SPSFC4 Review: Team SFF Insiders Second Cuts

Review:

The first round of the fourth Self-Published Science-Fiction Competition is in its final months, and that means the time has come to begin saying goodbye to certain books.

The SFF Insiders has read thirty-one books in this first round, with each book being read by two different judges. The following books have been cut by mutual agreement between their two judges.

We can confirm that we now know our quarterfinalists and are working toward narrowing those down to two semifinalists, so thank you for your patience! This is the first in a series of three posts that will culminate in our quarterfinalists being announced.

Please note that, even though these books did not work for us, it doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you, and our views on the books do not mean that they are bad reads. Thank you to all the authors who took the time to enter this competition, and we wish you the best going forward!

Blackthorne by Clayton Snyder

Vivian’s Thoughts
This was a fairly quick read, but I didn’t really find any connection with the MC. The story is set in a world that is at war over territory, between witches and modified humans. The scenery is either bucolic farmland, a city dominated by a harsh militaristic governance, or a watery abandoned prison.

I found the violence to be a bit excessive, and unnecessarily gory. I never was positive why there was a war, what the motivations of the opposing sides were, other than greed or power. Which is usually the cause for such things.

It was a strange mashup of sci-fi and with some urban fantasy thrown in.

Jon’s Thoughts
So… like Vivian said, this was a quick read. Did I connect with the main character? Kinda but also not really, it was all over quickly, as well as it having the vibe of edgy dark anti-hero who runs about in a setting that is just “oh so so, we have all out war against these guys even though they ain’t all together in one group”, with witches, modified humans that are akin to cyborgs, and well, abominations that shouldn’t be unleashed. As for pacing it’s “backstory, character is somewhat happy with scamming people for love, status quo starts playing “In the army now”, human nuke, shenanigans, more shenanigans, a “That’s a thing in this book???” moment, buffoonery, end.” I won’t delve into the scenery that much, since Vivian hit the nail on the head for them, and as for violence, I’ve seen more excessive novels, but not much tops “Blackthorne” with the total and utter violence and chaos using aforementioned witches, cyborgs and abominations that shouldn’t have been unleashed. And like Vivian said, there had been no reason given for the change from “keeping the peace” to all out war, and unless I am not mistaken, we get no reason besides: “YOLO, we need more power and we dislike you”.  Aside from that, I enjoyed it.

It’s not for everyone, but there will be a niche audience for it somewhere in the sci-fi, urban fantasy, edgy anti-hero scene. 

Broken Mirror by Cody Sisco

Ariana’s Thoughts

A futuristic-AU America that's made up of nine nations, within which a few have gang wars. We spend most of the book in California and Texas while Victor solves the whodunnit of his grandfather's ("granfa") murder. Of course, because Victor is diagnosed with Mirror Resonance Syndrome no one really believes him. This is where I started to struggle a bit. I spent a fair amount of the book unsure if this was a legal or medical diagnosis and also not being entirely clear on what it was. I think it was around 50% or so that there's actually a definition for the disorder and the impacts of it. As to whether it was a legal or medical diagnosis, the answer is "yes". 

In this world, the devastating actions of one man have had enormous effects leading to a stigma in the diagnosis and restrictive legal classification system to protect the wider populace. As a concept, I really liked this. It asks some big questions that those who have a stigmatised diagnosis or a loved one with such a diagnosis will connect with. Being compared to a dangerous person who happens to have the same disorder, the stigma influencing the treatments and how the people with it are approached, the question of 'Who would i be if I didn't have X?' But all that said, I still don't really get what the syndrome is or does. Like Victor spaces out and seems to have synesthesia but beyond that, I've not really got a clue. It does mean that everyone is convinced Victor is under a delusion when he says his grandfather has been murdered.

Everyone just feels very…flat. I feel like there was more complexity put into the government and Texan gang wars (which also felt like half an idea rather than something fully fledged) than any character. There is so much happening around the characters that they seemed to be almost forgotten as a consequence. The whole book, aside from a few flashbacks, takes place over about two weeks so there really is a lot happening.

There is an interesting concept here and a valuable commentary on mental health, both in the treatment by the wider public and the psychiatric treatments available. I'm just not totally sure the execution matched the bones of it all.

Read Ariana’s full review here.

Anie’s Thoughts

I ended up DNF-ing this at 30%, hoping that it would become less convoluted. From the beginning, some plot points were slightly unclear, but I will add that there are some very heavy and thought-provoking concepts within the story. 

