Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards

The 2024 CYGNUS Awards Short List 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 and Novel Competitions (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, Climate-Fiction, 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.

These titles have moved forward from the 2024 Cygnus Long List to the SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Cygnus Semi-Finalists List. Finalists will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2024 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Timothy S. Johnston – A Blanket of Steel
- Daniel Lawrence Abrams – Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry
- Janet Post – Vee: Shooting Star
- Joseph Anderson – Eden 2b
- Neil V. Young – Children of the Stars
- David T. Isaak – Tomorrowville
- D. L. Wilburn Jr. – The God Protocol: Judgment
- Jeremy Clift – Born in Space: Unlocking Destiny
- C.P. Schaefer – Western Lights
- Derek Wachter – The Dark Side of the Moon
- Mark Sabbas – The Monarchs
- Sean M. Tirman – Hounds of Gaia (The Marrower Saga, Book One)
- Don Stuart – Darwin’s Dilemma
- Sheri T. Joseph – Edge of the Known World
- Alexandru Czimbor – Sentience Hazard
- Peter Dingus – Deep Time
- Jaime Castle – Purgatory
- Alexander Boldizar – The Man Who Saw Seconds
- Zach Fortier – Volk’s Bane
- I.D. Marie – The Tyrant’s Daughter
- Jayson Adams – Ares
- A. R. Black – No Man’s Land
- Nina Munteanu – Thalweg
- Jude Berman – The Die
- John Be Lane – The Future Lies
- Aaron Arsenault – The Climate Diaries: Book One: The Academy
- Russell Klyford – Emergent Mars
- Liz Cummings – Down the Rabbit Hole
- Michael A. Richards – FounderLand
- S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
- PJ Caldas – The Girl from Wudang
- Thomas Weaver – Artificial Wisdom
- Ellen Ricciutti – One Time or Another
- Shami Stovall – The Half-Life Empire
- Lynn Yvonne Moon – Journey’s Travels – Mirrors
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2023 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner

The Shadow of War

By Timothy S. Johnston

Click here to see the full list of 2023 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
August 15, 2024
The 2024 Ozma Long List for Fantasy Fiction!
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Magic, Steampunk and Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. Our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2024 OZMA Fantasy Fiction entries to the 2024 Ozma Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Ozma Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Ozma Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction!
- K.N. Salustro – A Whisper from the Edge of the World
- J.V. Rutz – The Illusion Killer and the Phantom Magician
- Susannah Dawn – Search for the Armor of God
- Chloé A.H. Lewis – The Covenant Of Saints
- Helen Garraway – Sentinals Banished
- James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
- Roxana Arama – The Exiled Queen: A Roman Era Historical Fantasy
- Elana Gomel – Nine Levels
- Steve Stine – I, Enoch
- Anton Anderson – The Seekers: Kirin
- Jenn Lees – Of High Kings and Mages: Arlan’s Pledge Book Three
- Curt Locklear – Treasure and Murder In Ireland
- Shami Stovall – Time-Marked Warlock
- Marieke Lexmond – The Queen of Fairy, The Madigan Chronicles #6
- Jody Norman – New Trails
- Charles Allen – A Graveyard of Ships
- John Middleton – The Navel of the World
- Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – An Unexpected Hero
- Mary K. Savarese – The StarWriters Club
- Lynne Shaner – Journey to Everland Bay
- A.S. Norris – The Hunted Mage: The Adventures of Jack Wartnose
- Glen Dahlgren – The Realm of Gods
- David V Mammina – Death or Volentus: Macabre Masquerade (Book 2)
- David V Mammina – Death or Volentus
- Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Scourge of Night
- Kolton Fitz-Gerald – Leon Sharp: The Tides of War
- Alan B. Gibson – Summer Storm (Magic at Myers Beach, Book 2)
- Zakary Bennett – Spirits of Leuun Shadows of the Chimera Vol 1
- J.A. Nielsen – The Winter Heir (Fractured Kingdoms, Book 2)
- Susan Wands – High Priestess an Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series
- R. M. Krogman – Liberation
- James Malone – The Song of Theodore-Return to Rainbow Gardens
- Omayra Velez – The General’s Gift
- J.M. Durham – Silla’s Awakening
- Ross Hightower – Spirit Light Volume 1
- Ross Hightower & Deb Heim – Desulti
- Mark Stanley – Elven Blood: Volume 1 of the Vellhor Saga
- Erin Lark Maples – A Circle of Stars
- Evette Davis – The Others
- M.D. House – Crossroads of Awakening Memory
- Ryan Schuette – A Seat for the Rabble
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – Fish & Sphinx
- Rebecca Warner – Journey of Souls
- Luminescence Goh – Chronicles of the Enchanted Vanguard Seraphina and the Divine Mandate
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The Serpent’s Spell
- S.G. Blaise – Proud Pada
- Logan D. Irons – Oaths of Blood
- Joseph P Macolino – The Battle for Erathal
- Prue Batten – The Red Thread
- Joy Ross Davis – The Goddess of Weaver Street
- S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
- W.B.J. Williams – Johnny Talon and the Goddess of Love and War
- T.E. MacArthur – A Place of Fog and Murder
- Shami Stovall – Academy Arcanist
- J.A. Nielsen – The Claiming
- C.V. Vobh – The Yawning Gap
- David Scidmore – Aylun
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2023 Ozma Grand Prize Winner and Overall Grand Prize Winner

