Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“My heart is so much more than it once was, even if it now beats outside my chest.”

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

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BINGO – MYTHIC Angrboda is a thrice burned witch, and a thrice survived witch at that. She once was a seer for the gods, but she was ultimately burned for refusing to tell Odin, king of the gods, of knowledge beyond what anyone should know. After burning thrice and surviving, she escapes to the woods but leaves her heart on the pyre. She finds a cave and makes a home for herself. She strikes up a friendship and trading partnership with a giantess name Skadi […]

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 […]

Hoping the series picks up in the sequels

The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

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CBR12Bingo: Cannonballer Says (previously reviewed by alwaysanswerb, yesknopemaybe and teresaelectro) Official book description: Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even see her die. In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one […]

They hammer, they slash. They do not study.

Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt

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CBR11 BINGO: Remix (Retelling of Norse Myths) A.S. Byatt is an author that I find difficult and I can only tackle one of her novels every so often when I feel I am up to the task. It’s always worth the effort, but it takes a lot of concentration to deal with the richness of her language and the scope of her thoughts. It’s a little like reading philosophy, mythology, psychology, poetry and historical fiction all at once. This little book of only 171 pages […]

Between Ragnarok and a Hard Place

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When I was a kid, I was fascinated with ancient mythology. My favorite myths were those from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, but I tried to read everything I could get my grubby little hands on. I thought that myths provide a deeper understanding of a particular culture, specifically their understanding of self, their environment, and their place in the universe. For example, isn’t it interesting that the “great flood” is a recurrent theme in myths cross-culturally? And what about the common theme of resurrection, […]

I think I have been bamboozled by this series

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I had an unexpectedly bad reaction to this book, considering that I had relatively enjoyed the previous two books in the Call of Crows series. My impression of The Unyielding was so bad, in fact, that I don’t just think this was a bad installment in the series, but it has me questioning my taste over my higher ratings of the first two books. I’d re-read them to be sure I’m not crazy, but I don’t want to be proven right. I re-read my old […]



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