Here we are. After almost a year of reading, the SPSFC’s 10 judging teams have narrowed the three hundred-strong field down to just seven finalists. It’s been a rough road for some, with many early favourites falling by the wayside. Sadly, no books from At Boundary’s Edge’s initial allocation made it this far. But that just means we have more great books still to discover. At least that’s the theory. Without any further ado, here are the seven finalists:

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire, by G.M. Nair

Why yes, we have seen this one before, as it was in our semi-finalist allocation. As such, we already have a review of it from our team, which you can find by clicking HERE.

A Star Named Vega, by Benjamin J. Roberts

This one was also in our semi-finalist allocation, and as such has already received a final score from our team. The full review will be available very soon.

In The Orbit Of Sirens, by T. A. Bruno

Astoundingly, this is a book I’ve heard of prior outside the SPSFC. A such, I’m very much looking forward to seeing why it’s made such a splash.

Iron Truth, by S.A. Tholin

Space opera mixed with cosmic horror? Count me in. This is one of the longer books in the competition, so I’d better get reading sooner rather than later.

Steel Guardian, by Cameron Coral

Robots are very much my thing. Human infants are very much not. So this book about a robot and a human infant could go either way.

Captain Wu, by Patrice Fitzgerald & Jack Lyster

More of the fun space opera that has done well with our team so far, this is one I’ve been hoping will do well in the competition since I saw the first review.

Monster In The Dark, by K T Belt

A story about superpowers and mysterious abilities is pretty far outside my wheelhouse, but any book that make sit this far must be doing something right.

We’ll be reading and reviewing these books right up until the start of July. Hopefully the review turnaround will be a bit more efficient this time, but otherwise the system is the same as the semi-finals. Each of our team reads the book, gives it a 0-10 rating, and the average becomes our team’s SPSFC rating for the book. Five new books in just under two months isn’t too much of a stretch, so hopefully I’ll be back soon with another review. Until then, keep your eyes peeled.