I am so thrilled to announce that Forged By Betrayal and Blood, the first book in the dark epic fantasy Celestial Throne Series won a SILVER MEDAL in the 2026 Global Book Awards.
If you are looking for a gritty, dark fantasy with themes of betrayal and how that shapes you, then join Vael and Disari on their journey to overcome every obstacle put in their way. Is it worth forgiving the one man who destroyed your life to save the world. Would you?
The 2026 Global Book Awards for Self-Published Authors.
The Global Awards aim to discover new talent as well as recognize fine examples of self-published books. As such, we hope they will give self-published authors the recognition they deserve, whether that is in their writing creativity, or in the way they have marketed their books to attract new readers.
In this modern age of self-publishing, books need to be appraised not only by their content and writing style, but also by the way they present and market themselves to the prospective buyer, whether that is in the good ratings it has on important stores like Amazon, its book cover and description, or the number of reviews it has collected. They must also appeal to new readers so part of the evaluation included a survey asking avid readers to select the top 5 books they enjoyed the most.
The awards are grouped by category (or genre) and divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Award Finalists.
Vael Tor Arne, commonly known as the Butcher of Leif, has spent the last ten years roaming the wilds of Surosha. Disgraced and outcast, he is not welcome anywhere, not even in his own home.
Never managing to rise above the rank of lieutenant in the Emperor’s army, Vael does his best to protect his men against the taint that follows him. Should the opportunity ever arise, he would gladly kill Emperor Talon Shaleri the Deranged, the man who ruined his life.
The Celestial Throne lacks its dragon, its protector, and the empire is suffering as the new emperor struggles to retain control. The emperor is weak, in power and in health. He needs to right a wrong, now he has the power to do so, before he can focus on saving his empire. But righting that wrong may not be so simple, and the man he needs to forgive him is the one man who hates him.
Dogged by persistent Farsolian warriors, who can’t decide if they want to capture or kill them, Vael and his men battle to survive. With no hope of help, Vael must avoid the war bands and the emperor’s generals long enough to choose a side. Will the Farsolian uprising be his salvation or will the Emperor finally sign his death warrant?
If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my epic fantasy Sentinal series or the Romantic Fantasy SoulMist series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
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