Cosmic Strife: Assault by Steve Gavin

Jon’s Thoughts

Well that was certainly a book that I read. Not the worst, not the best, but it did tick allllll the sci-fi boxes. Steve Gavin has indeed written a very sci-fi intense novel, but there is one rather small, or big, depending on how much of a reader you are, issue. That’ll be talked upon soonish. And I do indeed want to see where the series goes. 

Each of the characters sends the plot forward in their own way, with the villains chiming in like Darth Vader and Palpatine tend to do, giving us a general idea of what those guys are up to. Shenanigans are the name of the game, with each part of the book playing out like a scene before cutting to the next, using the other perspectives as the stop gap. Fun way of going about it.

Unfortunately… one thing made me nearly toss my digital reading device out the school window (as time of reading the book, I had too many classes off)... the finish, the polish of the book. It needed a bit more. To me, that detracts too much from the enjoyment of the book because it jarred me out of the flow. But, ultimately, that can also be a good thing, with it being a sign that someone human has written it, with all the flaws being human. I think this is something people need to experience for themselves, to make up their own mind about it. 

Now, if you want a multi-plot driven story with space warfare, shenanigans and family drama, “Cosmic Strife: Assault” by Steve Gavin is for you.

Read Jon’s full review here.

Vivian’s Thoughts

Unfortunately, I did not connect to this story. It started out fine, initially, but I quickly disengaged from it shortly thereafter.

The characters seemed fairly shallow, or they seemed too young for their respective roles. It might be written for a younger reader than I am, so that could be part of the reason. I don’t tend to like the young people can do everything better, and are more capable than any person older than they are sort of trope. 

Hopefully there are readers out there who will enjoy this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me.

Flight of the Pangolin by Michael Moutinho

Manda’s thoughts:

Though I think there were some great bones in this book to work with, ultimately I fell at a 5 out of 10. It wasn't any one thing. It was more a lack of overall development, clarity and entertainment. I wanted to understand these characters, and their motivations. And more, to understand the world. It seemed as though many were based on real world cultures with their naming conventions but we weren’t tying the knots to get there, and the tensions didn’t hit the crescendo I thought they were working towards. That said, I think that this world is worth exploring more deeply and I’d love to get to know it more. Moutinho’s is something to listen to, and there were a lot of fun quips and moments with these characters that I saw the glimmers. I think what this book could use is a good couple of beta readers to flesh out some of the issues, help punch in some of the points, and strengthen some of what felt like caricatures, or sometimes pawns, into more rounded characters. It's really hard to leave these kinds of reviews but at the end of the day that's what we're here to do. I think there are people out there that would really enjoy this story, but in a slush pile that makes you sort the highest, this was lost in the threshing.

Vivian’s thoughts

The story starts out on the flight deck of the SFS, Satellite Federation Ship, Pangolin, Commander Chapman monitoring the situation in the midst of a tense diplomatic mission standoff. The opposing three space craft are those of the Sanzoku, a brutal invading force which has been wiping out far flung settlements, leaving none alive.  

Unfortunately, after repeated entreaties of peace have been met with silence, the head of the fleet issues a warning of impending attack. Things go sideways in spectacular fashion from this point. And I was intrigued to see where this led.  

Unfortunately, I feel that this is where it didn’t continue to keep me as invested as I thought I would be. I would have enjoyed a bit more character development, to better grasp the motivations of all the various players. There was one strange scene in which some sort of rebellion erupted, and people were going bonkers reintroducing the guillotine to necks. It was a bit random, and the whole conflict and possible long term resolution seemed contrary to the instinct for survival that most species have a strong feeling for. It seemed like it was trying for some sort of comedic interlude, but missed the mark. 

There are powerful families who don’t want to relinquish this power, others who want that power, and still more who just want to be left alone..  

I would’ve liked to have a bit more detail about the deity that is worshipped, and more depth to the structure of the societies involved in this off earth world. This might be good for a reader who is looking for something that doesn’t require too much mental investment, but I want a bit more to enhance my enjoyment of what I’m reading. 

Mission Beta by Archie Kregear

Anie’s Thoughts

I can certainly see why the author submitted this to the competition as it could technically be read as a standalone. However as an actual third book in a series, I felt some details between character development and world-building were missing. Certainly worth the read if you have already started reading the series are interested in exploring other-worldly beings and their impact/interaction with humans.

