Disclaimer! I got this as an ARC through NetGalley in return for a fair and unbiased review.The book is available now. While this remarkable novel by Naomi Novik isn’t actually a retelling of some traditional fairy tale, it feels like it should be. The book moves slowly, thoroughly establishing the sleepy little environment Agniezka and Kasia live in, with the terrors of the slowly encroaching Wood so close by. Once someone disappears in the Wood, they will hopefully stay lost. Should they return, they are […]
Reading a genre classic for the first time. I have thoughts.
Firstly, I liked this, I really did. I am completely susceptible to these kinds of stories, and Jordan seems like a smart and enthusiastic kind of writer guy. However, a lot of this didn’t work for me, and I have lots and lots of thoughts, although I don’t know how many I will be able to remember and/or actually articulate in this space. I consider myself pretty well-read in terms of the fantasy genre. I’ve read a little bit of everything, and I’m determined to […]
Soaring through History
I decided to read this book because I saw a description of Uprooted, and thought it looked interesting, but I hadn’t read anything else by Naomi Novik, so I started with this series. I’m glad I did. This book is set during the Napoleonic Wars but has dragons that form an Aerial Corps There are many more dragons on the French side than the British side, so when Captain Will Laurence discovers a egg that is about to hatch aboard a French ship he and […]
Dancing with Werewolves, or at least a Werewolf
I have to admit that I’m actually kind of glad that I read the sequel first. It made this series a lot more fun (and it’s a lot of fun already) for all the “oh, now I get it” moments. The opening of the first volume of the Parasol Protectorate presents vague Cinderella elements in the heroine (although her likely prince charming is both werewolf and not very charming-or is he…). Alexia was never allowed to participate in society in order to give her younger […]
1, 2, the Chandrian’s comin’ for you…
Part coming of age story and part sword and sorcery adventure story, The Name of the Wind is a masters class in fantasy world building that unfortunately gets bogged down when the action switches to a University setting. Kote spends his days running the inn on the side of a road in a tiny town. Dark days have descended on the land. Black spider like demons terrorize the populace, raiders are common on the roads, and whispers of an ancient evil are becoming louder. One […]
Vampires should always be this sexy
I went on holiday last week and prepared my kindle with a bunch of interesting new books, several of which have been recommended by fellow Cannonballers. The first one I read, though, was one I bought a while ago in a Humble ebook bundle: New Amsterdam, by Elizabeth Bear. More of a collection of short stories than a novel per se, the book contains several mysteries which are investigated and solved by three connected people: the vampire Don Sebastien de Ulloa, the sorcerer Abigail […]
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