A Vengeful Realm

By Tim Facciola

Click here to see the full list of 2023 OZMA Book Award Winners for Fantasy Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
August 14, 2024
The Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction Awards Round Up for the 2023 First Place Winners!

The Gertrude Warner Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Middle Grade Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Rae Knightly’s book, EXOSTAR will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Gertrude Warner contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention all year ‘round!

The 2023 Gertrude Warner Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners’ post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Gertrude Warner Winners!

Alex Paul – The Amarrat Invasion

The Amarrat army continues its march across the northern land route to attack Lanth. But Arken Freeth has been critically wounded by his encounter with a deadly Tant and may not survive to lead the Nanders to war. Meanwhile, the Amarrat armada is crossing the Circle Sea to rendezvous with their army at the River Zash.

Zuul, the Amarrat king has equipped Yolanta, king of the Tookans, with a fleet of twenty fighting ships, and he is leading the Amarrat armada across the Circle Sea. Yet Yolanta is plagued by doubts about his loyalty to Zuul after he invaded Yolanta’s mind.

Lanth is frantically preparing to defend itself as Arken’s friend, Asher, sails to the Nander Water Cave. He is accompanied by his mother, the Queen of Tolaria, who plans to read the Necklace of Tol in hopes of divining a strategy to defeat the Amarrats.

The collision of these forces is inevitable. But who will win the battle at sea against the Amarrat Armada?

Find it on Amazon

Chris Norbury – Little Mountain, Big Trouble

LITTLE MOUNTAIN, BIG TROUBLE is an inspirational story about a young boy with a big dream and the courage to chase that dream no matter the obstacles.

Twelve-year-old EJ is a short, unpopular, shy, self-described loser. He lives with his mother and younger brother on the wrong side of town and spends every other weekend with his hard-to-please, deadbeat father. Because surviving school and his home life are challenging enough, EJ’s the last kid you’d expect to dream of someday climbing Mount Everest …

… until he’s matched with a volunteer Big Brother. Russ is the opposite of EJ in almost every way. Despite their differences, they bond over helping EJ achieve his mountain-climbing dream. Their first goal is to hike to Minnesota’s highest point, Eagle Mountain.

But when a ferocious thunderstorm strikes in the middle of their trek, EJ and Russ are plunged into a life-or-death crisis. Fighting his loser self-image with every step toward safety, EJ learns that standing tall has nothing to do with height and everything to do with determination, heart, and courage.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Liese Sherwood-Fabre – Wilhemina Quigley: Magic School Dropout

Family wields the greatest magic.

A missing father. A mother bewitched. Wilhelmina must use her unpredictable magic to catch whoever—or whatever—is stalking her parents. Will her powers be enough to restore her family?

When Wilhelmina accidentally sets her remedial magic class on fire, she is sent to live in the ordinary world with a mother she barely knows. Her adjustment gets off to a very rocky start. She has sudden, unexplainable bursts of magic—mostly while navigating the middle-school minefield—and her mother’s behaving like she’s under some spell. Despite her handicapped magic, Wilhelmina vows to get to the bottom of it all—even if she could vanish without a trace just like her father.

“Wilhelmina Quigley: Magic School Dropout” is a fish-out-of-water story with touches of mystery, fantasy, and humor. A witty tale of enchantment.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Kevin Dunn – Vicious is My Middle Name

With a partially-shaved head, purple Doc Marten boots, and the sinking realization that no one in a fifty-mile radius has ever heard of her favorite all-female punk band Lite Brite, 13-year-old Sydney Vicious Talcott wants to be anywhere but her new home of Beaver Dam, NC, especially when mean girl Brittany Winters treats her like the punch-line to every joke. But just as life begins to seem more tolerable with her two new book-nerd friends and a growing appreciation for the beauty of the Appalachian mountains, Sydney discovers that a shady corporation is planning to build an environmentally-damaging asphalt plant right next to the school. Her attempts to work through the system to stop the plant’s construction fail, so it’s up to Sydney to fight the corporation and their political lackeys the only way she can, using the do-it-yourself tools she has learned from punk rock. But before she can triumph, Sydney, her family, and friends must endure bullying, harassment, immigration raids, and more.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Alisse Lee Goldenberg and Joseph Goldenberg – Lucky At Bat

Lucky At Bat follows the story of a young boy named Jack and his two rescue rats-Lucky and Gus-Gus. When Jack discovers that Lucky has a talent for baseball, the little rat becomes the mascot and secret batting coach for Jack’s Little League team. Unfortunately, a rival team considers Lucky’s presence “cheating,” and tensions rise, resulting in a terrible accident. Lucky and Jack wonder if maybe a ballpark is no place for a rat.

