Contest Finalists!

THERE ARE SIX CATEGORIES. PLEASE VOTE IN ALL SIX!

Your entries were SO AMAZING! Honestly, it was impossible to narrow them to five, especially when something blew us away in one category and then something was equally amazing in another category. How could one be compared against the other? 

So we changed plans, and narrowed the entries to the top three in each of five categories.

The hardest part is that there were other EXCEPTIONAL entries that deserved to be here. We saw the effort, quality, and enthusiasm of your submissions. Even if your name is not below, we still loved what you showed us.

And fans, now it is YOUR TURN TO VOTE! Here’s how:

Watch/read/listen to each entry and choose your favorite from each category.In the comments, vote for the number from each category that was your favorite. These will be privately recorded, so your votes may not show up.If you choose to add compliments to your comment, those will show up below. Please keep it positive!Only one vote per category per person. Voting ends on July 26 at noon EST.

NOW…here are the finalists (in random order):

ORIGINAL SONG

ENTRY 1: Ava and Abigail

“Our fan entry is [an attempt] to mimic Jaron’s sarcastic narration in a quick summary, telling his story in both regular words and song lyrics. We called it “Ascending”, obviously based off of the trilogy name, but we also named it that out of excitement because Jaron’s story is being continued.”

ENTRY 2: Jocelyn

“I named this song “King Jaron,” from the scene when Sage is riding on Mystic, in his last moments of freedom. He gets to the stream and is thinking, and Mott comes to him and as they’re talking it gets a little more intense as you realize what is happening. If this was a movie scene, I wanted the music to be like what you would hear.”

ENTRY 3: ELISE AND SOPHIE

“We wrote several different themes and attempted to put them together as if it was a medley of movie music.  The opening theme is supposed to set the stage and introduce the world of the Ascendance series.  This is followed by exciting, haunting, and victorious themes to represent the different parts of the books.  We tried to intersperse the music with scenes of Imogen and Amarinda from the books.”

ART

ENTRY 1: NIDA

“The False Prince was one of the first books I read that truly got me into reading. The plot, character development, world-building, dialogue, and themes came together so well that the story and characters are still very close to me, even 5 years later! You may be able to tell that it depicts the first scene in The Runaway King. This was one of my favourite introductory scenes and the first line of this book was so very Jaron.”

ENTRY 2: MAYHLEE

Title: Lament

“Inspired by The Shadow Throne. This illustration – titled Lament – represents the fallen soldiers and post-battles bloodshed. Darker tones of the characters depict the anguish and misery, while the contrasting lighter background depicts a future hope from an ending war.”

ENTRY 3: KATIE

“Growing up, The False Prince was more than just a good book. It offered me an escape when life got rough. It gave me the courage to pursue my dreams as a writer, and today, it’s still supporting me through life…”

VIEW KATIE’S IMAGES HERE.

FAN FICTION

ENTRY 1: BROOKLYN

Brooklyn’s goal was to write the longest existing fan fiction from the series, and she achieved it, completing a 111,237 word book (nearly 30,000 words longer than anything I have written for the series) – and the best part is, her writing is really great! If she can do this, you’ll see her name on her own novels one day. She also created and manages the Wiki Fandom Page for the series. Read Chapter one of her story HERE (and keep reading if you’d like!)

ENTRY 2: VALERIE

Valerie also submitted a mind-blowing original composition on harp, proving she is as musically gifted as she is gifted as a writer. This piece, entitled “The Book and the Vial,” gets inside Jaron’s head perfectly, and is beautifully written as well. Read it HERE!

ENTRY 3: MINEA

Not only is Minea’s writing wonderful and far beyond her years in talent, but I also loved that she has been writing Ascendance fan fiction for years, proving herself to be a long-time, enthusiastic fan. This piece is titled, “The Ascendance Trilogy Story” but her other works deserve to be read as well.

VIDEO

ENTRY 1: KAYLEIGH

ENTRY 2: KATIE

ENTRY 3: JENNA

OTHER

ENTRY 1: AMEERAH

Ameerah spoke here with such openness and warmth, I felt her speaking from her heart about her love for this series.

ENTRY 2: RUBI AND LETICIA

Not only did these two young women create a game, but it looks amazing and is definitely one I would sit down to play. So inventive and fun!

ENTRY 3: SARAH AND JOSHUA

Anyone who has played Minecraft knows that most things can be built, but these two actually designed Farthenwood, and did a fantastic job. I cannot imagine the hours of work that went into creating this.

THE YOUNGER CROWD (13 and under)

ENTRY 1: BONNIE

In full disclosure, Bonnie is older, but most of the actors are younger, so I thought it would fit here. This was a super fun video to watch!

ENTRY 2: PENDING

The permission form has not yet been returned for this finalist. If and when it is, the entry will be posted here. Stay tuned!

3. OLIVIA

We dare you to watch this and not be charmed by her enthusiasm and ability to express herself in such a sincere and intelligent way.

4. BEN, BELLA, ANNE, SAMANTHA

They wrote several scripts for a television series of the books, and also composed original music for a soundtrack. Here is one song, titled, “Sage/Jaron’s Theme.”

5. KARA

Kara created fantastic artwork, memes, and a fan video based on THE SHADOW THRONE, complete with original music. Here is the video!

We hope you made it this far, and that you enjoyed all of these as much as we did. Now, it’s time for YOU to vote!

Leave a comment below for which number was your favorite in each category. When the comments are moderated, the votes will be removed, but any additional feedback will be left in so that the entrants can see what you wrote.

Voting ends on July 26 at noon EST. You may only vote once.