Battle of the 2015 Books, Bracket One :: Final Four

We're down to the Final Four in Bracket One of Fantastic Reviews Battle of the 2015 Books:

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
vs.
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz
vs.
The Just City by Jo Walton

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. Now only four books remain of the starting sixteen. This bracket contained books from across the genre. There were secondary-world fantasy books, historical fantasies, urban or contemporary fantasies, science fiction books, and a horror novel. To get to the Final Four, these four books won their first two matches. The other books in the competition, and some of them were quite good but by chance faced a strong competitor, have been knocked out of the running, like in college basketball's March Madness.

Judging between books, which can be totally different, based on reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult. It's also inherently subjective. But our Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

In this bracket, all four books which we named as the "seeded" books at the outset ended up advancing to the Final Four. This is atypical, but not unprecedented. Usually at least one and sometimes two unseeded books pull upsets to reach the Final Four.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. Several future brackets of Battle of the Books are now in the hands of our reviewers, so check back for many more battles to come.

Battle of the 2013 Books, Bracket One :: Final Four

We're down to the Final Four in Bracket One of Fantastic Reviews Battle of the 2013 Books:

Electricity & Other Dreams by Micah Dean Hicks
vs.
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson
vs.
The Cusanus Game by Wolfgang Jeschke

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. Now only four books remain of the starting sixteen. This bracket contained books from across the genre. There were fantasy novels, YA fantasy, science fiction, mainstream speculative fiction, story collections and a horror novel. To get to the Final Four, these four books won their first two matches. The other books in the competition, and some of them were quite good but by chance faced a strong competitor, have been knocked out of the running, like in college basketball's March Madness.

Judging between books, which can be totally different, based on reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult. It's also inherently subjective. But our Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

In this bracket, two of the four books which were "seeded" reached the Final Four. The unseeded books which made it to the Final Four are Electricity & Other Dreams by Micah Dean Hicks and Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. Several future brackets of Battle of the Books are now in the hands of our reviewers, so check back for many more battles to come.

Battle of the 2012 Books, Bracket Eight :: Final Four

We're down to the Final Four in Bracket Eight of Fantastic Reviews Battle of the 2012 Books:

The Diviners by Libba Bray
vs.
Osama by Lavie Tidhar

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
vs.
A Pretty Mouth by Molly Tanzer

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. Now only four books remain of the starting sixteen. This bracket contained books from across the genre. There were horror novels or dark fantasies, adult fantasies, YA fantasies, and science fiction novels. To get to the Final Four, these books won their first two matches. The other books in the competition, and some of them were quite good, have been knocked out of the running, like in basketball's March Madness.

Judging between books, which can be totally different, based on reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult. But our Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

In this bracket, three of the four books which were "seeded" reached the Final Four. The unseeded book which made it to the Final Four is The Diviners by Libba Bray.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. Several future brackets of Battle of the Books are now in the hands of our reviewers, so check back for many more battles to come.

Battle of the 2014 Books, Bracket One :: Final Four

We're down to the Final Four in Bracket One of Fantastic Reviews Battle of the 2014 Books:

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley
                 vs.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg
                 vs.
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket contained books from across the genre. There were science fiction, fantasy and horror books. To get to the Final Four, these books won their first two matches. The other books in the competition, and some of them were quite good, have been knocked out of the running, like in basketball's March Madness.

Judging between books, which can be totally different, based on reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult. But our Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

In this bracket, three out of the four books which were "seeded" reached the Final Four. The unseeded book which made it to the Final Four is The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. Several future brackets of Battle of the Books are now in the hands of our reviewers, so check back for many more battles to come.

Battle of the Books, Bracket Seven :: Final Four

We're finally down to the Final Four in Bracket Seven of the Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman
                 vs.
River Road by Suzanne Johnson

Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers
                 vs.
The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket, our seventh, contained books from across the genre. There were science fiction, fantasy and horror books. To get to the Final Four, these books won their first two matches. The other books in the competition, and some of them were quite good, got knocked out of the running by a tough opponent, as in basketball's March Madness.

Judging between books, which can be totally different, based on reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult. But our Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

In this bracket, three out of the four books which were "seeded" reached the Final Four. The unseeded book which made to the Final Four is River Road by Suzanne Johnson.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. Several future brackets of Battle of Books are now in the hands of our reviewers, so check back for many more battles to come.

Battle of the Books, Bracket Six :: Final Four

After some delays, we're finally down to the Final Four in Bracket Six of the Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston vs. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey vs. Be My Enemy by Ian McDonald

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket, our sixth, contained books from across the genre. There were science fiction, high fantasy, urban fantasy and horror books. Hopefully some sparked your interest. Good books can and do get knocked out of the competition in the first and second rounds due to strong competitors. I know there are books that I (Amy) would like to read.

Stopping reading good books after only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult, and so can judging between two completely different books. The Battle of the Books format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

Now only four books remain. All four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four. This is the first time this has happened.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. More brackets are to come!

Battle of the Books, Bracket Five :: Final Four

Here we go! After completion of the second round, we're down to the Final Four in Bracket Five of the Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Railsea by China Miéville vs. Harmony by Keith Brooke

Nightglass by Liane Merciel vs. The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket, our fifth, contained books from across the genre. There were science fiction, contemporary fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy, and horror books. Hopefully some sparked your interest. I know there are books that I (Amy) would like to read. Now only four books remain.

