(Red) Dragon Awards

The Awards are back.

Normally, I would have posted about the Dragons one a month. On blogger, and Substack, X and Facebook. Maybe Instagram if the User Interface wasn’t designed by monkeys.

On top of that, I would have posted this in several internet groups, trying to garner support and collect other nominees. Because that’s how campaigns work, right?

The last time I tried that, I was given a dozen rules for posting in a group. Since this eats up days of my life, using energy I don’t have, just putting in the nominees in the order in which they are suggested is difficult enough. Putting additional rules on the process is an undue burden.

Also, that was the year my father died, I had his funeral, had a convention, and I moved halfway across the country, all within a six-week period.

So, additional rules just sent me a message to “screw off.”

Now, I’m back at it.

The Dragon Awards

They’re the largest fan-voted awards out there, and it’s free to vote in them.

Unlike some awards, you don’t even have to register attending the convention.

And if you want to vote, trust me, it should only take you a few minutes on your phone / computer.

Again, the nominations are already open!

Yes, I have a list of who I’m voting for. Here, for you folks, I’m also going to give you my reason for why I’m voting for each, and why I think it’s important.

But first…

My thought process

1. I'm not nominating anyone who already has an award. Most of those who have won already have the attitude of “Oh, I don’t need more dust collectors.”

2. I’m trying to leave out Big Name Authors. Frankly, if you're Jim Butcher or Timothy Zahn, you (a) probably don’t want another nomination and (b) you sure as Hell don’t need my help.

If I leave the categories blank, it means I STILL got nothing.

You may wonder why I’m not having a full, massive, months-long discussion, gathering up every eligible author and product.

Been there, done that. It turned into an unmanageable mess. Authors would come by, skip straight to the comments, leave their book, and disappear. It was especially funny when they were already on my list, but they never even looked to see.

Clearly, you can feel free to drop a suggestion in the comments.

But please read the bloody post first, okay?

Thanks.

Again, please remember that eligible nominees came out AFTER 7/1/24, up until 6/30/25. So double check before throwing something into the ring.

Let’s get into the nitty gritty of each category.

Best Science Fiction Novel

Tsunami of Turmoil (LAND&SEA Book 8), by Blaine L. Pardoe

How does one write military SF War and Peace and make it readable? Simple, you read Blaine Lee Pardoe’s Land & Sea series.

Book 8, Tsunami of Turmoil, is intense, covering aspects of the war on multiple levels, from geopolitical, to local politics, to ground warfare, to chapters of just character-driven events that build up to a climax I didn’t see coming.

It, of course, ends on a cliffhanger that drives me nuts. Aside from that…

Well, one does have to keep them coming back for more. (Book 9 is out. I just haven’t read it yet)

If you have not read the Land & Sea novels yet, humor me and just read the first three. If you’re not hooked by the end of book one … I don’t know why you wouldn’t be, but I don’t know you… you will be hooked by the end of book three.

As for Tsunami of Turmoil, I’d definitely give it a shot.

If for some reason, you don’t trust me, or don’t want to give Blaine Pardoe a read, okay then. I can come up with two alternatives.

The first, of course, is Space Pirates of Andromeda, by John c wright

The second alternative is The Icarus Coda, by Timothy Zahn. You can read my review over at Upstream.

If you look at all the adulation I heap upon Zahn, you may be wondering: Why I haven’t put Zahn in the top slot.

That answer is simple: Zahn has a Dragon award.

In fact, if you believe the Wiki page, he has five.

I didn’t think he’d want another dust collector. Being Timothy Zahn is pretty damn awesome already, don’t you think? But yes, I think Any one of those three are deserving of a Dragon.

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Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

Toil and Trouble, by Daniel Humphreys.

You want epic fantasy, I got your epic fantasy right here.

Yes, I’m a little behind in reviewing the Paxton Locke series. In part because I will probably want to start the series over from the beginning, and I don’t have to worry about anything like cliffhangers, now that the Paxton Locke series is finished.

But yeah, this one went all out.

