Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Old stories told today, sort of.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

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Neil Gaiman gathers together tales from Norse mythology and tells them in a way that makes sense to him. He attempts to pull together a cohesive narrative from what few myths have survived which is not many. All of the standards are here: the creation of the nine realms and the World Tree, Loki’s children, Thor’s visit with Hymir, Balder’s death, and Ragnarok. There are a few myths included that I had not read before such as The Mead of the Poets and Freya’s Unusual […]

A Ghost in a Green Gown

The Girl in The Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire

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Bingo review 12: Green In some ways, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown was actually my introduction to Seanan McGuire; it was the first book of hers that drew my interest, but it wasn’t the first thing of hers that I read. I’m just only now getting to it. It turns out the titular green dress actually has some meaning in the story, but it’s also a handy reason to use it for this bingo square. This is book two about Rose Marshall, who […]

I’ll Definitely Be Reading More By This Author

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Bingo Square: Green (or Jade as a variation thereof) The e-book version of this was on sale back in January, and given my love of mythology, it seemed like the perfect time to try a new author and learn more about mythical figures outside the Greek and Roman pantheon. Still, the book sat quite a while before I finally picked it up. I quite enjoyed this novel – the writing style at first felt very matter of fact, in line with our no nonsense heroine, […]

I’ll never get bored of reading of Troy

The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

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Supposedly some other story is The Greatest Ever Told, but as far as I’m concerned it’s the story of the siege and fall of Troy that deserves that title. I’ll take my Troy tales in whatever form I can find them – The Firebrand gave it to me from the perspective of the women, Kassandra in particular, that made a refreshing change with Bradley weaving classic elements of the myth with her own inventions into a take that was mostly successful. Our titular Firebrand is […]

Dreamy but Derivative (also CANNONBALL!)

And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks

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These stories have been told before. Most are fairly clever fairy tales retold, some are veiled retellings of myth and history, and a few are sparkling new. They have been told before in the sense that they are retellings, but they have also been told before in the sense that other authors have done these before, and done them better. It was difficult to find the author’s voice; reading the collection felt less like one author’s work and more like an anthology of the who’s […]

Adapting to Graphic Novel puts a new spin on things

The Lost Hero: Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

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I had a big spell where trying to concentrate on reading anything more challenging than push or pull the door recently. I took a break from reading and got myself sorted out a little and finally finished The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel. Adapted from the novel by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti’s story is the “other side” of the Greek/Roman mythology of his famous series Percy Jackson. Knowing that series can help. Even having read the original novel could help. But there are still a […]



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