Manda’s Thoughts

I jumped into this story on a learning curve. I realize other people are probably coming into a Book Three having read the series, but I think a larger recap or prologue would have helped my enjoyment in the beginning. It does pass as a standalone storyline and I think you could find a good amount of entertainment in it, especially if you’ve already taken a spin in this world. That said, I had trouble becoming invested in Bianca, our main character, around the clunkiness of the worldbuilding. The logic behind some of our surrounding decision makers wasn’t quite compelling me to believability at times, though their dilemma in finding life on this world and how to interact with it was an interesting conflict spurring me on. I also struggled a bit with dialogue that felt more robotic than natural, although I’m not sure how I would respond after waking up to this reality from stasis. Archie’s writing did smooth the edges, his prose were straightforward and descriptive, even when the structure was a bit hard to follow. Especially in the beginning, when we were constantly switching between Bianca’s writings, the narration, dialogue and announcements or news while I was still fighting for footing. I think all in all, I would definitely recommend reading the first or second book before this one, both to get a feel for the universe and the style. In the end I chose to walk away from this book a third of the way through, knowing that for me it wasn’t making the cut. That said, I do think this book is for some, and I would venture to think Archie is going to be one to look out for in future books.

Blood Sacrifice by Q. Turner

Jonathan’s thoughts:

This was, for me, a longer read than most this year. And not because of the world building or idea behind the story, but the characters themselves. It plays out in a dystopian world where an unchanging Andrew Tatesque character, a flat constant fight for change character, and a somewhat traumatised by life character who changes a bit. As for the language used in the novel… the graphic descriptions could be toned down a bit. And the… well, this’ll turn into another full 2000 words of a disgruntled book connoisseur. To keep this short, it didn’t jive well. If you want a more detailed look, here’s a full review linked here.

Ariana’s Thoughts:

This took me longer than I anticipated but that is not a reflection of the book really. It is extremely well written, I cannot fault anything in the writing. What took me longer was the fact it was so heavy. Like the trigger warnings are not a joke. This is a world where men are at the top, rich men at the top of the top, and women are for three things that do not make life particularly enjoyable regardless of class. There are also displacements, settlements and racism riddled throughout this as well. It was heavy. And some scenes were hard to read because of the content. I felt like I could easily see where inspiration came from and honestly I felt like I could connect with the female characters. I agree with my fellow reviewer, I hated the “prophet” speaker character but we were meant to. I disagree with some of Jon's points, but that may be down to seeing a lot of representation in this that might be missing for other readers. I will absolutely be doing a full review on this because I think it deserves it, even if it's not progressing here. 

The Areisa by Lorain O’Neil

Anie’s Thoughts: 

I simply had a hard time getting into this one.The futuristic setting is intriguing but connecting to the characters and the overall coming-of-age story didn’t land for me. It had some promise, and I did finish it all the way through, however it felt a bit juvenile in the attempt.

Ariana’s Thoughts: 

The Areisa isn’t a long book and it also comes with a short blurb. I thought those two things combined, this would be a quick read. Unfortunately, it ended up being a very quick read as it joined my list of DNF books. One thing I liked was that we dove right into the story, the potential Areisa’s were quickly identified and picked up to go onto…some kind of challenge thing. I’m not really clear. These seven girls, 15-17 years old, are identified as possibly being this Areisa entity and then have to be weeded out for their “lack of intelligence, ethics or character.” Things that 15-17 year olds of any gender are notoriously not generally filled to the brim with. But sure! Let’s select them for an enormous responsibility.

The Areisa seems to control the galaxy, or commerce or the galaxy’s commerce. Whatever it is, I was not on board with 15-17 year olds being left in charge of it. 

The main character, Aeon, is 17 but we open with her playing house in the woods so admittedly I thought she was younger. She has a country bumpkin type accent that is largely inconsistent. “So somebody’ll might try an’ kill us?” Paired with her are several other girls that screamed teen drama but in a ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ way. One character selected for this remarks on another saying ‘big ass, big boobs, what more does she need?’ and also ‘I’m going to die a virgin on the Hill. I just know it. A dead kicked-out-of-the-Priorate virgin.’ We then have another character refer to yet another of the group as ‘bubble-butt’, while Girl number…I don’t know 5 let’s say, while Girl 5 says one looks ‘obviously well fed. Well everything.’ Add in the line ‘be nutzoid’ and we have 90s-00s teen girl movies. Somebody find a jock! 

I already was not clear on the purpose of this role, I knew it didn’t exist for some several decades but I didn’t really care to learn why. The initially introduced characters might have developed but I was so put off by them and their edgy, mean girls way I really could not spend the time to find out. And this random assassin following them came out of leftfield in the book as much as it is in this review.

The author seems to have a number of other books so I am sure there will be one that will work for someone else. For myself, I can safely say The Areisa is not for me.