Now it’s up to Jack’s teammates and Gus-Gus to show both Lucky and Jack that they are special and important, and they should not give up on their dreams, no matter how big those dreams may be.

From Chanticleer:

Alisse Lee and Joseph Goldenberg, a mother and son team, knock their new middle-grade novel, Lucky at Bat, out of the park.

This story follows ten-year-old Jack and his pet rats. Baseball is a major theme, and with Joseph as illustrator, Lucky and Gus Gus come to life. Their mutual friendship and support raise them up against the forces that would try to bring them down.

When Gus Gus and Lucky arrive in Jack’s life, he is thrilled to have pets and wants to share his life and passions with them. One of those passions is baseball, and Lucky finds something appealing about the game. When Jack’s little league team begins playing, he invites both his pets, but only Lucky goes.

When the team meets Lucky, they make him their mascot, and turn around their losing record.

Read More Here

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Ben Gartner – One Giant Leap

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Sue C Dugan – SOS

Thirteen-year-old Brandon, Amy, and their family are on a cruise to Bermuda when hurricane-force winds sink their ship. Brandon and Amy escape into a life raft. Brandon needs to use his wits to keep himself and his sister safe until they are rescued by The City of Benares—an evacuee ship with children fleeing from the Germans during WWII. They seem to have gone back in time!

Although their situation is confusing and seems like a dream, not all is terrible when Brandon meets the beautiful Eleanor, who is going to New York to escape the London bombings. They can’t comprehend why they have gone back in time. The atmosphere on the ship is fun, even though the threat of the German torpedos is real. When the ship is sunk by a torpedo, Brandon, Amy, and Eleanor escape and are rescued by the Titanic. They remember what happened with the iceberg and know they must leave and plan their escape. They leave the Titanic to be rescued by the SS Austria—a wooden ship from the 1800s—where the passengers view them suspiciously. When the Austria burns and sinks, they are adrift until they find land, spot a small plane taking off from the jungle, and know they’ve discovered a way home.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Gertrude Warner First Place Winners!

Watch for our Spotlight and Hall of Fame Articles that will feature incredible books, including Rae Knightly’s amazing EXOSTAR!.

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Gertrude Warner Awards!

Got a great Middle Grade Book?

The 2024 Gertrude Warner Book Awards are open through the end of August!

Submit to the Gertrude Warner Awards Today!

August 11, 2024
The 2024 Shorts Spotlight for Brief but Spectacular Writing
Short but Sweet

***Send us your short story today***

Shorts Awards submissions close at the End of August!

H.G. Wells once described the purpose of a short story to be “The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud.”

A Story doesn’t need a long winding plot to get it’s point made. Compelling characters and plot twists in 5 pages can have much the same effect as 100.

In 1846, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay called The Philosophy of Composition. In it he described his theories on writing Short Stories, using The Raven as the example. He had 3 theories for writing – Length, Method and ‘Unity of Effect.’

According to Poe, the limits on the length of a short story is what makes them so good.

In his words “For it is clear that the brevity must be in direct ratio of the intensity of the intended effect.” On length, Poe said for one of his stories: “[W]hat I conceived the proper length for my intended poem – a length of about one hundred lines. It is, in fact, a hundred and eight.”

In terms of method, He states that a writer should first think of how they want a story to end. Of course, that’s just how he wrote, you can start from the beginning, or the end, or maybe the middle. His last theory is everything together. Emotion, Length, Tone, and making them all work together.

The Shorts Awards launched just a few years ago and is already one of our most competitive divisions!

Your Short Fiction and Non-Fiction deserve to be discovered!

There are several options when submitting to the Shorts Awards to match your type of writing:
- Single Story or Essay – also great for Novellas and Novelettes!
- Short Story Collection
- Novelette Collection
- Novella Collection
- Essay Collection
You can also submit anthologies to any of the collection options! Just pick the one that best describes the type of work found in the anthology! This includes anthologies with a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry!

Let’s dive into some wonderful short work that we’ve reviewed recently!

THE GARDEN PLOT DIARIES
By Endy Wright
Shorts Finalist

Endy Wright’s The Garden Plot Diaries is a delightful collection of four short stories about life, relationships, and consequences.

Wright captures the gossip and rivalries between factious groups of town folk, all between sixty and ninety-something, who have known each other since childhood and carry the grudges to prove it. Our delightful narrator professes, “I am a rambling old man with a tale to tell and in no hurry to tell it.” So, settle in.

