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2024 High Caliber Awards
The Cannon High Caliber Awards are an annual contest for new writers. In it we ask them to submit a novella length story of Science Fiction, Military or Fantasy genre to challenge their skills. Out of twenty seven entries we picked nine top ones and here they are!
1st Kevin Harris – Mightier than the Pen
A retired soldier turned monk sets out to protect a book of his people’s history, dogged by barbarians intent on claiming the books’ magic. When it comes down to it though, is the pen he had taken up mightier than the sword he had put down?
2nd Sam Robb – Blue as Sky, Black as Sin
A young travelling judge on the road with an Imperial Magus struggles to keep his own magical talent hidden while investigating a series of crimes that look to be the work of a powerful necromancer.
3rd Brian Gifford – Specialist Lieu Saves the World
What’s an ordinary American grunt in power armor supposed to do when aliens drop into his battlefield and try to take over the Earth? Why, start laying down fire, kicking alien ass, and maybe just save the world.
4th SC Visel – Troll Hunt
Cullen was a young man tasked to defend his tribe against the raids of the trolls from across the way. Badly wounded in combat with one of the creatures, he leaves his village to rescue a friend who had been captured, risking his own life in the process..
And five more stories that earned honorable mention, from military thrillers to magical duels and far ranging adventure!
1st Kevin Harris – Mightier than the Pen
A retired soldier turned monk sets out to protect a book of his people’s history, dogged by barbarians intent on claiming the books’ magic. When it comes down to it though, is the pen he had taken up mightier than the sword he had put down?
2nd Sam Robb – Blue as Sky, Black as Sin
A young travelling judge on the road with an Imperial Magus struggles to keep his own magical talent hidden while investigating a series of crimes that look to be the work of a powerful necromancer.
3rd Brian Gifford – Specialist Lieu Saves the World
What’s an ordinary American grunt in power armor supposed to do when aliens drop into his battlefield and try to take over the Earth? Why, start laying down fire, kicking alien ass, and maybe just save the world.
4th SC Visel – Troll Hunt
Cullen was a young man tasked to defend his tribe against the raids of the trolls from across the way. Badly wounded in combat with one of the creatures, he leaves his village to rescue a friend who had been captured, risking his own life in the process..
And five more stories that earned honorable mention, from military thrillers to magical duels and far ranging adventure!
342 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 26, 2024
68 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
J.F. Holmes
77 books77 followersJ.F. Holmes is a retired Army Senior Noncomissioned Officer, having served for 22 years in both the Regular Army and Army National Guard. During that time, he served as everything from an artillery section leader to a member of a Division level planning staff, with tours in Cuba and Iraq, as well as responding to the terrorists attacks in NYC on 9-11.
From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, "Power Point Ranger", poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe.
His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two are finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. As of August 2017, Mr. Holmes has eighteen books and two novellas published.
Feel free to join Irregular Scout Team One on Facebook, and get a chance to influence the course and plot of his next book!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/15294...
From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, "Power Point Ranger", poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe.
His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two are finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. As of August 2017, Mr. Holmes has eighteen books and two novellas published.
Feel free to join Irregular Scout Team One on Facebook, and get a chance to influence the course and plot of his next book!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/15294...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 6, 2024
This is a collection of the winning entries from a fantasy/sci-fi/military novella contest. The quality of writing across the board was great!
Each story here was either a 3 or 4 star read for me. If some of them were turned into longer works I might rate them even higher - the shorter form just doesn't always work for me personally, and although these meet the word count for novellas, they just felt a bit more like short stories to me, giving readers a snapshot of life in the imagined worlds rather than a complete and fully fleshed-out story arc. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that format, I just find it's harder to wow me with it.
There were two entries that I wound up skipping, but again it was a personal taste thing, not a quality thing. One had a very interesting premise but the entire story was the details of a single battle, and as a reader (and even while watching movies), I find nothing more boring than that. But obviously that's me, and if you found yourself picking up this anthology because of the "military" bit in the description, then clearly there is a good chance you will feel differently!
But overall I really enjoyed these stories of monks, trolls, alien invasions, and dark magic. There is a lot of talent on display here, and these authors are worth keeping an eye on for sure. Bravo, everyone!
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Each story here was either a 3 or 4 star read for me. If some of them were turned into longer works I might rate them even higher - the shorter form just doesn't always work for me personally, and although these meet the word count for novellas, they just felt a bit more like short stories to me, giving readers a snapshot of life in the imagined worlds rather than a complete and fully fleshed-out story arc. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that format, I just find it's harder to wow me with it.
There were two entries that I wound up skipping, but again it was a personal taste thing, not a quality thing. One had a very interesting premise but the entire story was the details of a single battle, and as a reader (and even while watching movies), I find nothing more boring than that. But obviously that's me, and if you found yourself picking up this anthology because of the "military" bit in the description, then clearly there is a good chance you will feel differently!
