Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Path to Eo’s Dream

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

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Bingo Squares: School (Red Rising is set at the Institution, a school of sorts) Black (Golden Son but all of them have mostly black covers) Citizen (Morning Star but all of them deal with the idea of class and status and citizens’ rights/place in society) I’m not generally a big re-reader though I have been doing so more over the years than I used to when I was trying to read all the books. Yet, somehow this is now my third time reading the original Red […]

You get five made up words per story, and ideally zero rapes. (CBR12Bingo2: Fresh start)

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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I will gorydamn post this comic every time I read a book that conspicuously changes language to show that we’re not in Kansas anymore. I get it. Distant future. Mars. Different classes differentiate themselves by the way they speak. Read you loud and clear.  I need you to not with the slang. It’s so frustrating, because there was a lot about this book I enjoyed, but the slang was just one of the affectations of the book that became distracting. The Roman gods, the Roman […]

Absolutely, Positively Not YA

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown

Dark Age (Red Rising Saga #5) by Pierce Brown

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So, I planned on writing a big post last year or the year before about wether or not the Red Rising series is YA. I do not remember where I fell on the spectrum then but I know, without a doubt, that I fall firmly in the NOT YA camp now. That said, I would absolutely let my children read these books and encourage any reader who was interested to read them. I tend to consider readers a little more mature than the average person […]

It’s a bloodydamn slog

Dark Age by Pierce Brown

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I’m starting to think that Pierce Brown should maybe have left well-enough alone with his Red Rising “trilogy”. I also can’t help but notice that his name is gaining more and more prominence on the covers as the series progresses. Not saying that’s bad, just something to keep an eye on. But seriously, was there always this much war in these books? I very quickly did not look forward to reading this, and I love this series. I am a huge advocate of Red Rising and I’m about […]

“I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.”

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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  How do you decide whether or not to take the plunge and start on a multi-book series? Are you a completist who won’t even touch an unfinished series, lest you find yourself caught in a George R R Martin-style vortex, unable to escape? Or do you have the patience of a saint? And if you do decide to embark on a new multi-book series, do you have the fortitude to cut and run if the quality tumbles downhill? Or are you a sucker for […]

“War eats the victors last.”

Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown

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The Red Rising series continues to be incredibly compelling and well-written, though I admit that I was concerned about Iron Gold. I had read that extending beyond the original trilogy wasn’t part of Pierce Brown’s original plan, so I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a reflection of an author caught in the vortex of a world they’d created, but lacking the clear vision of the first phase of books. What became clear was that the story beginning with Iron Gold IS going […]



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