Read more here!

A WILD REGION: Tales and Stories from the Heartland
By Robin Lee Lovelace
“Savonne, not Vonny” won the Shorts Grand Prize!

A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland by Robin Lee Lovelace is a wonderful collection of Weird fiction (emphasis on Weird), showcasing the oddities and fantastic adventures which hide among the everyday people of the midwestern United States.

Lovelace opens with ‘Virgie’s Headless Chicken’, setting the tone for the full collection as Virgie attempts to reproduce a circus sideshow act. Lovelace shares her familial inspiration for this story in a fascinating preface.

Read more here!

NEW YORK: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst
By Elizabeth Crowens
Shorts Grand Prize Winner

Prepare to be carried away to bustling, vivacious streets as you read Elizabeth Crowens’ New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst.

This captivating literary anthology is a love letter to the great city from a group of brilliant artists and authors, which delves into the multifaceted lives of New Yorkers.

Short fiction and a few poems describe the ins and outs of New York living. Murder mysteries, revenge, family struggles, family sagas, and, of course, the most important questions regarding real estate. Finding the perfect place to live in the city may be difficult, but this story brings into vivid relief the heart of what makes New York special: the people.

Read more here!

A WEEK at SURFSIDE BEACH
By Pierce Koslosky, Jr.
Shorts Grand Prize Winner

Vacationers from all walks of life converge on Portofino II-317C, South Carolina, a quaint blue beach house, in Pierce Koslosky Jr.’s short story collection, A Week at Surfside Beach.

From May 30th-December 26th each group of people comes to stay one week at a time, to forget their cares of the big city, to work, to celebrate, or to simply get away. Surfside Beach has much to show them, including temperamental weather.

The small town itself offers a charming supermarket where fishing supplies, whoopie pies, and local southern favorites can be found. The Christmas vacationers, the final of the thirteen beach house renters, struggle to find a tree in time; a real tree simply wouldn’t allow enough space for the family to sleep, and the fake tree would cost too much. But they find arts and crafts supplies in town, to fashion a paper Christmas tree during a day of rainy weather.

Read more here!

WISHES, SINS, and the WISSAHICKON CREEK
By PJ Devlin
Somerset First Place Winner

Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek by PJ Devlin emulates the lives of fictional characters brimming with hope and promise yet living a truthful life of existence in the gorgeous setting of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Creek.

The book encompasses ten short stories making it a complete work of fiction. Devlin creates characters which are rich in both experience and struggle. Not only do they live in a real world created by Devlin, but her characters, a mix of children and adults, both struggle with daily, real-world issues most Americans deal with. The stories are all relatable in this sense, which makes the text come alive, page after page.

Read more here!

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the 2024 Shorts Awards! We can’t believe that the whole adventure starts again when the Shorts Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards close on August 31st, 2024.

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

You know you want it…

Submit to the Shorts Awards today!
August 8, 2024
The 2024 Long List JOURNEY Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2024 Journey Non-Fiction entries to the 2024 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Journey Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
- Shannon Bohrer – Judicial Soup
- Judie Dziezak – Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
- Carolyn Saletto – One Hazel Green Eye
- M. Lorrie Miller – Invitation to Co-Creation: A Spiritual Path from Child Abuse and Religious Trauma to Love, Healing, and Oneness
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
- Aja Mia – The Heartbreak of Time Travel
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
- C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, you say?
- Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
- Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
- Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered
- E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Turtle – Turtle
- Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
- Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
- Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
- David H. Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
- Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
- Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows
- Ana Manwaring – Saints and Skeletons A Memoir
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
August 1, 2024
The CYGNUS 2024 CIBAs Long List 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 and Novel Competitions (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, Climate-Fiction, 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.

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2024 CYGNUS Science Fiction entries to the 2024 Cygnus Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Cygnus Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Cygnus Book Awards novel competition for Science Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Timothy S. Johnston – A Blanket of Steel
- Daniel Lawrence Abrams – Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry
- Janet Post – Vee: Shooting Star
- Chris Rasmussen – Upstream
- Joseph Anderson – Eden 2b
- Neil V. Young – Children of the Stars
- David T. Isaak – Tomorrowville
- Rod Galindo – Distress Call
- D. L. Wilburn Jr. – The God Protocol: Judgment
- Jeremy Clift – Born in Space: Unlocking Destiny
- C.P. Schaefer – Western Lights
- Derek Wachter – The Dark Side of the Moon
- Mark Sabbas – The Monarchs
- Sean M. Tirman – Hounds of Gaia (The Marrower Saga, Book One)
- Don Stuart – Darwin’s Dilemma
- Sheri T. Joseph – Edge of the Known World
- Alexandru Czimbor – Sentience Hazard
- Peter Dingus – Deep Time
- Jaime Castle – Purgatory
- Alexander Boldizar – The Man Who Saw Seconds
- Zach Fortier – Volk’s Bane
- I.D. Marie – The Tyrant’s Daughter
- Jayson Adams – Ares
- Laurie Stevens – The Return
- Marc Corwin – The Lasso Unravels: When All Hell Breaks Loose
- A. R. Black – No Man’s Land
- Nina Munteanu – Thalweg
- Jude Berman – The Die
- John Be Lane – The Future Lies
- Aaron Arsenault – The Climate Diaries: Book One: The Academy
- Russell Klyford – Emergent Mars
- Liz Cummings – Down the Rabbit Hole
- Michael A. Richards – FounderLand
- S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
- PJ Caldas – The Girl from Wudang
- Thomas Weaver – Artificial Wisdom
- Ellen Ricciutti – One Time or Another
- Shami Stovall – The Half-Life Empire
- Lynn Yvonne Moon – Journey’s Travels – Mirrors
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

