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Literary Titan Book Awards July 2022
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and writing talent of these brilliant authors.
Gold Award Recipients
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Literary Titan Book Awards July 2022
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and writing talent of these brilliant authors.
Silver Award Recipients
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
I Love Adventure Stories
SkyWorld Saga Foundation follows the founder of Sky City as he embarks on a mission across Earth and space to save his crowning achievement. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I love adventure stories. Having read Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy growing up, I recently began reading the original adventure authors, Jules Verne, and H. Rider Haggard. Journey to the Center of the Earth and King Solomon’s Mines were the inspiration for the epic adventure theme I tried to create. And because I am a huge Isaac Asimov fan, his original Foundation series was what drove me to the space theme. My hope was to create a story that kept moving and also connected future technology to today.
Ben Dawson is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character’s development?
Ben is a combination of many people I worked with in Silicon Valley. I’ve seen many incredibly talented people not succeed through no fault of their own except a lack of aggressiveness. It was important to show Ben’s path to success was different than most, but still, incredible in the results. Also, he realized family is more important than success and with the help of his wife, Paige, kept that his number one priority. It’s an idealized personality, but that’s the joy in creating characters, they can be an ideal to strive for.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
This book revolves around the relationships between family and friends when they are put in stressful situations. While I wanted to write an adventure story about the near future, it felt hollow if the characters didn’t have strong bonds between them. Also, I wanted to explore how technology could allow for a floating city and what it could look like besides a large hunk of metal in the sky. Finally, I did feel a need to present the problems with government bureaucracies that lose sight of working for their citizens and instead focus on their own careers and power struggles.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
While I will be returning to the SkyWorld Saga, I’m currently working on a story about time travel with an extended family. This will place husbands, wives, and their children, in various places in the past. They will have adventures experiencing the past but have to learn how to put their family issues behind them and rely on each other’s strengths. if they want to get back to their present. My goal is to have it available July 2023.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Racing against the takeover of Sky City by The Department of Space, his team finds themselves with an impossible timeline. Forced to accelerate an already insane plan involving space colonies, moon mining and, per the Department of Space, Crimes Against Humanity, they will need all the cunning and grit they possess for their mission to work. But more likely, it will fail, leaving the Dawson family and colleagues with less than nothing.
Ben and his team realize for them to have any chance at success, they will need to rely on each other and learn the fundamental meaning of trust. If they do that, then they could come away with the biggest heist in history.
Unleash the Vampire Tribes
The Wandering Tribes follows an itinerant starship captain as he enacts an intricate plan to manipulate the Mercantile Empire. What was the thing that most excited you about writing this book?
The most exciting thing to me was being in position to unleash the Vampire Tribes.
The first two books in the series laid the background. Wandering Tribes started introducing some of the active plot lines acting within the background. We meet a variety of characters who are unleashed on the Mercantile Empire to implement their schemes. Some are faster and more successful, some take longer to develop, some will fail. Some will have unexpected consequences in the future.
What were some questions that you kept asking yourself as you were developing Milo Sapphire’s character?
Milo always goes through three phases:
- I see what needs to be done. I’m the best man (vampire) for the job. Let’s get after it. Who knows, could be fun.
- Ohmigod! You want me to do what? This wasn’t what I thought it was. This is way freaking harder than I thought it was!
- I don’t like the alternative! You wanna try and force me or manipulate me into doing it? Fine! If I’m gonna do it, then get the hell out of my way! Oh yeah, how can I cheat the system?
The other thing that’s always in the back of Milo’s mind is his insecurity about the absurd levels of personal power he can wield. Without giving too much away, Milo’s past has made him very (overly) sensitive to manipulation of others. If it’s part of the plan, he’ll bull forward. If the other person is overtly challenging him for supremacy, sucks to be them.
In his personal life, he’s always second guessing the responses of the people closest to him, especially in romantic relationships. Are they there because he didn’t give them a choice and they’re just making the best of a coercive situation? Are they there because they really, really want to be?
Part of the growth of his character is learning to actually trust the members of his (growing) inner circle; realizing that he has intrinsic value beyond his capabilities as the First.
It’s also a lot of fun to skewer the current harem fad; Milo thinks he has a harem. Whether every member of the group agrees with his definition remains to be seen.
This seemed like a fun book to write. What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?
It was a blast! The first scene that came to me was the Emperor’s Ball scene. It’s my favorite scene because it encapsulates everything about Milo’s highly convoluted and overly complex plans. It drops Milo right into the middle of the snake pit and he barely gets out. The ramifications of that scene will extend well into the future.
This is book three in The War Against Infinity series. What can readers expect in book four?
