Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Aquillia

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PhD in Ancient History. Wannabe fantasy writer. Likes ancient coins, imaginary kingdoms, and failed emperors. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Aquillia's Quick Questions interview.)

Aquillia's Reviews:

My first post of the year for a book that made me need to write a review

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

by 8 Comments

So, it’s March! And this is my first review! Which tells you a lot about how my reading has been going this year. I hit a major slump just after Christmas (and in fact, still haven’t finished reading the book I was really into at that time). So I picked a book that I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy, but was pretty sure I would have Thoughts on: A Court of Silver Flames, by Sarah J. Maas. I’m trying to make this one relatively spoiler […]

One of the most imaginative fantasies I read this year

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

by 1 Comment

Senlin Ascends has gotten a lot of hype the past few years in fantasy circles. After reading it, I can really see why. It is utterly imaginative, crafting a fantasy world very different than most: one that takes place almost entirely within a tower that reaches up towards the heavens. Thomas Senlin is a mild-mannered schoolmaster from an analogue of 19th century Britain, who travels with Marya, his new wife, to visit the Tower of Babel for their honeymoon. Yet he loses Marya almost instantly, […]

Sexy YA(?!) fantasy roundup

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

The Wicked King by Holly Black

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

by 1 Comment

Here follows a roundup (still 250 words average for each book) of some adventures into the world of super sexy YA fantasy. *cracks knuckles* Let’s go. Spoilers for ALL these entries abound, because let’s face it, anyone who reads this review will probably just read it to see if I felt the same as them, not if they should pick it up. (But if you like YA fantasy, DEFINITELY pick up Holly Black’s trilogy).   A Court of Wings and Fury, Sarah J. Maas (2.5 […]

I wouldn’t have voluntarily picked this one up, and I won’t pick up the sequels

Children of Fire by Drew Karpyshyn

by 3 Comments

So Children of Fire was a book club pick. As the title says, it wasn’t one I would have picked up ordinarily, but I was actually intrigued by the premise. And unlike some book club picks (*coughDunecough*) I actually read this one the whole way through. The premise is this: big evil fantasy villain guy, banished to some kind of parallel universe/dungeon thing, wants to come back. So he uses chaos (the magic) to sow four seeds (lol): four children that are ‘touched by chaos’ and […]

A gorgeous love story that develops through time and letters

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

by 2 Comments

This is How You Lose the Time War deserves the hype. The more fantasy I read, the more I crave something that pushes the boundaries, something that really wows me. Several of the books I read did this year by being ‘utterly bonkers’, as I’ve described them, but This is How You Lose the Time War managed it in an entirely different way. Technically, I think this is science-fiction, not fantasy, but it still pushes the boundaries because it is, first and foremost, an epistolary novel, […]

A fitting end to a wonderful trilogy

Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

by 1 Comment

Empire of Gold featured in my ‘Best Books of the Year’ blurb, so why haven’t I written a review yet? I’m not quite sure, but I do know that it’s not the malaise that sometimes comes with ‘average’ books. I have loved each entry in the Daevabad trilogy more than the next, and Empire of Gold was that gold standard (no pun intended)–a conclusion that manages to surprise and yet feel inevitable and right, one that hits a perfect thematic ending note. Chakraborty has built up […]



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