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Congratulations once more to the 2023 Cygnus Grand Prize Winner

The Shadow of War

By Timothy S. Johnston

Click here to see the full list of 2023 CYGNUS Book Award Winners for Science Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
July 28, 2024
The Ozma Fantasy Fiction Awards Round Up for the 2023 First Place Winners!

The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The Overall Grand Prize Winner, Tim Facciola’s book, A Vengeful Realm will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Ozma contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2023 Ozma Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Ozma Winners!

Lilla Glass –The Unseen

Elwyn is remarkably unremarkable, and she prefers it that way. What more could a thief hope for than to pass through life unseen? Upon fleeing a violent life with her invisible friend-a clever and capricious creature who’s only grown more real with time-she is plunged into an adventure rife with otherworldly beings both beautiful and beastly.

As the Greyscale’ most cutthroat assassin, Brannon has a bone to pick with Elwyn-and several to break. Tasked with hunting down his errant colleague, he soon finds himself in a magic-steeped hamlet where he encounters creatures even more deadly than himself. To survive, he must rely on the very rival he’s been sent to capture.

Little Lydia has a chilling secret, and even she doesn’t know the whole of it. Her unusual appearance has earned her the nickname “monster,” and there may be some truth to the slight. When she caves to the whispers that have slithered through her mind for months, she loses everything she knows and must start anew in the company of criminals.

Bored by his charmed existence, prince Aedyn slips into the lives of these three misfits only to learn of schemes that place both the Mortal and Faerie Realms in peril. If he can help the others work together to thwart the plans of two feuding fiends, they might just manage to save multiple worlds…provided they don’t kill each other first.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Charles Allen – The Order of The Red God

Allen is a great world builder and provides complex characters with intricate plots. This story has a little bit of horror, a little fantasy, time travel and heartbreak. Everything had a smooth pace. Now we just need the third book in the series! — Chanticleer

This book is not yet released, but we are very excited to see it come out! It is the sequel to Seagrass Maggie, which also won a First Place Ribbon in the 2022 Ozma Award.

You can find that book Locally and on Amazon.

Jaime Castle and Andy Peloquin – Black Talon

Kullen is the Emperor’s assassin. The sharp hand of justice. The Black Talon.

Gifted a soul-forged bond with his dragon, Umbris, Kullen is tasked with hunting any and all who oppose the Empire.

But when the secretive Crimson Fang murders two noblemen before his very eyes, Kullen must discover the truth of who they are and what they want. What he uncovers is a web of lies and deceit spiraling into the depths of Dimvein.

Natisse, a high-ranking member of the rebellion known as the Crimson Fang, has no greater goal than to rid Dimvein of power-hungry nobles. Haunted by her past, fire, flames, and the death of her parents, she sets out to destroy the dragons and those who wield them as unstoppable weapons of destruction.

Until she too finds herself buried beneath the weight of the revelations her investigations reveal…

Find it on Amazon

Jonathan Uffelman – Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers

A malignant being is hunting Shaun McClanahan and his daughter Molly. When it steals their gold, they are thrust into an epic adventure, hurtling back through time to ancient Rome.

To save themselves, Molly and her father must come to terms with a painful past, heal old wounds, and grapple with the most powerful leprechaun magic ever known to lore gatherers. But even with the help of a poetry-writing fox and a hyper-intelligent chicken, can they save the universe?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

PJ Devlin– The Chamber

Jenesis is a monster. Her odd looks and small stature incite disdain but mask her power — power she must harness to overcome evil, or perish trying.In the year 535 AD, Jenesis, the elfish daughter of a human father and mystical mother, is abandoned under a fairy tree on the west coast of Ireland. Her odd looks earn her the label, monster.

Jenesis has a secret — she’s descended from the magical tribe of Danu. Her destiny to save monsters — children abandoned because of disabilities — leads her to the new world and a hidden chamber along the Wissahickon Creek. Jenesis must protect the chamber from wicked men who want to destroy it, the monsters, and her.

