Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A lot of close calls

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 12: Dun Dun So a slightly comedic take on the high fantasy-D&D type adventure may not seem like it’s going to involve the ominous, but there are a couple of times that one could insert that into the mental soundtrack for Kings of the Wyld, including what I’m guessing is meant to be something that carries over to connect into the sequel. The whole idea of an aged post-glory days group of adventurers reuniting for one last quest, to save the daughter of one […]

A little maturity in the teen-saturated romantic isekai

The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World by Oumiya, Kyouka Izumi, Reiko Sakurada

by 1 Comment

Bingo 11: Rings Thanks to a fellow Cannonballer whose name I don’t remember (sorry! and thank you), I requested and got 4/5 of the romantasy manga The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World. There are two ring connections here, one of the marriage-relevant sort, and second of the spell-casting visual sort. She has to use her great magic twice, which results in a glowing circular (ring) symbol appearing on her person as well as on the location she’s aiming at (the sky in both […]

‘Futuretellers Ken th’ Danger of Dreams Best’

Ashling by Isobelle Carmody

by Leave a Comment

In my previous reviews for the Obernewtyn Chronicles, I made the twin observations that Obernewtyn is a very contained story and it’s The Farseekers where the series starts to find its feet. Now I can state that it’s in the third volume, Ashling, where the plot starts to learn to run. Ashling takes place about a year after the events of The Farseekers, and we open with Elspeth rescuing a gypsy woman from being burnt at the state by the Herder Faction. While the woman is […]

“Didn’t you know the insides of dogs and cows and birds and fish are exactly like that of man? The only difference is the clothes we wear!”

The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales by Vasily Eroshenko, Adam Kuplowsky (translator)

by Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo: Dreams – Eroshenko’s fairytales give us glimpses of his dreams for a more compassionate and peaceful future where all are respected no matter their gender, race, class, or ability – and the fears he has about what may have to be done to achieve them. Fairytales as oral traditions bear the stamp of the cultures that tell them; fairytales when written by an individual bear the stamp of culture channelled through that individual, which is a different thing altogether. There really are some people […]

“Comedy is laughter in the face of death”

Wyrd Sisters (1988) by Terry Pratchett

Witches Abroad (1991) by Terry Pratchett

Lords and Ladies (1992) by Terry Pratchett

Carpe Jugulum (1998) by Terry Pratchett

by 2 Comments

These are re-reads, these are beloved, these are–I suggest–suitable for the fanfic square because they are riotous and revelrous games with Shakespeare plays and fairy stories and Dracula and witch traditions, even while they question the logics behind them. For example, as Pratchett points out, witches would probably not be dancing around nude during their eldritch rites because it would get quite chilly. Wyrd Sisters (1988) Autocorrect keeps trying to make wyrd into ‘word’, which is fitting, because this is a book partly about the […]

“This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure.” CBRBINGO – Rings

The Hobbit: Or, There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

by 5 Comments

As I’ve written about The Hobbit before, and because other people definitely have as well, and much better than I have, this review will be mostly about the new audiobook productions of Tolkien’s works, which are narrated by Andy Serkis, of Gollum fame. So far I have only listened to this lovely production of The Hobbit, but I have the full trilogy and The Silmarillion also ready to go for whenever I am feeling like a re-read. And chances are, now that I know how […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo