The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Fantasy Fiction. The Overall Grand Prize Winner, Tim Facciola’s book, A Vengeful Realm will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Ozma contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2023 Ozma Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Ozma Winners!

Lilla Glass –The Unseen

Elwyn is remarkably unremarkable, and she prefers it that way. What more could a thief hope for than to pass through life unseen? Upon fleeing a violent life with her invisible friend-a clever and capricious creature who’s only grown more real with time-she is plunged into an adventure rife with otherworldly beings both beautiful and beastly.

As the Greyscale’ most cutthroat assassin, Brannon has a bone to pick with Elwyn-and several to break. Tasked with hunting down his errant colleague, he soon finds himself in a magic-steeped hamlet where he encounters creatures even more deadly than himself. To survive, he must rely on the very rival he’s been sent to capture.

Little Lydia has a chilling secret, and even she doesn’t know the whole of it. Her unusual appearance has earned her the nickname “monster,” and there may be some truth to the slight. When she caves to the whispers that have slithered through her mind for months, she loses everything she knows and must start anew in the company of criminals.

Bored by his charmed existence, prince Aedyn slips into the lives of these three misfits only to learn of schemes that place both the Mortal and Faerie Realms in peril. If he can help the others work together to thwart the plans of two feuding fiends, they might just manage to save multiple worlds…provided they don’t kill each other first.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

Charles Allen – The Order of The Red God

Allen is a great world builder and provides complex characters with intricate plots. This story has a little bit of horror, a little fantasy, time travel and heartbreak. Everything had a smooth pace. Now we just need the third book in the series! — Chanticleer

This book is not yet released, but we are very excited to see it come out! It is the sequel to Seagrass Maggie, which also won a First Place Ribbon in the 2022 Ozma Award.

You can find that book Locally and on Amazon.

Jaime Castle and Andy Peloquin – Black Talon

Kullen is the Emperor’s assassin. The sharp hand of justice. The Black Talon.

Gifted a soul-forged bond with his dragon, Umbris, Kullen is tasked with hunting any and all who oppose the Empire.

But when the secretive Crimson Fang murders two noblemen before his very eyes, Kullen must discover the truth of who they are and what they want. What he uncovers is a web of lies and deceit spiraling into the depths of Dimvein.

Natisse, a high-ranking member of the rebellion known as the Crimson Fang, has no greater goal than to rid Dimvein of power-hungry nobles. Haunted by her past, fire, flames, and the death of her parents, she sets out to destroy the dragons and those who wield them as unstoppable weapons of destruction.

Until she too finds herself buried beneath the weight of the revelations her investigations reveal…

Find it on Amazon

Jonathan Uffelman – Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers

A malignant being is hunting Shaun McClanahan and his daughter Molly. When it steals their gold, they are thrust into an epic adventure, hurtling back through time to ancient Rome.

To save themselves, Molly and her father must come to terms with a painful past, heal old wounds, and grapple with the most powerful leprechaun magic ever known to lore gatherers. But even with the help of a poetry-writing fox and a hyper-intelligent chicken, can they save the universe?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

PJ Devlin– The Chamber

Jenesis is a monster. Her odd looks and small stature incite disdain but mask her power — power she must harness to overcome evil, or perish trying.In the year 535 AD, Jenesis, the elfish daughter of a human father and mystical mother, is abandoned under a fairy tree on the west coast of Ireland. Her odd looks earn her the label, monster.

Jenesis has a secret — she’s descended from the magical tribe of Danu. Her destiny to save monsters — children abandoned because of disabilities — leads her to the new world and a hidden chamber along the Wissahickon Creek. Jenesis must protect the chamber from wicked men who want to destroy it, the monsters, and her.

Throughout her interminable life, Jenesis calls on human skills and Danu power to battle evil reincarnated. Will she find a Danu to take her place? Will her journey ever end?This epic tale spans the years 535 AD to 1952, and spins from Ancient Ireland to indigenous America to Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek. History and myth, humanity and deity, mundane and magic are masterfully interwoven to create an authentic world populated by mystical and mortal characters. The Chamber is the first Wissahickon Monsters story. This genre-bending tale will appeal to fans of fantasy, historic fiction, and romance who love to enter a story and become part of it. Devlin’s characters seamlessly coexist in the upper world and underworld, all the while protecting the chamber’s secret.

Find it on Amazon