Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

What Happens After We Win?

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

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I’ve come to love reading the author’s pages in books. If ever a new writer felt that they were the only one struggling with their manuscript, all they have to do is read the author’s note of their current favorite book to find out everyone struggles from the same issues. Sanderson, for all his prolific publishing, is not immune from writing troubles, as he plainly says in his author’s note from The Well of Ascension. The Mistborn books were his first series, and the issues […]

Elves and a Magic Ring are Reasonably Dull

Vox Machina: Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp

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I picked up Vox MIachina: Kith & Kin on a whim because it looked interesting; I didn’t realize at the time that this was actually a close up for a couple of characters who were part of a bigger D&D related franchise with a new Amazon animated show. I haven’t seen any of the stuff this novel is apparently based on, and as it turns out that’s not necessary. Kith & Kin is pretty standard fantasy is nearly every way; the main characters are two […]

A teenage wizard girl and her somewhat sentient cookie and sourdough do big stuff

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

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I was a little late to the A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, but I’m glad I finally got it; this one is both fun and a little inventive. The basic story is plucky heroine with limited resources faces off against unknown and then known end-of-the-world kind of badness, and triumphs with the help of some friends. Said heroine is 14-year-old Mona, who lives as a magic user in a world mostly suspicious of magic. Mona’s magic only works on baked goods, which is just […]

Murder at the Opera and maybe a few other places too

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

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The Witness for the Dead almost feels like The Goblin Emperor was written more as a prequel, and not as something of a branch off sequel. The character Thara Celehar is not a major presence in the initial novel, but he’s got a full personality and sense of self and history in the follow-up novella. My only real complaint is that it feels kind of like you need to have recently read the first novel or have a pretty good memory of some of the […]

“Historians, I think, should be keepers of truth. We must tell things as they are – honestly, and without subversion. That is the greatest good one can do.”

City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Rating four stars (4.5, really) on the side of caution with full knowledge that I could come back here very soon and bump this up to five stars. How many five-star reviews is too many to give out in one month? Anyway, this book was great! This is only the second series I’ve read by Robert Jackson Bennett, but I feel like it might have bumped him up to my favorite authors list. I five-starred both published books in his latest series, so I had […]

My interest in this series has waxed and waned pretty quickly

Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

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I’m reviewing these two books together (I’ll try to stay spoiler-free for both of them) because I’ve read them in quite quick succession and because my disappointment in the one is heavier because of my surprise interest in the other. I will preface by saying, I’m not a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas’ books. Sorry, I’m not trying to harsh someone’s vibe if you’re into them, I’m not the target audience. Yet I read them because sometimes I’m in the mood–like for candy, for […]



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