Most Epic Heroine 2026 Silmaril Award Ceremony

28 Sep 2026 3 Comments

by C.O. Bonham in Silmaril Awards Tags: , ,

The votes are in and the finalists are assembled. It was a strong line up and the votes were close. But one Finalist reigns supreme.

After last years amazing masquerade ball for the Most Devoted Couple. Queen Susan of Narnia had the idea to do something similar for the heroines.

Introducing the Most Epic Heroine archery tournament!

The five finalists are on the field. Each one holds a bow with a single arrow in hand. The five women look confused at the set up. They had been expecting an awards ceremony, not a tourney.

Queen Susan of Narnia arrayed in crimson velvet and leather bracers, stands behind the finalists ready to signal for them to fire their arrows.

Queen Arwen of Gondor calls for them to halt and walks onto the Archery field and whispers in Queen Susan’s ear.

Susan pulls away. “But being a Heroine is about being good in battle, Not about popularity. It should be a test of skill.”

Arewn placed a hand on Susan’s shoulder. “But the readers have already voted. We can’t disregard the readers opinions just because one of the finalists happens to be better at Archery.”

Susan hangs her head. “Of Course, you’re correct.”

Eowyn runs onto the field next. “No need to waste the set up. See how the targets are already marked with the names of the finalists? Queen Susan, our best archer, can you hit the targets in the order of the votes, from least to most?”

Susan nods. “Yes, I can do that.” She steps in front of the finalists and nocks an arrow.

The first Arrow flies from her bow and hits the target square in the bullseye. The target was labeled: Risa. One of the many heroines from The Turrim Archives.

Risa steps forward. “Truly it was an honored just to be nominated.” She bows and exits the field.

The second arrow flies and strikes the target with Cimorene from The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

Cimorene steps forward, curtsies to the attending audience and exits the field.

Susan nocks a third arrow and it hits true on the target belonging to Eilonwy from the Prydain Chronicles.

Eilonwy comes forward and shrugs. “Maybe someday.” Then she to leaves the field.

There are only two targets left. Which ever target Queen Susan hits will represent the winner of the Silmaril. The crowd looks between Ella of Frell and Sophie Foster. Who will the winner be?

Queen Susan lifts the arrow. She pulls the bow string back with the arrow. For only a moment she wavers as if unsure which target to aim at.

Suddenly she releases the string and the arrow flies.

The arrow hits the bullseye of the target with the name: Sophie Foster from Keeper of the Lost Cities.

Ella of Frell graciously backs off the field allowing Sophie to take the spotlight she fairly earned.

A young blonde-haired elf steps forward and bends her head before Arwen who places the Silmaril around her neck. “Well met young Sophie, You have had many adventures and I’m sure you shall have many more. Let this Silmaril remind you that no matter how hard your journey becomes that you are counted among the MOST Epic of Heroines.”

Congratulations Sophie Foster!

What do you think dear reader, Are you one of the many who voted for Sophie?

Check out all the other amazing ceremonies:

Silmaril awards voting link AND a cover reveal!

13 Sep 2026 2 Comments

by C.O. Bonham in Silmaril Awards Tags: , , , , , , ,

Stick around to the end for a special surprise!

The nominations have been tallied and the finalists are selected.

I take the scroll to Eowyn and stand back as she looks it over.

“Some of these names do sound familiar to me. I believe Eilonwy has been nominated before.”

I nod. “Indeed she has—multiple times—and if the numbers of seconds she received is any indication of popularity she has a good chance of winning this year.”

“Well, good for her. I do hope she doesn’t get too discouraged if she doesn’t get the Silmaril.”

“She’s a strong and kind girl I’m sure she finds it an honor just to be nominated.”

“Quite right. Our heroines are not a petty lot. This name though, Ella of Enchanted, hasn’t she already won a Silmaril?”

“Oh, you mean Ella from the book Ella Enchanted. She won last year along with her husband Prince Char. They were named the most devoted couple of 2025. But no, she hasn’t won a Silmairl for most epic heroine.”

“Very good, wouldn’t that be nice for her to be honored two years in a row.” Eowyn had a thoughtful look on her face.

“My lady, It isn’t possible for every finalist to win.”

“Oh, but it is!” Eowyn waved her hads in an arch above her head. “These are lifetime awards. Once someone has won a category they can not win again, that means that every year, the previous nominees are no longer competing against someone more popular than they are. I imagine that if these awards go on long enough—every character shall have a silmaril.”