Stopping reading good books after only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult, and so can judging between two completely different books, but this format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

Three of the four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four: Railsea, Harmony, and The Testament of Jessie Lamb. The dark horse of this group is Nightglass, which is a tie-in to the Pathfinder role-playing game.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a great response to the Battle of the Books format. More brackets are to come!

Battle of the Books, Fall 2012 :: Final Four

We have quickly arrived at Final Four in the belated Fall 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson vs. The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal vs. Auraria by Tim Westover

We hope you've enjoyed this tournament so far. This sixteen-book bracket, our fourth, contained a wide variety of genre books. Hopefully some sparked your interest. There were a number of appealing, well-written books. Now only four books remain.

Dropping good books after reading only 25 or 50 pages can be difficult, but this format allows us to sample and spread the word about many more new books and authors than we otherwise could.

Three of the four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four: Further: Beyond the Threshold, The Drowned Cities and Glamour in Glass. The dark horse of the group is Auraria, an independent book that has proved a surprisingly strong competitor, pulling off consecutive upsets over top-flight authors.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a tremendous response to the Battle of the Books format. More brackets are to come, so stay tuned!

Battle of the Books, Summer 2012 :: Final Four

We are (finally!) down to the Final Four in the Summer 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis vs. Taft 2012 by Jason Heller

Silver by Rhiannon Held vs. The Mongoliad: Book One by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear & five others

This sixteen-book bracket contained a number of interesting books. All the books but one were by authors I (Amy) hadn't read before. Stopping reading good books after only 25 or 50 pages for Battle of the Books was sometimes difficult, but it allowed me to sample a wider selection of books and spread the word about more new books.

Only two of the four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four: The Coldest War and The Mongoliad: Book One. That's fewer than in the previous two brackets. Perhaps this was partially because the "seeded" books were selected by Aaron, and they were the books that he was most looking forward to reading.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a tremendous response to the Battle of the Books format; we already have enough new books to fill out three more brackets!

I've enjoyed judging this bracket, but I wish I was a faster reviewer. I haven't yet finished the summer bracket and we're already well into fall. I'll be handing Battle of Books back to Aaron for the next couple brackets. Aaron has already judged a handful of contests for the upcoming fall bracket, so stay tuned!

Battle of the Books, Spring 2012 :: Final Four

We are down to the Final Four in the Spring 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Hell Train by Christopher Fowler vs. The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod

The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus vs. The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner

We will announce the Christopher Fowler / Ken MacLeod winner on Thursday, the Ben Marcus / James Renner contest on Saturday, then crown a champion next week.

Once again the bracket as a whole has contained a great many interesting and well-written books, with not many clunkers. In some cases I've felt guilty about having to drop good books after only 25 or 50 pages, but the upside is we've gotten to help spread the word about many more new books than I could possibly have reviewed under our old format.

Three of the four "seeded" books made it to the Final Four; the only upset was James Renner over Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon. I am a bit surprised that two of the four semifinalists, Renner and Ben Marcus, are not genre names—I sometimes think I have a prejudice against mainstream writers dabbling in our genre, but it hasn't manifested in the Spring Battle of the Books.

Thanks again to all the authors and publicists sending us great books to consider. If you're an author or publicist, click here for the rules and an address to send your book if you'd like to be included in a future bracket.

We have had a tremendous response to the Battle of the Books format; indeed, we seriously need to pick up our pace over the next couple months—we already have enough new books to fill out three more brackets! My fellow Fantastic Reviewer Amy has offered to start judging some contests to help us catch up.

Everybody remember to check back here over the next week for the Final Four results!

Battle of the Books, Winter 2012 :: Final Four

We are down to the Final Four in the Winter 2012 Fantastic Reviews Battle of the Books:

Eyes Like Leaves by Charles de Lint vs. Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card

And Blue Skies from Pain by Stina Leicht vs. Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear

A huge thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this tournament. Hits at the blog are way up over the past month, and at least half the authors of books in the tournament commented on it at our blog or their own or at Facebook or Twitter. We're very glad folks seem to enjoy this new format. We know we're having a blast, and plan to continue with this format for the foreseeable future. We already have 14 books for the next bracket, so we'll be announcing our Spring Bracket shortly after the current Winter Bracket concludes. Authors and publicists, if you want your book included, you can find the rules and an address to send your book here.

As for the rest of this bracket, we will announce the Charles de Lint / Orson Scott Card winner on Monday, the Elizabeth Bear / Stina Leicht contest on Tuesday, and then crown a champion on Thursday, February 16.

Looking over the bracket, we have discovered a lot more good than bad. While not every book has been to my (Aaron's) tastes, they are all very capably written, including the two self-published books. The books I had to drop out in the second round were so good that we are considering doing full reviews of a couple of them -- or maybe even following up with a consolation bracket.

I am a bit surprised that the four books we named as the "seeded" books at the outset all ended up advancing to the Final Four -- I was expecting more upsets than that. But I suspect that has a lot to do with the composition of this particular bracket. It wasn't that hard to anticipate that Charles de Lint or Elizabeth Bear might come up with a pretty fair book. It looks like our next bracket will have fewer "big names," and thus should be harder to predict.

As with the March Madness tournament, the upside of not having a lot of upsets is that the Final Four features a very high level of competition. Charles de Lint, Orson Scott Card, Elizabeth Bear, and Stina Leicht? Who couldn't find something they enjoyed reading out of that group? Don't forget to check back next week when we announce the results!