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This is the last SPFBO X semifinalist update by our Fantasy Book Critic team, and if you haven't already, don't forget to visit the links above to read every update we have posted so far.

I was assigned six titles, and they are:

Dimensional Traveler by John Champaign
Light My Fire by Kat Kinney
Good Bad Witch by Isa Medina
The Cursed Soul by K.C. Smith
The Tenfold Tenants by E.V. Belknap
Woe to the Stargazers by Alex Shipper

My process was: read samples or extracts of each books, and then ordered them in the order I wanted to read them. Then I read at least 20% of each book (but one) before I decided if I wanted to proceed further.

Before presenting my decision, I will first share brief thoughts of each of them assigned to me.

Light by Pyre by Kat Kinney is a paranormal romance that is the first entry in the Everwood Falls series. The male protagonist is a firefighter in Everwood Falls. But he's also Fae. It is a short books that employs the usual cozy fantasy tropes but there is a lot of early exposition that's just forced. There was a particular point that was so very lazy and past that, I felt myself being pulled out of the story with similar repetitions when the world/history/setting was described. Those who can overlook such things and predictable elements of cozy fantasy romances might probably enjoy it. There was no standout aspect here.

Dimensional Traveler by John Champaign belongs in LitRPG, and opens with a protagonist looking to finish his physics PhD, in a lab where he feels like he doesn't belong. While he thinks of how he cannot wait to get himself out of there, something magical happens, and he's transported to a magical land that he only thought existed in games. With a different culture, and even a different language, he has it hard until someone sees in him a utility, and then he gets swept away in using that to his advantage to survive. Those who enjoy LitRPG or school settings might gel with this book, but I couldn't read beyond a point. No glaringly obvious early issues, but there was no real hook in the first bit to keep me reading.

The Cursed Soul by K. C. Smith is a YA fantasy pirate adventure with elemental magic. It has a headstrong female protagonist sorceress who takes shelter in a docked ship and gets stuck in a vessel with pirates who might not stop their ship anytime soon, and the male character looking to get freed from a curse. Needing each other, they join forces. Those looking for an old school fantasy adventure with threats to kingdoms, found family, sorcerers and forbidden magic will probably enjoy this a lot more than I did. I would've preferred some foreshadowing, but found that some things just happened abruptly, and the FMCs portions were the most enjoyable of what I read. I DNFd it at about 25% and skimmed a few pages after, but there was not much in it to make it a compelling read.

Woe to the Stargzers by Alex Shipper is a standalone fantasy book that will likely be intriguing for most readers who enjoy luxuriating with fantasy settings. The author has spent a considerable portion of the first few pages with detailed descriptions, but unfortunately, the style in which they were done was overwhelmingly indulgent. This could've benefited with some tight editing, because there were some odd phrases being used, and I had no idea what they intended to convey or the setting they wanting to paint. This was the earliest DNF of my batch so I can't very well recommend it to specific audiences, so give it a try if you are curious.

Good Bad Witch by Isa Medina is an urban fantasy featuring witches, shifters, demons, and more, with a mystery at the core. It features a not so average witch who has been given charge of a magical shop that she needs to keep in business. Someone is set to ruin it for her in a town where she has one friend and barely any acquiantances. It's a light, fluffy read with constant visits to her past as well as the memory of her late grandmother, one of the most influential figures in her life. The downside? The romance and mystery was almost too predictable, and if it weren't for the easy read it was, I wouldn't have read all of it.

The Tenfold Tenants by E. V. Belknap is another cozy urban fantasy that seemed to have quite a bit of personality when I sampled it. Corbin is educated to be a great villain, but ends up as a caretaker for magical tenants. When an opportunity to host a new tenant gives him a little bit of a chance to move from the position he is stuck in, he grabs it and tries to finish off his task as quickly as possible. If you enjoy stories with the magical world hidden from the real world but closely influenced by mundane political events, as well as a book that takes it slowly but steadily and confidently, you might want to check this out. The author takes special effort to begin with a few chapters that detail history and the tenant house that the protagonist manages, but there were a few sections in here that felt like less of a worldbuilding exercise but more of an excuse to go on certain rants, that I had to put it aside.

Verdict

To select a book as my semifinalist, I need to see it as a finalist for our team. Since I cannot see that happen for anything in this batch, it is time to say goodbye to them all. Not a great outcome, and I'm sorry that we have to close our cuts on this note. Readers, any of them could potentially be a hit with you, so don't let my thoughts alone be a deterrent, if you have plans to check any of these titles out. And authors, thank you for submitting your books to the contest, and I hope you find new audiences.