Throughout her interminable life, Jenesis calls on human skills and Danu power to battle evil reincarnated. Will she find a Danu to take her place? Will her journey ever end?This epic tale spans the years 535 AD to 1952, and spins from Ancient Ireland to indigenous America to Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek. History and myth, humanity and deity, mundane and magic are masterfully interwoven to create an authentic world populated by mystical and mortal characters. The Chamber is the first Wissahickon Monsters story. This genre-bending tale will appeal to fans of fantasy, historic fiction, and romance who love to enter a story and become part of it. Devlin’s characters seamlessly coexist in the upper world and underworld, all the while protecting the chamber’s secret.

Find it on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Ozma First Place Winners!

You can see our Hall of Fame for the Ozma Grand Prize Winners, including Tim Facciola’s incredible book A Vengeful Realm here.

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Ozma Awards!

Got a great Fantasy?

The 2024 Ozma Book Awards are open through the end of July!

Submit to the Ozma Awards Today!

July 25, 2024
10 Days Left! The 2024 Ozma and Goethe Awards Close at the End of July!
The Fantasy is soon to be History!

The Ozma and Goethe Awards both close at the end of July! Don’t let your History become a Fantasy!

The Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction and The Goethe Award for Post-1750 Historical Fiction close submissions on JULY 31st.

You can’t win if you don’t submit!

Submit to the CIBAs Today!

Only 10 days left to submit your books to the prestigious CIBAs and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!

The Ozma Awards for Fantasy and The Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction are still open until JULY 31st!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Ozma Awards!
- Lilla Glass – The Unseen
- Charles Allen – The Order of the Red God
- Jaime Castle & Andy Peloquin – Black Talon
- Jonathan Uffelman – Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers
- PJ Devlin – The Chamber
And a huge round of applause to this years Overall Grand Prize, and Division Grand Prize for OZMA

A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Goethe Awards!
- Lisa Voelker – The Spoon
- Robert W Smith – A Long Way from Clare
- Mitzi Zilka – Water Fire Steam
- Susanne Dunlap – The Adored One
- Linda Ulleseit – The River Remembers
- Nicole Evelina – Catherine’s Mercy
- William Maz – Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs
And a huge round of applause to this years 2023 Goethe Grand Prize Winner- If Someday Comes by David Calloway

The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
July 21, 2024
The 2024 Ozma Spotlight for Fantasy Fiction! Explore the Categories, the Overlaps, and find your Next Great Read!
The search for the best Fantasy Fiction continues!

The submissions for the 2024 Awards is well underway, and Ozma closes submissions at the end of July!

Fantasy isn’t just elves and magic. There is so many possibilities for a Fantasy Tale and we love that!

Let’s Dive into the Categories!
- Magic, Heroes and Villains is classic High Fantasy like Lord of The Rings.
- Coming of age is Fantasy typically looks at someone coming into their own, like Egwene al’Vere in The Wheel of Time, but it can also be aimed at a younger audience. For YA Fantasy see Dante Rossetti and for Middle Grade Fantasy check out the Gertrude Warner Awards!
- Steampunk and Dieselpunk are a type of Alternative history and Counterculture, Steampunk being Victorian era sci-fi or fantasy, or both, with an emphasis on steam powered or gaslight technology and historical fashions.
  - Dieselpunk is a similar category but more like an industrial Art Deco, Film Noir aspects with aesthetics of the World Wars and Early Cold War. The video game series Bioshock, or Bladerunner could be seen as examples of Dieselpunk . There are quite a few different types of ‘punk’. Cyberpunk is one of the more well known, using 1980s futuristic aesthetics.
- Historical Fantasy is similar to the previous, but with less of the Science Fiction elements. History with magic instead of History with weird tech.
- Modern and Urban Fantasy is exactly what it sounds like. Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files is a good example. Fantasy, but realistic. Magical Realism stands on its own, and can be found as a Category in the Somerset Awards!
- Last, but not least is Myths and Legends and Fairy Tales. Classic Fantasy elements, Fairies, King Arthur, folktale type stories.
Fantasy can even have many crossovers with Science Fiction! The cast of Star Trek: Next Generation shows just the same thing.

Looking for your next Fantasy Read? Check out some of these incredible books we’ve reviewed!

THE CLAIMING: Fractured Kingdoms Book 1
By J.A. Nielsen

The illegitimate son of a human king accidentally binds himself to a Fae princess in J.A. Nielsen’s YA adventure, The Claiming. As war bears down on the kingdom of Telridge, can the two of them break the spell in time?

Lord Ferrous, ruler of Telridge, smells conflict coming for his people. Even so, he denies a mysterious request from the king of the Winter Fae, and sets his sons to prepare their land for war. His eldest, Prince Dirk, gathers his knights and begins to evacuate the common people to the protection of Telridge castle. His younger son Spense, born out of wedlock to the castle’s head cook, uses his finicky magic to Claim a bridge over a powerful river. If he succeeds, the passing will be barred to their enemies. But he fails to realize that the powerful living force he encounters isn’t the bridge at all.

