of Mist and Tears |
| Vic Sinclair | Fablenoir |
| Steven Paul Watson | Feather in a Gaslamp |
| Tristen Kozinski | Stormflower |
| A.R Mendsen | Valyo Rising |
| Z.R McCormick | A Legacy of Ashes |
| Izaic Yorks | Aithos |
| Phil Parker | The Dark Elf Dynasty File |
| Alli Earnest | Cities of Smoke and Starlight |
| Michael Webb | Lightbinder |
| Cara N Delaney | Blade of the Crown |
| Nick Child | Realms Beyond |
| C.V Vobh | Somnus' Palace |
| R.A Sandpiper | To Touch A Silent Fury |
| Peter Roberts | The Last Man |
| Aies Jay | The boy from Beyond |
| Caren Hahn | Hatched: Dragon Farmer |
| Ren Blake | Gabriel's Voice |
| Vanessa Ricci-Thode | The Dragon Next Door |
| S.J Shank | The Knave of Graves |
| Kane Williams | Perils of the Past |
| Voshin Machin | The Executioner of Rowling |
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