Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Name. Time. Hell.

The Hellbound Volume one by Yeon San-Ho

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This, to say the least, is an unusual book.  What is/was the point? Who are these people that grace the pages? Why do they do what they do? (Okay, the officer who had his wife murdered, and his son, make sense, but still). When is this book taking place? (Is it now? Or a future timeline? Or even an alternative timeline?) So many questions, so few answers in The Hellbound Volume one manga graphic novel. The creators, Yeon San-Ho, Choi Gyu-Seok, Danny Lim (translation) and […]

One typhoon, a mysterious creature and a girl who won’t stop.

Asadora! Vol. 4 by  Naoki Urasawa

Asadora! Vol. 5 by  Naoki Urasawa

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The idea of this series is simple, a girl growing up in Japan during the late 1950s to mid-1960s. We see her ups and downs, all the while she deals with the government and trying to stop a sea creature so the Japanese can put their best foot forward so close to the end of the War, a war that left as many scars as the storm and monster have.  Asadora! Vol. 4 by Naoki Urasawa is a continuation of their not so horror graphic novel […]

When the stakes are high the outcomes are ironically less fraught

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

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I find the books quite riveting but also a bit repetitive, if that makes any sense? I’m debating why I rated this three stars upon finishing it (here I am, coming up on about a two month delay between reading and reviewing), and I think it has to do with the narrative arc. We start with an in media res prologue that messes with the fundamental premise of the entire book, aka that Jean and Locke are on the outs. It doesn’t seem like we’ll actually get […]

Welcome to Urth

The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe

Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

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Citadel of the Autarch – 4/5 This is a re-read of the book and this time through an audiobook. It’s now the the fourth book in the series and we pick up right at the end of last book. Severian has been drained after a big fight in the last book and is wandering along when he finds a dead solider. He brings them back to life with the Claw and then continues north where a battle is in its early formation. Severian joins the […]

A tea based magic system in an ancient Chinese inspired setting, yes please. (Bingo #2!!)

A Magic Steeped in Poison: The Book of Tea vol. 1 by Judy I. Lin

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CBR14 Bingo: “Gaslight” – In a setting influenced by ancient China, there is no electricity, all lights are flame based. A Magic Steeped in Poison was featured by Mysterious Galaxy earlier this year.  As a self-described tea snob, I was instantly interested.  I got the audiobook to listen during my health stomps.  While listening, I appreciated hearing the correct pronunciations of the Chinese (or Chinese inspired) names.  However, sitting down to try and write the review I’m hampered by not knowing how  names are spelled.  […]

If you think your flat is haunted by a murderous ghost, why would you try to summon said ghost?

Svarte-Mathilda by Tor Arve Røssland

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3.5 stars Twenty years after a teenage girl was brutally murdered in a small town near Bergen, Elizabeth moves into the long-empty flat with her mother. Elizabeth’s parents are going through a divorce, and in a tragic accident a while back, Elizabeth’s older brother died in a fire. She hates that they had to move away from her old home and her friends in Bergen, that her mother doesn’t seem to want to talk to her at all, and she certainly doesn’t like their new […]



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