Dewy, crown princess of the Summer Fae, is Claimed instead of the bridge. Her aunt, Lady Radiant, must exile her from their lands. While Dewy’s careless spirit chafed under Radiant’s authority, she grieves for her lost home.

Read More Here!

The Second Book in the Award-Winning Fractured Kingdom Series comes out September 4, 2024! It’s available for pre-order now!

A CIRCLE Of STARS: Four Crowns Series Book 1
By Erin Lark Maples

If you’re looking for a beach read with supernatural intrigue, A Circle of Stars by Erin Lark Maples will draw you in from page one. Ember “EJ” James, a newly-arrived stranger in the strange land of Prescott, AZ, immediately begins navigating unfamiliar territory, both physically and metaphysically.

Forty-something EJ doesn’t know it yet, but when she agreed to take over her deceased uncle Hollis’s shop in Prescott, she stumbled into a world of magical realism. The plant shop, as it turns out, is more than just that—it hides secret access to other realms, which supernatural beings will go to great lengths to access. Much like the plants in the shop, this tale is dark, tangled, and intriguing beyond belief.

Anyone else may have felt helpless. But EJ remains upbeat, charmingly self-deprecating, and resourceful to the end. There’s a great joy in seeing how she works through her new surroundings, unfazed by (almost) everything they throw her way.

Read More Here!

SUMMER THUNDER: Magic at Myers Beach Book 1
By Alan B. Gibson

Lily struggles to keep her business, her son, and her home. But in Summer Thunder, first book of the Magic at Myers Beach series by Alan B. Gibson, Lily’s luck begins to turn as she connects with the enigmatic beach king Theos.

With the help of her friend and fellow business owner Greta “the Witch,” Lily tries to revitalize her fairy-themed decoration and figurine store. Her divorce from her abusive ex-husband Kelly is pending, and she must present a calm and reliable home to ensure full custody of her son Jamie. But when her kindly landlord, Ms. Coffey, passes away, she’s confronted with two options: lose her prime business location and upstairs apartment, or somehow make enough money to buy the building herself.

Enter Theos, a kitesurfing champion with adoring fans. He shows true appreciation for Lily’s fairy figurines, bringing her many more sales. But more importantly, Theos becomes deeply interested in Lily herself. Their romance begins on rocky footing, as Theos has a strange air about him and seems to vanish whenever a storm comes into town. But when he begins modelling for a new fairy figurine – aptly named Theos, the King – the two are drawn inevitably closer.

Read More Here!

MISTRESS Of LEGEND: Guinevere’s Tale Book 3
By Nicole Evelina

In Mistress of Legend, the enticing finale of Nicole Evelina’s Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, matters are life-and-death by the second sentence, pulling readers deep into Guinevere’s fate in this retelling of Arthurian legend.

We come upon heroine Guinevere in the midst of an ill-fated romance with Lancelot. It’s far from her first troubled entanglement, but the stakes rise as she’s severely injured and faces even more threats, pursued by possible enemies. The novel’s beginning is woven with backstory, which adds suspense to the drama unfolding in Guinevere’s present. This summarizing might be slow for readers familiar with the series, but makes the story accessible for those who haven’t picked up the first two books.

Many more characters appear, waving the web of intrigue Guinevere finds herself caught in.

Evelina builds this setting through well-researched cultural details, like the holidays and rites of Guinevere’s pagan world, and the symbolism and ideology of the Christianity that threatens to blot her world out.

Read More Here!

Plus, check out our 2023 Overall Grand Prize Winner, A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola!

A roaring start with a queen planning her husband’s execution while full of regret for what must be done. Magic is forbidden, knights and gladiators are doing their best to make their way through a complex political world, and the prince is just trying to keep his family safe. Excellent for anyone who loves Brandon Sanderson!

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the 2023 Ozma Awards! We can’t believe that the whole adventure starts again when the Ozma Awards close on July 31st, 2024.

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

Submit to the Ozma Awards today!
July 18, 2024
The 2024 Ozma Hall of Fame for the Best Fantasy Fiction
Is this Just Real Life, or is This Fantasy?

What do Legolas’ Elf Eyes see? Great Fantasy Books!

Legolas (Portrayed by Orlando Bloom) From Lord of The Rings

The Ozma Awards for Fantasy Fiction are a Division of Chanticleer Book Awards and help us find some amazing fantastical stories.

Fantasy fiction can be anything from High fantasy with elves and magic, to Alternative History, Steampunk, and Folk Legends.

Submissions Deadline for the OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction is July, 31, 2024.

**Send Us Your Story by the End of July**

If you’ve been looking for a Fantasy to read, try out some of our Award winners!

