Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: janine-a-southard

  • CYGNUS SPOTLIGHT for SCI-FI – Book Awards, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Time Travel, Genetic Mods, Tech, Apocalyptic, Space Aliens

    CYGNUS SPOTLIGHT for SCI-FI – Book Awards, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Time Travel, Genetic Mods, Tech, Apocalyptic, Space Aliens

    Cygnus Award for Science Fiction

    The Cygnus Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Alternative History, and Speculative Fiction. The Cygnus Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring space, time travel, life on other planets, parallel universes, alternate reality, and all the science, technology, major social or environmental changes of the future that author imaginations can dream up for the CYGNUS Book Awards division. Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Genetic Modification, Aliens, Super Humans, Interplanetary Travel, and Settlers on the Galactic Frontier, Dystopian, our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    Get your Sci-fi on

     enter the CYGNUS AWARDS today!

    Who will receive a beautiful CIBA  CYGNUS Blue Ribbon? 

    Which CYGNUS AWARD winner will receive the next big publishing contract or land a top agent…? 

    Bennett Coles CYGNUS Grand Prize for VIRTUES of WAR 

    Harper Collins Voyager has picked up CYGNUS Grand Prize Winner Bennett R. Coles for his latest work Winds of Marque.

    Titan U.K. picked up his CYGNUS award-winning Virtues of War and then contracted for two more books in his series: Ghosts of War and March of War.

    Virtues of War

     

    Will it be you? 

    THE DEADLINE TO ENTER THE 2020 CYGNUS Novel Writing Competitions is April 30, 2020.

    ENTER TODAY!

    The CYGNUS BOOK AWARDS 

    Hall of Fame

    2018 Grand Prize Winner: 

    The Korpes File by J.I Rogers took home the 2018 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Grand Prize Blue Ribbon.

     

     

     

    2018 First in Category Winners:

    • The Fortune Follies by Catori Sarmiento
    • It Takes Death to Reach a Star by Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington
    • Solar Reboot by Matthew D. Hunt
    • Apex Five by Sarah Katz
    • The One Apart: A Novel by Justine Avery
    • The Selah Branch by Ted Neill   

    2017 Grand Prize Cygnus Winner: 

    The Future’s Dark Past by John Yarrow

     

     

     

    2017 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction First in Category Winners

     

     

    2016 Grand Prize Cygnus Winner:

     

    OVER by Sean Curley

     

    2016 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction First in Category Winners

    2015 Grand Prize Cygnus Winner:

    The Great Symmetry by James Wells

    2015 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction First in Category Winners

    2014 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner:

    Enemy of Existence by Yuan Jur

    Citadel 7, Earth’s Secret: Enemy of Existence by Yuan Jur

    2014 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction First in Category Winners:

    2013 Grand Prize Cygnus Winner:

    Bennett R. Coles, Virtues of War

    2013 First Place Category Winners for the Cygnus Awards are:

    • The Lotus Effect by Bridget Ladd
    • Celia’s Heaven by Nancy Canyon
    • Artemis Rising by Cheri Lasota
    • The Maiden Voyage of the Mary Ann by Linda Reed
    • Ragnarok: Demon Seed by Ea Bishop

         

         

        Don’t delay. Enter today! 

        Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media, L.L.C.  retains the right to not declare “default winners.” Winning works are decided upon merit only. Please visit our Contest Details page for more information about our writing contest guidelines.

        CBR’s rigorous writing competition standards are why literary agencies seek out our winning manuscripts and self-published novels. Our high standards are also why our reviews are trusted among booksellers and book distributors.

        Please do not hesitate to contact Info@ChantiReviews.com about any questions, concerns, or suggestions about the Chanticleer International Book Awards. Your input and suggestions are important to us.

        Click here for more information about the Chanticleer Book Reviews International Book Awards.

      • CRACKED! A MAGIC iPHONE STORY by Janine A. Southard – Seattle, Cyber-Punk, Fantasy

        CRACKED! A MAGIC iPHONE STORY by Janine A. Southard – Seattle, Cyber-Punk, Fantasy

        Can a middle-aged, hip statistician find the perfect boyfriend in Washington’s Emerald City? Maybe with the help of her magic iPhone!

        On this quirky journey through and around Seattle our heroine, Morena’s accompanied by two strange, but well-meaning sidekicks. Morena’s best friend/roommate, Suzyn, a twenty-something, aspiring photographer from New York, who likes to dance, get drunk, and get high; Magic Man, is an undercover, 6,000-year-old elf, who only wants to fit it with the humans around him. Also, a mysterious Green Man, who seems to be nearby wherever Morena goes, but whom she never notices, adds a note of mystery.

        After a breezy false start in which the narrator chats the reader up, like a neighbor over mid-morning coffee and Danish, the real story begins.

        One morning, Morena discovers a package on her kitchen table. Her ex-boyfriend, who “never sent her a single gift,” before their “horrid break-up,” has now sent her an iPhone—and it just so happens the phone is magic. It has only one app, designed for finding the right mate—and Morena, with her biological clock ticking, longs for love. She is searching for a soul mate—as long as it doesn’t take a lot of effort. She enjoys her current lifestyle, so, the right man would have to not only conveniently drop into her life, but also fit into her life. That iPhone may have been the perfect gift.

        The reader journeys with Morena, her magic phone in hand, on Seattle’s buses and light rail, into various neighborhoods, coffee shops, pubs, and restaurants, as well as to neighboring communities. Cracked! . . . introduces a plethora of geeks, freaks, “funky hipsters,” story gamers, “hipsters playing at being gamers  . . . ,” anonymous drug dealers, and more. Along the way, the reader may learn some street slang while being apprised of the go-to (for whatever you want) places in that urban area.

        Particularly entertaining and interesting are the forays into the story gaming world, where the gaming part counted as a respectably nerdy pursuit, and the story part counted as creative . A fun feature of the story is that it is a microcosm of Seattle life: giving its readers a chance to interact with some odd characters, but still not have to be friends with them.”

        While some may find Cracked! to be somewhat thin on plot, it’s heavy on atmosphere and setting, which is captivatingly authentic. Southard’s hip and cool characters are multi-dimensional and memorable. As a stylistic technique, the intrusive and opinionated omniscient narrator is sometimes informative and amusing, but at other times, can be distracting. However, always fun!

        Overall, Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story provides an insider view of Seattle, its denizens, and some of their various activities and belief systems, that contribute to its unique culture. It’s a fun read in a much too serious world.