• Deranged magic school, check. Society of wizards, check.

• Dimension hopping.

• All out warfare

• Magic rules and regulations.

• Outsider monstrosities.

This book has pretty much everything you want in fantasy.

It’s literally the best urban fantasy not written by Jim Butcher. I’m serious. Should anyone, God forbid, need to finish The Dresden Files for Butcher,

Daniel Humphreys

is my candidate to Brandon Sanderson that finale. Toil and Trouble gives Battle Ground a run for its money.

If you don’t want to vote for Humphreys, fine. But I implore you to at least give the Paxton Locke series a chance. I’d bet money that you will be hooked.

You might notice a certain Bestselling author isn’t here. I will refer you back to my thought process on no previous winners if we can avoid it. (Also, I read “certain bestselling author’s” book 1. I hated it.)

If you don’t want to vote for Dan (please, vote for Dan) I suppose you could always plug in a Honeymoon from Hell novel if you wanted. But at least give Humphreys a try first.

Fine, you want another fantasy alternative? Magelight. I don’t think any Baen author needs my help, but it’s an alternative.

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Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel

So, there’s a guy named

Jared Anjewierden

(Anne-Jew-Weird-Den). We have a mixed history. I think calling us acquaintances may be too much.

In the Based Book sale, he had a novel up. I think it was free. It may have been $0.99. Either way, I thought I’d give it a shot. I already have one of his science fiction novels that I’ll get to … eventually.

In the first Dragons post, the comments section suggested the book I picked up.

MECH BUNNY.

Yes. Mech Bunny.

So, I had the book on kindle already. Might as well give it a shot.

I must admit, it’s quite impressive. Also surprising.

First of all, the book is YA, but PG-13. Maybe it’s (80s) PG. It makes for a nice change from THE REST OF YA. If you don’t know what I mean, trust me, ignorance is better.

Anyway, this was a straight up Military SF YA novel, if you take the PsyOps twists out of Ender’s Game, and make it mech combat instead of a space navy. If I were to guess, about 50%-75% of the book is pure action. Half of is certainly mech combat. But don’t worry, we have straight-up infantry combat just for a change of pace. It’s almost exhausting.

But since the Dragons no longer have a Military SF award, Jared will just have to settle for best YA.

Live with it, Jared.

Now, COULD I, possibly, nominate

John Ringo SF Author

Not that Kind of Good Guy for best YA? Theoretically. But first of all, read above, he doesn’t need my help, and he has a Dragon already. And second … read my review, I don’t suggest it as YA.

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Best Alternate History Novel

1919: The Romanov Rescue

I put out an entire review on this one.

Review: 1919: The Romanov Rising

You can even read the review of book one. But only book two is eligible. I highly recommend it.

Review: The Romanov Rescue by Kratman, Ezell & Watson

What else …?

I just gave you two reviews to read. If you want to take me word on how good the book is, knock yourself out, vote for them. If you don’t, you can read the reviews, decide if you’re going to read them, THEN vote for them.

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Best Horror Novel

The Neck Romancer, (Honeymoon from Hell #1), Declan Finn

You probably saw this coming.

I do not read most of the horror genre, mainly because I don’t do slasher porn. The closest I have ever come to reading horror is Michael Gallagher’s Body and Blood, and that was a few years ago. (Then again, I guess

N.R. LaPoint

does horror … but he’s released nothing in the time frame.)

I have little problem with “monster” books, and if you consider something like Monster Hunter International as horror … okay. Fine. We disagree on that.

However, I will write horror… only because The Dragons don’t have an urban fantasy category. Even though it should have been a genre category any time after Jim Butcher. (Yes, I could argue that it goes back to Fred Saberhagen, if not Bram Stoker, but we’re coming perilously close to being lost in the weeds.)

Anyway, I didn’t think the prequel series, Love at First Bite was horror either. It was nominated for Best Horror—twice. Once for Honor at Stake and once for Live and Let Bite.

So, yes, I’m going to vote for The Neck Romancer in best horror. Why not?