But overall I really enjoyed these stories of monks, trolls, alien invasions, and dark magic. There is a lot of talent on display here, and these authors are worth keeping an eye on for sure. Bravo, everyone!
Blog
Bookstagram
March 11, 2025
Read this short story anthology because I am friends with K.M. Sykes, one of the writers featured in this collection!
As a writer myself, I wanted to dive into another genre and see who is up and coming, what they are writing, and how they are writing it. The good folks over at Cannon Publishing held a short story contest for tales in the science fiction/military/fantasy genres, and awarded four placing winners and five honorable mentions. All winners and honorable mentions are featured in this collection, and I have to say, it's a fun read. I decided I would rank the entries from my favorite to least favorite, versus how they are ordered in the book. I have included what place they took in the High Caliber Awards for reference. It can be difficult to rate an entire collection of works from different authors, but I hope you will find this acceptable:
1. Blue As Sky, Black as Sin by Sam Robb (2nd Place) - Holy moly, this story is amazing. A simple tale that takes place in a much larger world that feels inspired by the Planeswalkers of Magic: The Gathering or a low tech Stargate. In a world where magic users are press-ganged into service to fight the forces of evil, one wizard must team up with what he fears most to stop the endless tide of evil. Nail-biting, incredible action and intrigue with well-developed characters and a memorable setting. I would read a whole series of books based in this world if I could, and if I ever meet Sam Robb, I will buy him a drink.
2. The Historians by K.M. Sykes (Honorable Mention) - The most unique story in the anthology, in which an alcoholic, liberty-loving lawyer takes on a big tech company that has "eradicated" crime with a time travel machine that shows the truth, all at the cost of eroding civil freedoms and gutting human rights. Think Minority Report but if it had been written by Edward Hopper in an alternate universe where he became an author instead of a painter. A fascinating, briskly-paced tale that's only hampered by the fact that it's confined to a short story. In another life, this would be THE great American novel.
3. Mightier Than the Pen by Kevin Harris (1st Place) - I can see WHY this one won, because it's a complete story with a cool world and cool characters that tackles a lot about the purpose of writing and why it exists, but it wasn't my favorite. I totally respect Harris as a writer. If he had written A Song of Ice and Fire instead of George R.R. Martin, we would have all seven books by now.
4. Troll Hunt by SC Visel (4th Place) - A nice little chase story with a bit of romance. Feels like a fantasy-Western in a lot of ways.
5. Drawing Fire by Douglas Goodall (Honorable Mention) - This would have been higher up on my list had the wheels not fallen off in the prose halfway through the piece. It feels like Goodall suddenly remembered he was writing a short story and not a novel and then raced to the end to make up for it, all at the cost of rushing through scenes and revelations by writing choppy sentences that somehow run on for way too long. I loved the idea of a world out of whack because the gods all died and using tattoos as a magical focus. I think I would have liked this better as the full novel it wants to be.
6. Specialist Lieu Saves The World by Brian Gifford (3rd Place) - What if James Cameron made a HALO movie?
7. On the job training by J.P. Staszak (Honorable Mention) - What if Jim Butcher made a HALO movie? Kind of a worse version of Gifford's story, but I loved the vampires and mythical setting. Think Shadowrun from the perspective of a SWAT team.
8. Forth from Hell by Tim Hanlon (Honorable Mention) - Really bland. Relies too much on historical detail at the price of character. I couldn't latch on to anything that was happening because it's just action scene after action scene with no development or world building. Musketeers fighting demons is pretty cool, though.
9. The Rescue of Captain Gutierrez by John M. Campbell (Honorable Mention) - Kind of like an off-brand Metal Gear Solid with some dumb romance tropes thrown in. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a trunk novel that had gotten a chance at a new life. I can't say I was a fan of this one. Gutierrez as a character is criminal underused and spends half the story trapped in a bag of holding. I'm not kidding.
Overall, I loved having my horizons expanded by this. Maybe I'll try my hand at submitting to the High Caliber Awards, should they run again! I hope they do, because a lot of these writers are incredibly talented.
As a writer myself, I wanted to dive into another genre and see who is up and coming, what they are writing, and how they are writing it. The good folks over at Cannon Publishing held a short story contest for tales in the science fiction/military/fantasy genres, and awarded four placing winners and five honorable mentions. All winners and honorable mentions are featured in this collection, and I have to say, it's a fun read. I decided I would rank the entries from my favorite to least favorite, versus how they are ordered in the book. I have included what place they took in the High Caliber Awards for reference. It can be difficult to rate an entire collection of works from different authors, but I hope you will find this acceptable:
1. Blue As Sky, Black as Sin by Sam Robb (2nd Place) - Holy moly, this story is amazing. A simple tale that takes place in a much larger world that feels inspired by the Planeswalkers of Magic: The Gathering or a low tech Stargate. In a world where magic users are press-ganged into service to fight the forces of evil, one wizard must team up with what he fears most to stop the endless tide of evil. Nail-biting, incredible action and intrigue with well-developed characters and a memorable setting. I would read a whole series of books based in this world if I could, and if I ever meet Sam Robb, I will buy him a drink.