Books 1 and 2 went really fast (okay, normal speed for Milo). Book 3 had to slow the pace a touch simply because a lot of the elements that came into play just took a lot of time. Even Milo can’t cheat the laws of physics (most of the time).
Book 4 resumes the pace. The excrement has made contact with the oscillating air acceleration and distribution device, on a cosmic scale. The schemes introduced in Wandering Tribes impact reality. Milo has to react accordingly, in his own inimitable, convoluted, overly complex style.
Gotta keep things interesting.
You never know who might be watching. Heh.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
I’m the CEO of Interstellar Products. We make stuff for Sentient Ships.
I’m also the Chosen of the Deity. I’m supposed to save the fricking Universe.
So I need a little help.
I used to be the leader of all the Vampire Families back on Old Earth.
So I’m gonna invite them to join the party, so to speak.
But vampires need lairs.
And this is space, so lair hunting is a little challenging.
And there’s a lot of’em, so I gonna need a lot of space (see what I did there?).
But it’s kinda boring building a lair from scratch. Lotta planning, lotta zoning meetings, you get the idea.
So how am I gonna keep a lot of extremely competitive, obsessively compulsive, highly energetic, easily bored, apex predators occupied? Hyperactive kindergartners strung out on meth. With flamethrowers?
Well, I’m also taking on the Mercantile Empire.
They’re never gonna know what hit’em.
Heh.
It Was An Experiment
Fall of Titan follows an astrophysics cadet who uncovers the key to the seven realms and is forced to choose between saving her home or the device. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
That is a funny story. Until 2018, I thought I would never write Science Fiction. Not because I didn’t like it. I grew up watching Science fiction movies and TV shows but never read a lot of books in this genre. I loved the shows and I am a big fan of Star Trek. I always wrote mystery, thrillers and suspense and thought that was it. I would never write any other genre. But in 2018, it was during Christmas holidays and I had just finished the final draft of Haunted and sent it to the editor. Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about it and I get this idea of this young girl who is curious and goes out of her way to find this mythical device that is split into seven parts. I remember going to my laptop and writing out the summary of the book and that was the beginning of the Realm saga.
Emmeline Augury is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
The main thing was creating a female character who inspires and motivates the reader. She is trying to be more, prove herself, and wants to break out of her constraints. Several readers have written to me saying stories like this would inspire young and adult readers to explore and do more with their lives. I felt like Emmeline should be someone who appeals to readers of her age. She is smart, creative and very driven. But her actions led to deadly consequences – showing that she is not perfect. None of us are.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
This the first time I had attempted to write science fiction. Mainly I wanted to see if I could do this. Write a science fiction. It was an experiment. If the first book hadn’t been developed well, I would have dropped it and moved on to another book.
Fall of Titan allowed me to expand my imagination and its publication and positive reviews was a sign to me that I could do this. I do not mean to be negative. I had a lot of fun writing this book. But I had my doubts. I write fiction, in crime thrillers or mystery there are certain limitations. You have to stick with the general norms. With this series, I had the chance to mix science fiction with mythology. I have never done that before. It opened doors for adventure, action, mystery and of course love and relationships between the characters which I feel has added so much to the books.
I think the last thing was the characters. I usually have a limited set of characters in my books. But this series has multiple characters, and sometimes it is hard for people to follow them (I get that.) But there is a reason for that. Emmeline, though smart and strong cannot do everything and the premise of this story is extensive. Also, telling the story only from her angle was not what I wanted. The multiple characters in the books help me expand the plot and make it more interesting for the reader. It also added more fun to the book, because I could introduce different character traits.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Poseidon, the second book in the series was released in December 2021. The next book is Icarus (Realm book 3) is on preorder and will be out this Christmas eve (24th Dec 2022).
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Mystical Force: Vol. 3
Mystical Force Volume 3: The Kolri and the Koldar tells the story of a detective and how he stumbles onto otherworldly connections much bigger than his current unsolved case. Detective Shinjo is transported to a world he didn’t know existed after a Taman Knight from the planet Thalia crosses his path.
The story begins with a detective trying to catch a local gang called ‘The Poison Starfish’. While investigating, a female battles the men at the harbor. She is unlike anyone the detective has ever come across. While searching for answers the detective is mugged and she appears just in time to help. Her name is Shi-ria, and she has a moral obligation to protect those in need. A sorceress sets Shi-ria and the detective on a path to discover a secret spell and transports them to the planet Thalia.
I have been following this series since book one and I can say that the writing gets sharper with every new entry. This story is relentlessly moving forward through a rollercoaster of emotion and action. Readers are provided with some background on Thalia and the Taman soldiers, but I would have enjoyed the story more if the other characters were just as detailed, because what is given is intriguing and the characters in this story are what really pull you in.