Is she right? With an infinite amount of silmarils and enough time it could eventually happen.

But then I think about all the new books written every year—most will feature heroines just as worthy as those who already compete every year. I do not wish to spoil my Lady’s dream with the reality that the human ability to create stories is just as infinite as her supply of silmarils.

Quickly I hand her the compiled scrolls about each finalist and turn to leave.

Eilonwy (Prydain Chronicles)

https://prydain.fandom.com/wiki/Princess_Eilonwy

Cimorene (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

https://the-enchanted-forest-chronicles.fandom.com/wiki/Cimorene

Sophie (Keeper Of The Lost Cities)

https://lost-cities-keeper.fandom.com/wiki/Sophie_Elizabeth_Foster

Ella (Ella Enchanted)

https://ellaenchanted.fandom.com/wiki/Ella_Enchanted_(Book)

Raisa (The Turrim Archive)

“Cathrine, halt! You have forgotten a scroll. I do not see a compiled dossier for Raisa of Turrim.”

“I couldn’t get much information on her my lady. Raisa is a bit of a roguish character. Runs with a pirate crew. Only instead of sailing the sea they fly on an airship. Raisa is incredibly loyal to her captain. She’s resourceful and when she sets her mind to a task you can be assured it will be done. She also likes to keep busy, dislikes being idle and is always willing to help another even at the cost of her own freedom.”

“Well then it sounds like she’d be a worthy addition to our ranks.”

“I quite agree my Lady.” I give an awkward curtsy and leave to prepare for the finalists arrival.

https://www.silmarilawards.com/vote/

Help decide the winner of the 2026 Most Epic Heroine Award now!

Don’t forget to visit the rest of the award blogs to Learn about the finalists for every category before you vote. Each post will have a link to the voting form so no need to come back here first:

Here’s your reward for reading all the way to the end:

It’s Cover Reveal day for H.L. Burke’s newest superhero novel!

Check out this epic cover reveal for the third and final (?) book in H.L. Burke’s YA Superhero series: GAME, SET, MATCH!

Lose yourself in a heartfelt but twisty tale of young love with a dollop of suspense.

Art by K.M. Carroll and layout by Jennifer Hudzinski.

Links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HHTWD95M

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/258382067-game-set-match

BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/game-set-match-by-h-l-burke

Silmaril Awards: Most Epic Heroine (Nominations CLOSED)

07 Sep 2026 51 Comments

by C.O. Bonham in Silmaril Awards Tags: , , , ,

I have resurrected my blog and my motivation to once again bring you the most prestigious award a fictional character can win.

The Silmaril Awards!

The Silmaril Awards are all about celebrating fantasy fiction. But whereas most awards go to authors or books, these awards go to the characters themselves!

Started in 2016, these awards are a four week online celebration of all that’s best in fantasy literature. There are several awards in various categories given every year. The characters who receive them have to be from books generally considered to be in the fantasy genre. And a given character cannot receive an award more than once. These are lifetime awards.

Also, as Tolkien is, for us, the gold standard of fantasy, his characters are not eligible to be nominated. That’s because they’ll be the ones presenting the awards in this cross-dimensional online ceremony. 

Nominations are submitted on the websites of each of the presenters for that year. Anyone can submit a nomination and you can second (and third and fourth, etc.) any number of nominations besides your own.

After the nomination period (lasting one week), the five characters receiving the most nominations will make it onto the ballot and you’ll have one week to vote. After the votes are tallied, the winners will be announced, one per day, over the final two weeks of the awards.

This years Dates:

Nominations will run from Sept 7 – 11.

You’ll vote on the top 5 nominees from each award from Sept 14 – 18.

The winners will be announced, one on each weekday over the two weeks running from Sept 21 – Oct. 2nd.

This year I am thrilled to be hosting the Most Epic Heroine award.

The awards are lifetime awards so no character can win twice.

Heroine is one of the longer running awards so there have been quite a few winners. Please consult this list before nominating:

Most Epic Heroine

  • 2025 Heather Longtreader from The Green Ember Series
  • 2024 Nia from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2023 Leeli from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2022 Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle
  • 2021 Pet from The City Between Series
  • 2020 Hermione from The Harry Potter Series
  • 2019 Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles
  • 2018 Aravis from The Chronicles of Narnia
  • 2017 Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia

Quick Reminders:

  • No Tolkien or Narnia Characters
  • Book characters only (Movies don’t count unless the book came first.)
  • Only fantasy characters are allows (No sci-fi, adventure, mystery ect…)
  • Leave your nomination as a comment State the character’s name and what book they’re from.
  • Second other’s nominations by replying “I second” to their comment.
  • These are lifetime awards please check the past winners above before nominating.

