Books are evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “needs improvement” and 5 meaning “outstanding”.

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Structure, Organization, and Pacing: 5

Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: 5

Production Quality and Cover Design: 5

Plot and Story Appeal: 5

Character Appeal and Development: 4

Voice and Writing Style: 4

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Judge’s Commentary:

To start, this cover design is a great choice. It’s expressive, interesting, explores the universe we’re about to dive into with the story and conveys a great sense of adventure. I was really impressed with it.

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This story starts in a great place, and I’m sure a lot of work went into developing the situations in which the story opens, the background, and lead up to that point is extensive, yet feels all realistic and believable. I was thrilled by that and really loved going on the journey with Coleman as he figures out what he can do in a new situation and environment. I thought it was a great way to explore both Coleman’s abilities as well as the rest of the universe aside from Earth at once without it being overwhelming. As he learns, so does the reader, and that was a great way to give meaning and information without being dry or too much.

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I very much enjoy survival stories and found that it added a great twist and increased the plot for me when combined with these fantastic elements. It had everything a great fantasy adventure should have, and I thought the multiple challenges were woven very well together throughout the story.

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There were moments where I wanted more character development, but I think as this book is the start of a story, it felt appropriate for the main character to be mainly discovering things and trying to survive. A really fun and interesting book!