This is book three in a rollicking metaphysical action story and there is not much time spent covering things from previous books, so I recommend reading those two books before diving into this one. For two reasons really, because they build a fascinating story line, and you’ll understand the world better and have a greater appreciation for things that happen. In either case, there is still good fun to be had in this novel as the book does have a plot that can stand on its own as it provides just enough context for readers to follow this individual story.
I am consistently impressed with the visionary fantasy world that is meticulously developed in the Mystical Force series. There is a backstory that feels deep and readers can really immerse themselves in the lore if they wanted to.
Mystical Force Volume 3: The Kolri and the Koldar, by Craig Weidhuner is a character driven metaphysical fantasy story. With a storyline fit for comics, an innovative backdrop, and a stimulating mystery at its core, this is a gripping novel that will surely entertain readers.
Pages: 80 | ASIN: B09HRLQVTF
SkyWorld Saga Foundation
It’s the 2070s, and Ben Dawson has built a flying city made of hundreds of flying boats he invented. But Ben’s Sky City is threatened by the Department of Space, looking to take it over to score political points. Now Ben and his small team of loyalists must embark on a daring mission to retain control of Sky City —one that involves space travel, an asteroid, unlikely allies, and going up against formidable forces.
Alan Priest’s SkyWorld Saga Foundation is an upbeat science fiction novel that is bursting at the seams with intrigue and that curious allure that most futuristic stories have. The book is a breezy read punctuated by pulse-pounding moments of action that feels like they are fit for cinematic movie scenes.
The author utilizes simple but elegant writing to tell an imaginative story. This writing style helps keep readers focused on the creative world that Alan Priest has created and the clever storyline that delivers some stunning moments of sci-fi melodrama. This is a spirited adventure story that explores humanity’s ingenuity, resilience, and bravery contrasted with some of the more unsavory elements of humanity’s traits like power and a conspiratorial streak.
I was engrossed with the detailed world that is being built in this dystopian thriller. The world that the author is creating seems immense and begs to be explored in further novels. What is presented in this book serves as an interesting backdrop for the compelling cast of characters. I really appreciated the attention to detail that went into creating the backstory and I look forward to seeing how this evolves as the series continues.
While this can be considered hard sci-fi I appreciated the well-balanced ‘techsplaining’ that is used to drive this story forward without losing readers. Character development is also one of Priest’s strengths, as Skyworld Saga contains characters that have distinct and relatable, if not understandable, personalities. And the author really knows how to create genuinely unlikable characters too. I love how he throws wrenches into his protagonists’ plans and introduces new conflict to ramp up the drama and suspense that will eventually conclude in moments of fist-pumping glee for his readers.
SkyWorld Saga Foundation is an exciting science fiction story that builds a complex world with an organic sense of adventure that never forgets to entertain the reader.
Pages: 344 | ASIN: B09Z1S3M3Z
The Wandering Tribes
Rob Bartlett’s The Wandering Tribes sees a bet between God and the Devil begin to escalate while Milo Sapphire, self-styled itinerant starship captain, champion of God, leader of the vampire families, and most dangerous individual in any room, enacts a plan to rehome a sizeable proportion of the vampire families and begin manipulating the huge Mercantile Empire through a convoluted plan. As the First of the vampire families, maintaining the peace and defending his position from challengers who would usurp him takes up much of Milo’s time, but with the assistance of a few carefully selected friends, Milo is able to pursue his personal goals.
The Wandering Tribes is the third instalment in Bartlett’s War Against infinity series, and it is a wild sci-fi tale which develops amidst one of the more creative settings readers will likely encounter. Featuring spacefaring vampires, philosophic velociraptors, graphic scenes of a violent and sexual nature and lots of discussions focused on the galactic economy all of which are seasoned with a liberal helping of humor and mix better than you might expect.
Milo’s frankness and his schemes make him a likeable character, and his chronic need to have most things explained to him in detail, or explain things to the reader in detail, make him the perfect narrator, as his conversational form ensures the reader is never completely lost in the world. Everything is well written and explained. It’s clear that a lot of thought and care has gone into building the universe in which The Wandering Tribes is set. Everything has a logical consistency which helps the plot flow and allows the reader to follow along with relative ease, even if they are starting with the third instalment in a series rather than at the beginning. Why would you do that? Book one is great, go read it.
The Wandering Tribes is an offbeat science fiction story that comes across as deceptively random. Rob Bartlett’s sharp writing and keen sense of humor comes together to create a relentlessly entertaining story with a fully fleshed out universe that is filled with wacky elements.
Pages: 212 | ISBN: 0939479494
LITERARY TITAN 