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Tired of waiting a million years for award results to come out? Look no further than the Padauk Mini Awards, a small awards contest meant to be judged fast but still offer unique prizes and a fair experience to everyone. Any book of...
There will be three placement winners and two honorable mentions, so five overall winners.
Please read your review all the way through before asking questions since I sometimes take a while to explain, so your question may be answered by the time I finish up the review.
Remember you are the author, so just because something is clear and obvious to you doesn't mean it's clear and obvious to the reader. I am giving you a reader's perspective, please keep that in mind.
Today's my birthday, so if you start an argument with me on my birthday, I will be very disappointed. Not angry, not sad—disappointed. I will happily answer all questions and clarify any confusion, though arguments are not tolerated.
Keep in mind these are mini awards. The reviews will still point out both positives and critiques, though there is no official scorecard and the reviews aren't going to be as long as my FN Awards.
This chapter is still 15k+ words long-
Judging started less than a week ago and I already finished two categories and am almost done with three more 🤣🤣🤣
3rd Place
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The Shadowed Sun is a science-fiction story following main characters Gerrian, Seiren, and Karron, and it covers topics such as war and interdimensional travel. So far, there are three chapters out, one for each main character. Although only three short chapters are out as of the time of me writing this, The Shadowed Sun leaves a bright (pun intended) impression on the audience with its intriguing and whacky concepts that are presented in tonally consistent and interesting ways. Yet again this author scores something in one of my contests due to their consistently strong grammar/spelling, powerful descriptions, and engaging story ideas that will leave the reader begging to read more.
The plot is my favorite part, and although it's early to comment a full analysis on the characters, themes, plot, etc., I can say with certainty that this interstellar war goes far deeper than the surface, with hints of that seen especially in chapter 3 under Karron's POV, where we see the more political side as opposed to the planning and action side from Gerrian. I love the tensions between all the characters and how you set it up where each individual has their own clear motivations for doing what they're doing, and I'm excited to see how that's fleshed out in future installments.
The last thing I'll mention before moving into critiques is the world and how you really got us right into it. A lot of sci-fi stories hold your hand and explain everything in a powerpoint presentation, but this story doesn't waste its time doing that and instead gets right into the thick of it. While some readers may find it a bit hard to follow, I think it'll pay off in the end because I was already piecing everything together by chapter 2 and starting to figure it out on my own, which was great. I got to think and imagine the world instead of having it spoonfed to me. Of course exposition and explanations are fine and dandy, though I appreciate how you gave us the information without explicitly saying it and gave us all the tools we needed to figure it out on our own. It kind of reminds me of the Harry Potter books in that sense where Rowling gave the readers what they needed to figure out the mystery without explicitly saying it, which makes for a far more engaging read!
