We are near the end of the first SFINCS (Speculative Fiction Novella Championship), and it's time to start doing a recap of the different finalists and announce our final scores.

It's time to take a look at Dragonmeat, by Angela Boord.

You can order this novella using this link.

Dragonmeat is poison. But what if you’re starving?

Peri will do anything to keep her chronically ill father alive in their starving city. Using her now useless scholarly talents to research thievery, she’s become a highly successful food thief—small, ordinary—invisible. In Medeas, gripped in the iron fist of its mad governor, ravaged by dragons, hiding is a way of life.

Then her stealing triggers a riot, and a mysterious stranger steps in to save her. Frost has food and he’s willing to share his secret...but talking to him might be the most dangerous thing Peri’s ever done. How can she find the courage to leave her safe shadows and take a stand when her father’s life hangs in the balance?

Dragonmeat is a fast-paced novella set in award-winning author Angela Boord’s Eterean Empire universe--a lush, dangerous world of empire and resistance inspired by Rome and Renaissance Italy.

<<Dragonmeat feels more than a novella. It feels larger than life, as large as a dragon you could say! Though technically a prequel novella, this story stands on its own and unravels itself like any larger novel, revealing its secrets at the right moment to keep you enticed and reading on.>> Trudie Skies

<<Angela Boord takes this premise and uses it to create a really detailed world, a city which feels alive and where our main character is just a drop in the water>> - Jamedi

<<The real power of this novella though lies in the character work. (...) here we see that skill brought to bear with Peri – and that is why this story transcends its plot, because through our protagonist we get to experience a deeply personal, and emotional story, against the backdrop of a world determined to wear her into the ground. >> - Rowena, Beneath a Thousand Skies

<<Dragonmeat stands firm on its own. It’s a fully fledged tale that tickles the imagination and makes me want more.>> - Nils Ödlund

Gathering all the scores together, we can announce that the final score for Dragonmeat from Team Jamreads is:

8,5/10