Thanks to all the dedicated fans who voted via Twitter, Facebook and comments on BookSpot Central, The Blinding Knife beat King of Thorns in a crushing victory. It wasn’t even close. I dominated: 50.7% to 49.3%. Okay, maybe I was nervous for a second or two.

And because CAPSLOCK likes it when I quote myself:

I won, I won, I WON! But I have one thing to say to the worthy @mark__lawrence: Neener neener neener! *ahem* I mean, “Good show, old boy.”

— Brent Weeks (@brentweeks) April 22, 2013

First, there were 64. Now, battered and bleeding, lacerated by readers’ votes and critics’ comments, only two remain. But…

It’s the battle of sharp pointy things! 

No, but seriously. After losing The David Gemmell Award (twice), after losing to Victor Gischler in 2009 for this SAME AWARD, and after losing the Suvudu Cage Match last year, I think it’s my time. Look, people, I even put off my book a year so that next year you won’t have to compete with me! What more can I do?

No, but seriously, seriously, this BookSpot Central March Madness contest is just a lot of fun. It’s purely for bragging rights and to discover other books that lots of readers love. The opportunity to spank a fellow author is just icing on the cake. Don’t let me be spanked! I’m not into that. Go HERE to vote.

by CAPSLOCK

The Blinding Knife has made it to the semi-finals! The Blinding Knife is contending with The Dirty of Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. Go HERE to vote.

(Also, new poll!)

by CAPSLOCK

The Blinding Knife has made it to Round 4 thanks to fan votes! It’s now facing The Straits of Galahesh by Bradley P. Beaulieu. Go HERE to vote now!

by CAPSLOCK

Brent’s book The Blinding Knife is now competing against Elizabeth Bear’s Range of Ghosts. Go HERE to vote!

by CAPSLOCK

BookSpot Central has posted Round 2 of their Book Tournament, and The Blinding Knife is now facing Glamour in Glass, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Go HERE to vote!

by CAPSLOCK 

Really love brackets? Want a second chance because you didn’t see that Harvard game coming? The Blinding Knife has been drafted into the March Madness craze by BookSpot Central’s 7th annual book tournament. In Round 1,  The Blinding Knife faces off against The Tainted City by Courtney Schafer.

You can vote:

1. via a comment on their post listing the book you wish to vote for in each match-up
2. by clicking the Facebook “like” button under the book cover on the tournament page HERE
3. with an original tweet (retweets won’t count) that includes a link to the tournament page HERE and uses the hashtag provided below for the book(s) you are voting for”

There’s nothing really at stake here, just bragging rights. However, if you know Brent at all, you know he really likes bragging rights! Go HERE to vote!

Lame.

Lame.

Lame.

Awesome.

Awesome… with edges.

A big thanks to elquesogrande of reddit/r/Fantasy for putting together the contest and the fantastic prize. And of course — thanks to all of you who voted so I could win the prize!

Over at the Fantasy subreddit, they’ve put together a fantastic list of authors who are eligible to be nominated for the 2013 Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Yes, Brent is included! Curious about the Hugo Award and/or WorldCon? Check it out HERE.

But I won.

If you’re interested in all things fantasy, I highly recommend checking it out. Even if you don’t like registering for things, you can freely lurk. In addition to having categories for Best Novel of the Year and Best Debut of the Year, /r/fantasy also voted on things like Best Blog, and Best AMA Comment. If you really want to dive immediately into fandom, this is a great place to find high-quality resources. Also, because the community is so huge, they have no trouble getting all the top fantasy authors to come by and talk with them. Those are still posted on the site and make for fascinating reading. (Look in the right-hand column of /r/fantasy for that list.)

I’d like to thank the reddit community and you guys, my awesome fans, for up-voting my book. And I’d like to thank elquesogrande for all the work he does to make that community so, so good.

I won I won I won!