The 2015 Blogger Awards: Best Book

There are a lot of amazing books in the world- and a lot of amazing books published this year. I should know- I've read a lot of them (though, happily, not all of them, not yet!). But when I asked you back in October to nominate your choices for the best book for the Blogger Book Awards, three books won out as especially good: Pendragon's Heir by Suzanne Rowntree, The King's Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight, and Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. And now it falls to me to decide: which book wins the prize for the best book published in 2015?

Let me tell you: it's not an easy question to answer.

Pendragon's Heir (Suzanne Rowntree) is a unique and lovely retelling of the Arthurian legends. It focuses on Blanche, a character who I thought was completely original but is, according to another reviewer, based on a very minor character from one of the stories I haven't read, and on Sir Perceval, a young and valiant Knight of the Table. Their adventures- ranging from 20th-century Gloucester to, naturally, medieval Britain- are told in a beautiful, almost timeless voice, and characters- both those we know and those we do not- are artfully drawn. 

Firefight (Brandon Sanderson), on the other hand, is the fast-paced second book in the Reckoners trilogy. Once again, we join David, Prof, and the other Reckoners- both those we know and some we don't- in the battle against the Epics- this time as they fight to take down Regalia, ruler of New Babylon, formerly New York City. The story is filled with Sanderson's trademarks: thrilling action, colorful characters, stunning worldbuilding, and heart-stopping plot twists. It is not always an easy story to read, as characters face darkness both within and without. But even when everything goes wrong, our heroes still stand to fight- and so hope lives on.   

The King's Scrolls (Jaye L. Knight) is, like Firefight, the second book in a series- this time the Ilyon Chronicles. New characters- and some dragons- are introduced, and old friends- both major and minor- return, including some who rapidly found a place in my top-five-favorite-characters list. The stakes also rise from the first book, earning The King's Scrolls a reputation as a heartbreaker of a book. And while I'm not weepy . . . my emotions did take several solid hits as the threat of death became very, very real. Yet even in grief and danger, our heroes cling to their faith and to each other, refusing to give in to the darkness around them. And not just in spite of but out of the very darkest of turns, life and truth shine forth.

As you can hopefully see, all three of these are brilliant books, each amazing in its own way. But only one can be awarded the title of best book of 2015, and that book is . . .

The King's Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight!

While all three finalists were excellent, it was The King's Scrolls that struck me the most: with powerful themes, with memorable plot and characters, and- yes- with an emotional response. And it is the book from which the light, in my opinion, shines out the brightest.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the winners from the other categories, and check The Art of Storytelling for the final winner tomorrow.

Best Cover- Schuyler--Winner announced Dec. 19 
  Best Title- Hannah -- Winner announced Dec. 20  
Best Short Fiction- Ghosty-- Winner announced Dec. 21  
Best Character- Annie-- Winner announced Dec. 22  
Best Book- me! --Dec. 23  
Best Author- Allison--Dec. 24 

Thanks for reading! 
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Blogger Book Awards 2015 Finalists!

Art by the lovely Hannah Williams

Hello, everyone! The nominations are in, and after much deliberation, the finalists for the 2015 Blogger Book Awards have been chosen! Before I announce the top choices, however, I'd like to thank everyone who nominated a book or books- these awards couldn't happen without you.

And now, without further ado, the 2015 nominees for Best Book are:
The King's Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight
Pendragon's Heir by Suzannah Rowntree
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Don't forget to check out the nominees in the other categories as well:

Best Cover, hosted by Schuyler

Best Title, hosted by Hannah

Best Short Fiction, hosted by Ghost Ryter

Best Character, hosted by Annie

Best Author, hosted by Allison

The final awards will be posted in December, starting with Best Cover on the 19th and ending with Best Author on Christmas Eve.

Thanks for reading! And to all my fellow WriMos: may your pens (or fingers) be swift and may your wells of inspiration overflow.

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Announcements

Hullo, everyone! First, no Random Fridays this week . . . because I'm guest-hosting over at Awkwordly Emma, where I'm talking about book characters I'd love to cosplay as! You should definitely go check out that post. I had a lot of fun writing it.

Second, today and tomorrow are the last days to nominate books for the Book Blogger Awards! If you haven't nominated something already, the other judges and I would all love it if you went and did that now. (You are allowed to nominate multiple books for the same category, if inability to pick one is holding you back.) We already have a lot of great nominations- but more are always welcome!

Finally, two. days. until. NaNoWriMo. (One, if you don't count today.) I haven't really done much of any proper planning for my NaNoWriMo novel- I have the basic plot in my head, but I want to do some brainstorming on paper, since that's helped a lot with my last several novels. I have decided that it's set in the same universe as, but a different world than, Between Two Worlds. Also, a few characters from BTW may or may not make an appearance, depending on how stuff works out. On the upside, I've gotten to the point in Monster in the Castle where all the exciting scenes I had planned in my head are written and I need to get busy on figuring out how to fit shirt-washing into a wedding, or else find a reasonable substitute for said shirt-washing. (If you're curious about why, go read "East of the Sun, West of the Moon.") Other than this dilemma, I'm pretty happy with my progress.

How's your Friday going? Are you ready for NaNoWriMo? Do you have any ideas of a suitable substitution (or explanation) for shirt-washing as a test of worthiness-to-marry? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

The 2015 Blogger Awards Begin!

It's back.

Some of you- hopefully most of you- may remember the Blogger Awards, a celebration of this year's best books and authors. And now begins the second annual Blogger Awards! Huzzah! (And this year, I get to be a judge- also huzzah!)

Gorgeousness designed by Hannah Williams

This year, we'll have six categories:

Saturday, December 19- Best Cover, hosted by Schuyler

Sunday, December 20- Best Title, hosted by Hannah

Monday, December 21- Best Short Fiction, hosted by Ghost Ryter

Tuesday, December 22- Best Character, hosted by Annie

Wednesday, December 23- Best Book, hosted by me (!!!)

Thursday, December 24- Best Author, hosted by Allison

I hope everyone else is as excited for this as I am, because guess what? We judges need to know what we're judging. Comment on this post with your nomination for the best new book published in 2015- sorry, republications don't count. Then go visit the other judges and give them your nominations in their categories too! Nominations close November 1, so you have time if you're not sure what to nominate . . . but don't procrastinate too long! 

I'm looking forward to seeing your nominations!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)