The Neck Romancer has … a lot, really.

• It has the fae at Area 51

• A wendigo in a hospital

• Zombies at a wedding

• A necromancer who is a Chicago alderman (write your own joke here)

• An IRA vampire from the 1920s

• Demons

• A Tolkien elf on a rampage

• And a final smackdown in the Chicago Museum of Natural history.

And looking at the cover, you can tell something about what’s going to happen there…But don’t worry, it’s not what you think it is.

Granted, if you want to be silly, you could probably plug in all five of the Honeymoon from Hell novels into a slot if you want.

But I wouldn’t recommend that unless you had literally nothing else in the category (And, of course, if it fits. Wouldn’t want to plug Blood Country into best comic book, that sort of thing. And no one can plug anything other than Wyverns Never Die into science fiction, because that one has the most mad science)

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Best Illustrative Book Cover

Wyverns Never Die, cover by Vanessa Landry

Look at this cover, isn’t it nice?

The lighting is great. The lightning effects are nice. You have to love the little touches of the electrical Wyvern in the background. The model used to be blonde and is now a redhead. The male model used to be dark haired and is now blond.

The most important element: it’s a cover created by my wife.

So do me a favor and vote for it, even if you vote for nothing else. Okay? Thanks.

Her name is Vanessa Landry. Be certain to get that right. They want the artist name.

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Best Comic Book

Land & Sea Paradise, by Blaine Lee Pardoe

Land & Sea Paradise isn’t out yet. But it’s my contender based on the showing of the previously released novels. I’ll give this another look over once the comic comes out. It’s not like I’ve been reading a lot of other comic books.

I’ve heard good things about Kamen America and Frieren (am I spelling that right?). But I haven’t read them. Right now, this spot will need a placeholder.

For the record:

No. I’m not getting into whatever current ComicsGate nonsense is going on between Mister July and Mister Scrivener. I neither know what the fracas is about, nor do I care to know. Unlike certain online personalities, when I say I want no part of internet drama, I mean I WANT NO PART. I am actively avoiding internet drama like it’s one of the freaking Ten Plagues of Egypt.

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Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series, TV or Internet

I don’t know. I really mean it. I don’t know. My Hero Academia was suggested.

Nothing comes to mind outside of two shows. First of all, there’s One Piece. It’s been on forever, and will probably be eligible next year. It’s clearly beloved, or it would have run out of steam by now.

There is also Pokémon. Why do I suggest it? Because I hear that it’s finally come to a conclusion after years on the air. There is no more. It is over. It is an ex-series. Which means it’s also the final year to vote for it. (Yes, I will have to double check to make certain that the last episode falls within the eligibility window.)

The Daily Wire is threatening to air an adaptation of the classic Stephen Lawhead Arthurian novels, but so far, they haven’t delivered. (Meanwhile, the books are being reissued by Baen with new covers.)

I have seen Resident Alien, and I enjoy it so far. I can’t wait to see if someone can screw it up.

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Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

I can’t remember the last film I saw in theaters. Hell, I can’t remember the most recent film I saw.

But I’ve heard good things about three films.

• iTransformers One

• Sonic 3

• Deadpool & Wolverine

So, maybe one of them?

I mean what else came out last year…

Argh,

• Borderlands? Hahahahaha. No.

• Alien: Romulus? The retread, copy and paste film?

• Venom: The Last Dance? Don’t even talk to me about the Venom movies.

• Kraven the Hunter? Madam Web on one end and this on the other. Perfect bookends. Ugh.

• Mickey 17. So far, so garbage.

So… yeah. I think the first three above are the best options.

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Best Digital Game

Only two games really stand out from last year.

• Warhammer: Space Marines 2

• Stellar Blade

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Suggestions welcome.

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Best Tabletop Game

Last time, it was suggest I try the Mistborn card game.

Any more suggestions?

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And that’s it. That’s all I got for right now. With luck, I’ll have some more next time.

Please remember to vote.

If you could, please share this as well.

The nominees need all the circulation they can get.