Nominate in the comments: Who is the Most Epic Heroine?

Image of an Archer drawing back a bow with an arrow knocked. Text overlay reads: Ready...Aim...Nominate!

Don’t forget to visit the rest of the award blogs to nominate characters for every category:

The Most Magnificent Dragon Silmaril Awards Ceremony 2024

16 Sep 2024 7 Comments

by C.O. Bonham in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Well that could have been worse. I guess. Julio and Norbert were polite house guests. But the other three. All I can say is, well just look at what’s left of my family’s barn:

This is what I get for housing three full grown dragons in the barn. Though maybe they were just upset about having to stay in the barn.

It’s finally time to go through the interdimensional portal for the awards ceremony itself. Shardas, The Dragon and Vollys fly though first while Julio, in his human guise, and I walk through pushing Baby Norbert in a pram.

As we enter the back stage area, we catch snatches of arguing. “I said, I don’t want to wear it.” Whines a prepubescent voice with an English accent. As we enter the giant green room where finalists and hosts wait. I see a boy who almost looks like he deserves the name Eustace Scrubb. He is holding a fancy gold cuff and staring down a large menacing dragon. I can only assume that this magnificent fire wyrm is Smaug the great and powerful.

Smaug points a menacing claw at the child and says, “This is an award for Dragons, and if you are going to cohost then you must be a dragon.”

Eustace sighs and slides the cuff onto his forearm. “If I’d known when they made me official cohost, that I’d have to do this every year then I never would have agreed to it.” Once the Cuff is firmly in place Eustace Scrubb starts growing scales all over his body. In seconds the transformation from boy to dragon is complete.

“That’s my cue as well.” Julio says before he too transforms into a fierce green dragon.

Smaug and Eustice step out on stage and introduce the finalist one by one. Fist Shardas, then Vollys, The Dragon, and Julio. I follow quickly with Norbert in the pram. Eustace takes the large envelope and slides a claw across the wax seal.

“And the Winner for 2024 with 23% of the vote…”

All of the finalists puff out their chests in anticipation.

“Norbert from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” He looks up from the card. “That can’t be right. I’m sure the book was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone.” I chuckle as I realize that of course Eustace would have read the British version.

Julio rushes over and steals the poster sized card away from Eustace. “Does it say what place I got?” He scans for a moment. I expect him to be disappointed but he actually looks cheery. “Second place again, and I didn’t even have to share it.” He shoots a smug grin over at Shardas.

He comes back to the Pram and picks up Norbert. “And if I have to lose to a baby at least it’s a cute one. Come on Norberta, Let’s get your award.”

“Wait, did you just call him Norberta?”

Julio looks down at the baby dragon. “Yes this dragon is female, I thought that was obvious.”

“Ah, okay. I guess I hadn’t thought to check that.”

Eustace is clearly getting flustered now. “i don’t understand why everything is wrong. The title of the book is wrong the gender and name of the dragon are wrong. Why is this happening my first time on stage?”

“Ah well,” says Julio. “If the baby is disqualified then does that mean I get the award?”

Smaug roars. “No one is disqualified. If the readers voted for this dragon, then this dragon is The Most Magnificent Dragon.” Everyone quickly calms down.

Julio hands Norberta to Eustace and Smaug gently lays the Silmaril around her neck.

With the ceremony over I see the other three finalists turn to me.

Vollys speaks up, accusation in her voice. “So you allowed the first and second place dragons to stay in your house, while the three of us were relegated to the dirty barn.”

I hold up my hands. “It wasn’t like that, I didn’t know the results ahead of time. I promise, it’s just what was most convenient. I mean Julio can literally turn into a human, how could I not let him sleep int eh house?”

The Dragon starts morphing. “Julio is not the only one who knows such a trick.” When he is done shifting I see a towering humanoid that resembles something out of the Slenderman horror franchise.

I think this is my cue to leave. I run back through the interdimensional portal and shut it behind me.

I hope you enjoyed the Most Magnificent Dragon Ceremony. Be sure to check out all the other Silmaril awards happening this week and next.

Award Ceremonies schedules

Most Magnificent Dragon: Mon. Sept 16 – cobonham.com (You are here.)