A Vengeful Realm Book 1: The Scales of Balance
By Tim Facciola

We’re coordinating the review with Tim to go out in October with his next book release! The full series is out now, and you won’t regret reading it! Check out his website here and see it on Amazon here!

Soar a Burning Sky
By Steven Michael Beck

Earth is linked in a symbiotic relationship with its spirit twin, a hidden utopia called EonThera. But as the paradise begins to inherit the harsh realities of Earth’s drastic climate change, EonThera urges action – before both realms collapse, in Steven Michael Beck’s Soar a Burning Sky.

What if there was an “earthly paradise,” a mirror of Earth – a terratopia that is an awe-inspiring existential representation of how amazing planet Earth could be? This fantasy fiction presents a synergic relationship between Earth and this soul, as together they sustain the Ticking – a heartbeat that nurtures both. But as Clayton Cramer puts it, “Abandon all thoughts of Utopia – humans are involved.”

As a result of the two realms’ mutual existence, one’s failing health accounts for the fall of the other. The soul of Earth, EonThera, is collapsing. It is plain that the enemy is ignorance, primarily Earth’s, and with this knowledge comes the recruitment of the four unlikely Earthly warriors to aid the two realms before they fall from a burning sky.

Visit Steven Michael Beck’s website here for the latest updates!

Plague of Flies
By Laurel Anne Hill

Sixteen-year-old Catalina Delgado’s hopes of marrying her love are troubled by strange, unnatural dangers, in Laurel Anne Hill’s novel, Plague of Flies.

Like every dutiful daughter in 1846, Catalina worries about her reputation. However, she must also gain the approval of Ángelo Ortega’s family. Unfortunately, when three strangers ride onto her family’s small ranch in Alta California, she knows that more than her dreams are at risk. Alta California has just been invaded by the men of the Bear Flag, and Catalina fears what will become of her homeland now that it has been claimed by the Yankees. The nearby ranch owned by the valiant General Vallejo has been raided, owners and their servants terrorized and held captive. Plus Bear Flaggers have murdered additional friends of Catalina’s family on a beach.

Read More Here

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth
By Christopher Russell

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the opening of a High Fantasy epic about the rise and fall of vast empires.

The story grows from unfinished business between three brothers gifted with magic and power but chose different paths to achieve safety and security for themselves and the people who followed them.

These different paths culminated in a battle where the fate of their world is balanced precariously on a knife’s edge. Darmatus and Rabban are engaged in a war to the death with their oldest brother Sarcon. Sarcon believes the road to that safety lies in power alone, that the only way to be secure is to crush all his enemies, no matter how heinous the deeds required.

Read More Here

Manufactured Witches
By Michelle Rene

Sixteen-year-old Nat is a boxcar kid. It’s the Dust Bowl era, and Nat has lost everything: his grandmother, his family home, and a sense of belonging. He hops trains across Texas in search of a place for himself amid so much loss. Outside of Amarillo, Nat feels a peculiar sensation, a tug from destiny, that pulls him toward the small town of Tanglewood. However, instead of finding a job and some much-needed food, he discovers Polly Jones, a teenager like himself, chained to a post with a sign above her reading, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch.”

Nat can’t bring himself to abandon her to the small-minded, fearful townsfolk and immediately becomes her protector until the arrival of Camille Renoir Lavendou, a local woman who operates Miss Camille’s Home for Wayward Children. No one dares stop Camille from releasing Polly and taking both teens with her because Camille is reputed to be in the “witchin’ business” herself. Nat’s excitement at the prospect of food and a place to stay quickly turns to disbelief and wariness when he steps inside Camille’s sanctuary. What he thought was a ploy on Camille’s part to keep the nosey townsfolk at bay doesn’t seem to be a trick at all when he meets those who are under Camille’s care.

Read More Here

Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Ozma Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Our Chanticleer International Book Awards feature more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes each year!
- All First Place Winners Receive a coveted Chanticleer Blue Ribbon and discounts on our Roost Membership and Editorial Reviews.
- All Division Grand Prize Winners a coveted Chanticleer Book Review Package
- The Ozma Grand Prize Winner is named Chanticleer Reviews Best Fantasy Fiction Book of the Year and goes on to compete for the Chanticleer Overall Grand Prize Best Book of the Year
- The Overall Grand Prize Winner is named Chanticleer Reviews Best Book of the Year and awarded the $1000 prize
- All winners receive a Chanticleer Prize Package which includes a digital badge, a ribbon and a whole assortment of goodies detailed below (winners outside the US pay a shipping & handling fee)
That’s more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes! The Fine Print.

~$1000 for one lucky Overall Grand Prize Winner
~$30,000+ in reviews, prizes, and promotional opportunities awarded to Category Winners

You know you want it…

Currently accepting entries. Deadline: July 31, 2024

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Here are some recent achievements from our authors:
Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com
July 11, 2024