Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About ElCicco

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Married, mom of two, history PhD, feminist. I've been participating in Cannonball Read since CBR4. I love to read, and writing reviews keeps me from reading without thinking. I feel like I owe it to the authors who entertain me to savor their creations. It's like slowing down and enjoying a delicious meal instead of bolting your food. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: ElCicco's Quick Questions interview.)

ElCicco's Reviews:

A Cinderella Story/The Godfather

Wolf Hall: A Novel by Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel by Hilary Mantel

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After a prolonged break, Hilary Mantel finally returned to the Wolf Hall trilogy this year with The Mirror and the Light, the final installment in the fictionalized account of the rise and fall of the real Thomas Cromwell, a talented man who rose from humble beginnings to become Master Secretary and consigliere to King Henry VIII. I read the first two books when they came out (in 2009 and 2012) and thought they were fantastic. Both won numerous prestigious prizes including the Man Booker Prize […]

It ends at the beginning but doesn’t add up

Season of Storms: A Novel of the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

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This final Witcher novel was written over 10 years after The Lady of the Lake, the finale of the Witcher series, apparently because the Witcher video games had taken off and Sapkowski figured he could milk that cash cow one more time. Season of Storms is actually set before the rest of the series, which fits in with Sapkowski’s predilection for out of whack time lines. I can’t say that it really adds much to the series overall. There’s plenty of violence, treachery and gore, […]

Uneven end to the story of the Witcher

The Lady of the Lake: A Novel of The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Although there is an 8th book in the series, The Lady of the Lake is pretty much the end of the story of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, and in it things get weird. This novel is a combination of sci-fi time travel, military campaigns, and the usual fantasy stuff we have come to expect, with elves, dwarves, unicorns (!) and plenty of fighting and violence. Compared to the previous books, this one has sections that really drag on, usually featuring military campaigns and side characters […]

Endings and beginnings

The Tower of Swallows: A Novel of the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Throughout the Witcher series, the message has been that something big is coming; the world will end and a new world will dawn, and Ciri, the child of the Elder Blood, will help bring this about. Geralt frequently states that he feels like something in him is changing as well, that something is coming to an end, and in this fourth novel (sixth book) of the Witcher series, the reader gets a sense of what he means. Geralt’s schtick has always been that, as a […]

‘Cause you got to have friends, la la la la la la la la la!

Baptism of Fire: A Novel of the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Sapkowski is managing to keep my interest very high with this the fifth Witcher book (3rd novel). The stories of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer continue to develop along very interesting lines, with plenty of fighting, intrigue and double crosses. The truth about Ciri’s power is slowing being unraveled while Yennefer’s role in the problems at hand is only hinted at, and Geralt finds himself part of an unlikely band of people who decide, against reason and any thought of personal safety, to help Geralt find […]

“Neutrality is usually mean.” ~Sapkowski; “If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.” ~Rush

The Time of Contempt: The WItcher Book 2 by Andrzej Sapkowski

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The Time of Contempt is the second novel, fourth book, in Sapkowski’s Witcher series, and as with the previous novel, this one is full of political intrigue, war, and fighting. The overriding question for our main characters is whether, in a turbulent war-torn world, it is possible to maintain neutrality, and if not, is it possible to choose a side without becoming hateful and barbaric. The Empire of Nilfgaard is trying to take over world and is enjoying quite a bit of success in this […]



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