Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Grimdark Story Set in Fantasy China

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

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Rin is a war orphan whose foster parents are planning to marry her off to an older man. To escape a fate that she considers to be worse than death, Rin works herself to the bone to study for the national test that will determine whether she can escape her rural province. Thanks to the help of her tutor and her own brutal work ethic, Rin excels and earns a place at Sinegard, the war academy of the Nikan Empire. Arriving at Sinegard, she realizes […]

“The important thing in running away is not how fast you run but simply that you run faster than the next man.”

Prince of Fools (Red Queen's War #1) by Mark Lawrence

The Liar's Key (Red Queen's War #2) by Mark Lawrence

Wheel of Osheim (Red Queen's War #3) by Mark Lawrence

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Well, this is less ambitious of me than the time I tried to review an entire five-book series all in one go.  This is just a three book series this time! (Also, because I have chosen to review the books this way, there will be minor spoilers) I’ve started reading two of Mark Lawrence’s trilogies so far. Of those two, I would highly recommend The Book of the Ancestor series, starting off with Red Sister. They were one hell of a package: I loved both […]

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, he knows grimdark

A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1) by Joe Abercrombie

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I am a HUGE fan of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series which began with an original trilogy but has sprouted three additional stand alone novels and a collection of short stories. This is the first book in a new trilogy called the Age of Madness. It’s been a few years since Abercrombie visited the First Law series but that is because he spent several years writing all three books of this series at once. He wanted to be better with his continuity and ensure that […]

(Bingo: Pajiba) All shall fade into the whiteness of death

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

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I was keenly intrigued upon reading both the Pajiba post about this one and I think also possibly Big Idea on Scalzi’s website but I’m not certain about that. I just know I saw a fair amount of press and was very interested in reading James’ take on an epic fantasy world beginning from an African perspective. “Children cannot help how they are born, they had no choice in it. Choosing to be a fool, though . . .” (Kindle loc 1020) Unfortunately, I am […]

Everybody please read this so I can have somebody to talk to about it.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (The Dark Star Trilogy, #1) by Marlon James

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NB: I received a gratis copy of the book from the publisher but that has not affected the content of my review. “You want to know what’s my purpose? To kill the men who killed my brother and father, leaving a grandfather fucking my own mother. To kill the men who killed my brother, because they killed him because he killed one of theirs. Who killed one of his, who killed one of theirs, and on and on while even gods die. My purpose is […]

‘Grimdark’ wears out its welcome for me

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So lately I really seem to be picking books with really unredeemable characters (see my reviews for the Tales of the Ketty Jay series), and I’m struggling a bit. I read this book in the gym–I’m a nerd and reading while cycling/on the elliptical is one of the only things that keeps me from getting bored at this point–and some points were really exciting, but most of the time I just felt kind of… meh about it. Mostly this is because I found I didn’t care […]



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