Self-Published Fantasy Month 2019: Week 1 Update

The first week of September is in the books which means week one of Self-Published Fantasy Month is also over. I meant to post this yesterday but I was too busy cleaning house and playing MTG with my kids. There weren’t a lot of posts for week one, at least not a lot that I’m aware of. Here’s a quick rundown of my own and any others I came across as well as an update of what else is coming.

Reviews

I kicked off the month with a review of Up To The Throne, by T.A. Frost. Here’s what I had to say about it…

“Big gobs of Revenge and political intrigue are what’s on the menu in T.A. Frost’s Up To The Throne. Frost sets his story in a dark late Renaissance/Reformation era setting with steampunk elements. While many of his tropes are rehashes of the usual fare, there are some noteworthy elements and the main character is compelling and engaging.”

You can read the full review here.

Maxine over at Maxine’s Obsession’s managed to get a couple reviews in this week. The first was for Touch of Iron by Timandra Whitecastle. Here’s a little of what she had to say…

“I read a lot of fantasy. A LOT of fantasy. I like my fantasy dark. Give me a bleak world, give me a broken down government, give me heroes who are total badasses, who have a little psychopath in them. I like the morally grey. It takes a lot to shock me. Well Touch of Iron shocked the shit out of me. I had to put the book down and take a breather. It is violent, it’s bleak, it’s brutal. It’s fucking wonderful.”

You can read Maxine’s full review of Touch of Iron here.

Maxine’s second review was for Shards, a short story by Ben Galley. Here’s a little of what she had to say…

” If you haven’t read anything by Galley please add him to your list of authors you want to try. He is incredibly talented. World building, brilliant character arcs, fantastic battle scenes, twists and turns, this man can do it all. He is an absolute force in the fantasy world.”

You can read the full review here.

Other Posts

Maxine also discussed some of her recent self-published fantasy purchases on her Stacking The Shelves post. After looking over the list it looks like she has some good titles, including one from a former #SPFBO winner. You can see the full post here.

What’s Coming

Next up from me will be a review of Tales of Kingshold, by D.P. Woolliscroft. I’m almost done with it and hope to have a review up in the next few days. I’d originally planned to post the review today but I was both busy and tired this week and didn’t get as much reading done as I’d planned, and this weekend I’ve been doing work around the house. So be on the lookout for this one soon.

After Tales of Kingshold I’ll be reading Fortune’s Fool, by Angela Boord. I also hope to post an interview with Angela later in the month. I’ve been looking forward to this read ever since the cover reveal. I’ve seen nothing but positive reviews for it so far so I’m pretty excited.

After Fortune’s Fool I have a few books in contention for the fourth read of the month so I won’t say anything more just yet. But keep checking back for updates.

If you’ve got some self-published books to read or that you’ve already read and want to discuss I hope you’ll join us! If you’re on Twitter be sure to use the #SelfPubFantasyMonth hashtag so I can find you, or you can always link to your posts here on the blog. I’d love to see what self-published fantasy you’re reading and enjoying.

– Jason