This year’s fantasy novel blog-off competition (SPFBO4) begins on Wednesday. SPFBO is a showcase for genre writing. Author Mark Lawrence is the competition’s inventor; you can read about the competition here.
My novel THE HIDDEN FACE is entered this year:
A face without a face – an unmasking that leaves the mask.
Once every few hundred years, the sun god, the Akhen takes on human form and descends to earth. Each Unmasking of the Face of the Akhen ends one era and begins another; the last one created the Faustian Empire. Where and when will the Face next appear, and who will he – or she – be?
Dayraven, son of a great hero, returns to Faustia after years as a hostage of their rivals, the Magians. Those years have changed him, but Faustia has changed as well; the emperor Calvo now seems eccentric and is controlled by one of Dayraven’s old enemies. Following the brutal death of his old teacher, Dayraven is drawn, together with a warrior woman named Sunniva, into the search for an ancient secret that would change the fate of empires.
Powerful enemies want the secret as well, including a dynasty of magician-kings who were thought to have died out long before, a mad, murderous hunchback and a beautiful, deadly woman who is never seen. Sunniva and Dayraven fight to survive and to solve the mystery while their own pasts come back to life and the attraction between them deepens.
The competition is very tough, but THE HIDDEN FACE has gained some nice blurbs and is the right genre for this competition:
“A fun and fast-paced fantasy adventure” – Dyrk Ashton, author of Paternus
“Tugs at emotional strings really quickly, in an incredibly effective way” – Revolution SF
“A thrilling little fantasy novel” – Superstardrifter.com
“The Da Vinci Code meets Indiana Jones in a fantasy setting” – Tome and Tankard
“I really had fun reading this book” – Purple Owl Reviews
“A great fantasy romp” – Youtube reviewer James Chatham
“I don’t think I’ve ever read a fantasy quite like The Hidden Face” – Cover to Cover
“A strong, fast and gripping fantasy novel” – The Irresponsible Reader
“Strong and entertaining” – Dave-Brendon de Burgh, author of the Mahaelian Chronicle
“A climactic denouement with plenty of action and drama” – Brainfluff
“Has something new and unique around every corner” – Beauty in Ruins
“A fun book with intrigue, betrayal, and lies spread throughout” – C. T. Phipps, author of Cthulhu Armageddon
I am curious to see how my book goes and also to discover new writers; if you are interested in fantasy novels, check out the competition!
S.C. Flynn 