Team Jake announces semifinalists for the 5th annual SPSFC

I’ve been doing some PR for another team in the 5th annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition, and they’re ready to announce their semifinalists. Team Jake.

Their quarterfinalists, selected from their original allotment of 24, were as follows:

After two months of full reads, with each book being read by at least two and usually three of the five judges, the team settled on the following semifinalists plus one Escape Pod nomination, which is a special third place honorable mention status that can allow the book to be picked up by another team and championed.

Here are the two semifinalists and their blurbs:

Cold Blooded by Rohan O’Duill

Veteran Marine Mint only worries about one thing—herself. But after being ordered back to the front lines, she has a decision to make—stand up and do the right thing, or finally get what she always wanted.

Fifteen-year-old Frida lives in deep space on a pirate vessel. Her father is a dissident warrior who fights the corporations running the system. When a corporation battle cruiser catches up to the ageing pirate vessel, death appears to be the only escape.

A gripping tale of war, survival, and corporate exploitation in the depths of space. Filled with bone-crunching action and unexpected twists, ‘Cold Blooded’ will keep you on the edge of your seat until the bloody end. Melding the best of ‘The Expanse’ style deep-space battles and corporate greed with the class struggle of ‘Red Rising’, fans will love this riveting sci-fi adventure. Grab your copy now.

Generations by Noam Josephides

A secret buried for generations. A conspiracy that threatens humanity’s future. And one woman who must risk everything to uncover the truth.

The THETIS is humanity’s last hope: a generation ship carrying the last remnants of Earth to resettle on a new planet.

For two hundred years, its society has flourished under the banner of unity and cooperation. But beneath this carefully maintained facade lurks a truth so devastating it could spell doom for their entire future on their new home.

The key to uncovering the truth lies in the hands of SANDRINE LIET, an introverted Archivist who has everything to lose by pitting herself against the most powerful people on the ship.

The deeper she digs, the more evident it becomes that there is only one way to save both herself and her fellow Thetans from the ominous scheme plotted by the Thetis elite – and it’s the most horrifying choice imaginable…

These books will now be read and scored by two more judging teams as the competition closes in on the finals (to be announced early August).