Most Faithful Friend: Tues. Sept 17 – https://imperialscribis.wordpress.com/

Most Nefarious Villain: Wed. Sept 18 – https://www.hlburkeauthor.com/blog

Most Devoted Couple: Thurs. Sept 19 – https://catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com/

Most Silver Tongue: Fri. Sept. 20 – https://tpssarahlightshadows.wordpress.com/

Most Epic Hero: Mon. Sept 23 – https://bardonpilgrimage.wordpress.com/

Wisest Counselor: Tues. Sept 24 – https://samsbookshire.blogspot.com/

Most Epic Heroine: Wed. Sept 25 – https://djedwardson.com/blog/

Most Wayward Soul: Thurs. Sept. 26 – https://mackenziekwrites.com/blog/

Most Mischievous Imp: Fri. Sept 27 – https://www.jenelleschmidt.com/blog

2024 Silmaril Awards: Most Magnificent Dragon. [CLOSED]

02 Sep 2024 62 Comments

by C.O. Bonham in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Edit: Nominations are now closed and no new comments will be counted. Please come back on September nineth for the finalist voting. See you then and may the Most Magnificent dragon win.

I am hosting again for the premier award for fantasy characters.

The Silmaril Awards. This year there are ten categories including the return of last years newbie, Most Wayward Soul.

I am hosting the nominations and award for The Most Magnificent Dragon. I actually pretty nervious about this year. I heard that when you host the Dragon awards you actually have to host the nominees and I just don’t know if I have the room for them all.


What are the Silmaril Awards?

The Silmaril Awards are all about celebrating fantasy fiction. But whereas most awards go to authors or books, these awards go to the characters themselves!

Started in 2016, these awards are a four week online celebration of all that’s best in fantasy literature. There are several awards in various categories given every year.

The characters who receive them have to be from books in the fantasy genre.

Characters cannot receive the same award more than once. These are lifetime awards.

Tolkien and Narnian characters are not eligible to be nominated. Instead, they’ll be the ones presenting the awards. 

Nominations are submitted in the comments of each of the host blogs.

Anyone can submit a nomination and you can second (and third and fourth, etc.) any number of nominations besides your own.

After the nomination period (lasting one week), the five characters receiving the most nominations will make it onto the ballot and you’ll have one week to vote. After the votes are tallied, the winners will be announced, one per day, over the final two weeks of the awards.

The dates for this year’s awards are:

Nominations week — Sept 2-6

Voting week — Sept 9-13

Awards ceremonies — Sept 16-27

Most Magnificent Dragon Past Winners

· 2023 Yurgen from Wingfeather Saga

· 2022 Hulwen from Wingfeather Saga

· 2021 Malcolm Blackfire from The Afterverse

· 2020 Clefspeare from Dragons in Our Midst

· 2019 Saphira from Eragon

· 2018 Eustace from The Chronicles of Narnia

· 2017 Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon

Quick Reminders:

No Tolkien or Narnia Characters

Book characters only (Movies don’t count unless the book came first.)

Only fantasy characters are allows (No sci-fi, adventure, mystery ect…)

Leave your nomination as a comment State the character’s name and what book they’re from.

Second other’s nominations by replying “I second” to their comment.

These are lifetime awards please check the past winners above before nominating.

So, Who do you think the Most Magnificent Dragon is?

Nominate them now, by leaving a comment below!

Then nominate more at the blogs below:

Most Faithful Friend – https://imperialscribis.wordpress.com/2024/08/31/the-silmaril-awards-nominations-for-most-faithful-friend/

Most Nefarious Villain – https://www.hlburkeauthor.com/post/2024-silmaril-awards-nominations-most-nefarious-villain

Most Devoted Couple – https://catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com/2024/09/now-open-nominations-for-silmaril.html?m=1

Most Silver Tongue – https://wp.me/p3FlHI-2io

Most Epic Hero – https://bardonpilgrimage.wordpress.com/2024/09/02/2024-silmaril-award-nominations-most-epic-hero/

Wisest Counselor – https://samsbookshire.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-silmaril-awards-2024-nominations.html

Most Epic Heroine – https://djedwardson.com/2024-silmaril-award-nominations-for-most-epic-heroine/

Most Wayward Soul – https://mackenziekwrites.com/2024/09/02/the-silmaril-awards-nominations-now-open-for-wayward-souls/

Most Mischievous Imp – https://jenelleschmidt.com/blog/nominations-2024-silmaril-awards-mischievous-imps

Remember all nominations close the evening of September Sixth.