2. The Historians by K.M. Sykes (Honorable Mention) - The most unique story in the anthology, in which an alcoholic, liberty-loving lawyer takes on a big tech company that has "eradicated" crime with a time travel machine that shows the truth, all at the cost of eroding civil freedoms and gutting human rights. Think Minority Report but if it had been written by Edward Hopper in an alternate universe where he became an author instead of a painter. A fascinating, briskly-paced tale that's only hampered by the fact that it's confined to a short story. In another life, this would be THE great American novel.
3. Mightier Than the Pen by Kevin Harris (1st Place) - I can see WHY this one won, because it's a complete story with a cool world and cool characters that tackles a lot about the purpose of writing and why it exists, but it wasn't my favorite. I totally respect Harris as a writer. If he had written A Song of Ice and Fire instead of George R.R. Martin, we would have all seven books by now.
4. Troll Hunt by SC Visel (4th Place) - A nice little chase story with a bit of romance. Feels like a fantasy-Western in a lot of ways.
5. Drawing Fire by Douglas Goodall (Honorable Mention) - This would have been higher up on my list had the wheels not fallen off in the prose halfway through the piece. It feels like Goodall suddenly remembered he was writing a short story and not a novel and then raced to the end to make up for it, all at the cost of rushing through scenes and revelations by writing choppy sentences that somehow run on for way too long. I loved the idea of a world out of whack because the gods all died and using tattoos as a magical focus. I think I would have liked this better as the full novel it wants to be.
6. Specialist Lieu Saves The World by Brian Gifford (3rd Place) - What if James Cameron made a HALO movie?
7. On the job training by J.P. Staszak (Honorable Mention) - What if Jim Butcher made a HALO movie? Kind of a worse version of Gifford's story, but I loved the vampires and mythical setting. Think Shadowrun from the perspective of a SWAT team.
8. Forth from Hell by Tim Hanlon (Honorable Mention) - Really bland. Relies too much on historical detail at the price of character. I couldn't latch on to anything that was happening because it's just action scene after action scene with no development or world building. Musketeers fighting demons is pretty cool, though.
9. The Rescue of Captain Gutierrez by John M. Campbell (Honorable Mention) - Kind of like an off-brand Metal Gear Solid with some dumb romance tropes thrown in. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a trunk novel that had gotten a chance at a new life. I can't say I was a fan of this one. Gutierrez as a character is criminal underused and spends half the story trapped in a bag of holding. I'm not kidding.
Overall, I loved having my horizons expanded by this. Maybe I'll try my hand at submitting to the High Caliber Awards, should they run again! I hope they do, because a lot of these writers are incredibly talented.
March 8, 2024
I read the first novella in this book, which has since been signed for a series with a publisher! It was great. It started out giving me a Pillars of the Earth vibe, then turned to a LOTR vibe. There is a great plot, a likeable main character, a character you want to strangle, fantastical creatures (a mention of what sounds like zombies?!), a battle, and then what sounds like he's heading off for a grand adventure! This novella hints at a lot of backstory with the main character before he became a Monk, so I'm intrigued to see how that plays into it. Overall, this novella was amazing, and I'm excited to see where the series takes it!
August 19, 2024
It's such a great bunch of stories. So many promising writers are featured here. I can not wait to read more from them. It's really hard to pick out favorites. Great variety and wonderful story telling.
December 1, 2024
Not science fiction
Why do they keep peddling YA fantasy as science fiction? Magic is not science fiction. Yes, we all know Clake said that advanced science is indistinguishable from magic; but magic is magic
Why do they keep peddling YA fantasy as science fiction? Magic is not science fiction. Yes, we all know Clake said that advanced science is indistinguishable from magic; but magic is magic
April 10, 2024
A great set of stories! Truly, a delightful read, highlighted by the opener, by author Kevin Harris. A well themed, exciting, compelling and engaging read! Can’t wait to enjoy more of this author!
July 21, 2024
Very entertaining. Different from what i usually read. Stayed with each story.
March 8, 2024
I can't get enough of the writing in this collection. Sam Robb's "Blue as Sky, Black as Sin" and Brian Gifford's "Specialist Lieu Saves the World" are two of the best things I've read this year, and there's more. There's a troll story, but I won't tell you about that because I wrote it. Buy this book!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews