Jen K – Page 28 – Cannonball Read 17

Wrapping Up the Girl of Fire and Thorns Trilogy

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

September 8, 2019 by Jen K Leave a Comment

After the events of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Elisa is trying to rule her husband’s kingdom but even though she has grown much since she first entered the kingdom, she still faces doubts various political entities. There is also still the concern about a looming war from the bordering kingdom even if she and her friends managed to delay it after the last novel. It doesn’t take long before there are assassination attempts on Elisa’s life. Elisa is worried that she won’t be […]

Politics, Capitalism and Impending Doom

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

September 8, 2019 by Jen K 2 Comments

This is the first full length Scalzi novel I’ve read, and I quite enjoyed it. The prologue begins with a mutiny on board a space ship, though the mutiny is slightly disrupted when the space ship drops out of the Flow, one of the trails used for faster than light space travel between systems. After this, the novel leaves behind the crew who were only used to introduce the fact that the Flow might be unstable now. The novel follows a few different characters and […]

Magic and War Collide

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

September 8, 2019 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I loved the first novel in this trilogy because for me it was the perfect mix of fairy tale magic with some real life politics mixed in. By focusing on the story of a young girl in her village, the novel had a nice intimate setting even as it dealt with a figurative battle between good and evil, the old ways and the new. The greater politics opened up the potential for a broader scale in the rest of the trilogy, and I think that […]

Questions about Modernity and Ways of Life – But in Space

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

September 8, 2019 by Jen K 1 Comment

While Becky Chambers has already explained the circumstances of the descendants of Earth in broad strokes in her previous two Wayfarer novels, in this third novel, she shifts her attention to the remaining human fleet. When Earth was on the brink of collapse, some people with resources started by colonizing planets and moons in the Solar System such as Mars. Those left behind eventually had to deconstruct the cities and sky scrapers, and use those resources to create a fleet for the last of humanity […]

A Darker, Grittier Approach to YA Fantasy

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

September 7, 2019 by Jen K Leave a Comment

VC/Victoria Schwab is a weird author for me. Everyone else seems to rave about her. Intellectually, I am intrigued by what she does and the stories and themes she explores. She is very creative, as seen in this novel where monsters are the external manifestations or results of violence humans do to each other. And yet. And yet. Something about her writing fails to grip me. I was discussing this novel with a friend halfway through and told him, I wasn’t sure if I would […]

Exploring a Family Tragedy and How Things Left Unsaid Fester

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

September 7, 2019 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I’d meant to read this for a while, but somehow ended up reading Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, first. While this one didn’t have quite the same impact as her follow up, it was still a very good novel, and I really enjoyed the complexity she brought to all the characters, their motivations, and how she portrayed how even well meaning actions could have negative and long lasting impacts. As the novel begins, the Lee family is going through their normal morning routine in […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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