First of all, big thanks to the judge bowdownpeasantz for participating as a judge in our contest! I hope the participants can support their books by checking them out.

As to the winners below, congratulations! PM for your prizes.

For those who didn't win, don't be discouraged! Note that judging is really subjective. And there is always a next time. PM if you wish to know your results/review. We will stop accepting requests for the sharing of your results 10 days post the announcement.

Without further ado, here are the winners for Historical Fiction:

1st Place:

"The Serpent Emperor" by tomgaryens 
Score: 94/100

Review: I loved the story! The blurb was intriguing enough and the opening chapter went right into action. I love the characterisation of the protagonists and I look forward to how the author will develop it further. The story did not concentrate on only the romance part, but also filial love and worldbuilding, which contributed to making the plot quite interesting. As said in the blurb, the male protagonist's character seems rather mysterious, though my opinion might be shaped by his intriguing past which gets slowly revealed through the chapters, a good way to hook the readers. And the writing style and diction of the author is great, near perfect. It was a pleasant read!

2nd places (there is a tie!):

"1799: Gold Coast" by Petons 

Score: 92/100

Review: The book has a nice cover and an interesting blurb that makes the reader look forward to the story. The author has a nice writing style though I noticed a few grammatical mistakes. The setting, characters and the harsh situation of that time are well portrayed. The character of Yaa is intriguing and powerful. I admire the sacrifice she made to save her family and also look forward to how she will proceed to go against that system of colonisation. A nice piece of work!

"Second Chance Matches" by dash-of-clarity 

Score: 92/100

Review: The author has an interesting take of the prompt chosen. A quite unique idea. The author has great writing and descriptive skills, with no errors spotted at all. And I like how the story ends as well since I was internally hoping nothing bad happens to the protagonist due to the matches. One thing to point out though is that the story jumped from one scene to another so often that I was not able to get completely immersed in the story and sometimes got confused about the setting or time change. But regardless, there was a good characterisation of the protagonist and the story was a pleasure to read!

3rd Place:

"Tattered Star" by LeslieThroneberry

Score: 91/100

Review: The title fits the story or rather, the protagonist, perfectly. The blurb is good, encapsulating the whole plot. There were a few grammar, punctuation errors and misspellings which may require overall editing. Otherwise, the descriptive skills of the author are amazing. I believe this is a rare skill that authors can possess, to be able to relay the emotions, feelings and sufferings of the characters to the readers so well. I cannot express the rage I felt when reading several scenes of the story, which were quite triggering and graphic. The story kinda reminded me of Anne Frank's story because their situations at the start are quite similar. It was a good read!