Whewww with this post concluded, I’ve read the first 20% of 21 out of 28 of the team At Boundary’s Edge slushpile allocation! There were some super strong books here and I wish everyone could win – this would be so much easier that way. Once again, all opinions here are solely my own and don’t reflect that of the team, other judges, or the competition in general.
Before getting into my next round of votes, don’t forget to check out the updates from other teams too!
In other news, our most excellent team captain is also sharing his individual thoughts on each book so check that out too. He is also up to book number 21 and you can use this link to surf back through his picks so far
In case you missed it, my first seven books are listed towards the end of this link here. Numbers 8 through 14 can be found here, and 15-21 below! I hope to be done by about this time next week and then be ready to start reading quarterfinalists in entirety ♥️
Without further ado, let’s get on with the next selection of books!
All books include their Amazon links so do check them out if you’re interested!
#15 The Empyrean by Katherine Franklin opened with a planet on fire and stayed equally wild throughout the first 120 pages or so. It’s a little longer at 478 pages and didn’t always seem to keep track of itself but it’s very readable and I’m totally on board with the fast paced adventure so far
Voting: yes
#16 First of Their Kind by C.D. Tavenor is an interesting look at synthesized intelligence. This is one of my favorite sci-fi sub genres but I found myself not all that absorbed in the narrative voice of the SI. I wouldn’t expect it to have a human syntax but it did have a lot of human issues and I felt lectured at times. I skipped ahead a bit too and just never became interested. I do think people who like moral, political, AI focused, scientific sci-fi may be interested in this one!
Voting: No
#17 Inish Carraig by Jo Zebedee is another shorter read. It’s about a post invasion city in Ireland that might as well have seen as apocalypse, and the people trying to survive. After the aliens are attacked by a virus, another war looms … I really liked the characters too so far and the plot and the writing itself as well.
Voting: yes
#18 Inquisitor by Mitchell Hogan … Oh my, this is a strong group of reads so far. This is a fast paced crime thriller that is lighter on the sci-fi and turned into something like an action flick before too long. It’s not terribly well developed but I am a huge fan of serial killers and techy thrillers so …
Voting: yes
#19 Mercuryville by Tara Summerville is a funny, wild story that contains the following quote:
All I knew about Bill was that he had a basement full of dead bodies and a general disdain for interior design.
Honestly I wished I gelled with the narrative voice more because I know this one has an audience with the weird & humorous crowd, but I just wasn’t enjoying the reas. Check it out if you are up that alley
Voting: no
#20 Pulse by B.A. Bellec … Oh wow, ok this has some horror elements for sure. And it reads like a movie script, in a third person omniscient present tense…. With multiple points of view. Did I do that right? It’s honestly a little hard for me to follow and I would love to see the script acted out as a play or a movie, but in book format I am struggling with this one despite liking the premise quite a bit
Voting: No
#21 Political Nightmare by Rainbow Maccabre is hard to describe. I feel like I get what the author is getting at but it’s got some significant issues with cohesion and editing and there’s not a lot of description to latch onto as things move along, which makes it hard for me to become moored & vested
Voting: no
Stay tuned, I am super excited to go back and start finishing some of these books 🚀⭐
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