Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You Can Be Strong in Any Shape. You Can Be Anything.”

The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang

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This won the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off back in 2019, and it’s clear why. Self-published books can be hit or miss, and The Sword of Kaigen feels so polished and compelling, though not without flaws. Also, be sure to check content warnings – there is a lot of tragedy in this book. The structure is unconventional, with the climax occurring about halfway through the book. The remainder of the novel deals with the aftermath, which works well in this character-driven novel. I would also argue that […]

When kings fall to their knees they sing a woman’s song

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

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  This slim little volume is the first in the Singing Hills Cycle series which follows Chih, a cleric of the Singing Hills Monastary, who travels the land collecting tales. This volume tells the story of Empress In-Yo, a northern royal sent to the south for a political marriage. The story is told by Rabbit, In-Yo’s handmaiden who had been sold to the imperial palace to make up for 5 baskets of day. It’s a beautifully written story that reads like a fairy tale. In-Yo […]

‘Futuretellers Ken th’ Danger of Dreams Best’

Ashling by Isobelle Carmody

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In my previous reviews for the Obernewtyn Chronicles, I made the twin observations that Obernewtyn is a very contained story and it’s The Farseekers where the series starts to find its feet. Now I can state that it’s in the third volume, Ashling, where the plot starts to learn to run. Ashling takes place about a year after the events of The Farseekers, and we open with Elspeth rescuing a gypsy woman from being burnt at the state by the Herder Faction. While the woman is […]

“Congratulations. You’re evil enough.”

Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

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4.5 stars Nowhere Bingo: Takes place during a holiday/holiday season (this is set around Christmas/a bunch of pagan midwinter rites) 362 days of the year, Roman, Black Volhv of Atlanta, dutifully serves Chernobog, the god of Destruction, Darkness, and Death. He just wants a few days of peace, to enjoy his stew, eggnog, and cookies, but it is not to be. One of the infernal paranormal critters that loves him has cleaned out both his eggnog and cookie stash and to make matters worse, there’s […]

A charming and amusing romp that greatly entertained me, even though I couldn’t care less about birds, and actually sort of fear them

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

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Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Only one bed (and horse) CBR16 Bingo: And also… (Repeat of the Bananas square, because this book fits the bill) Beth Pickering is the youngest professor of ornithology at Oxford, and she needs to really impress the faculty if she is to get tenure. She works with wealthy widow Hippolyta Quirm to try to locate and capture rare (and usually dangerous) birds. Just as they are about to capture the coveted deathwhistler, a rival ornithologist, the dashing young Professor Devon Lockley […]

“Didn’t you know the insides of dogs and cows and birds and fish are exactly like that of man? The only difference is the clothes we wear!”

The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales by Vasily Eroshenko, Adam Kuplowsky (translator)

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CBR16 Bingo: Dreams – Eroshenko’s fairytales give us glimpses of his dreams for a more compassionate and peaceful future where all are respected no matter their gender, race, class, or ability – and the fears he has about what may have to be done to achieve them. Fairytales as oral traditions bear the stamp of the cultures that tell them; fairytales when written by an individual bear the stamp of culture channelled through that individual, which is a different thing altogether. There really are some people […]



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