Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Trigger warning for rape: The Wheel of Time (Part IV)

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

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I’ve written 8,600 words in reviewing the first six books in this series. And they can basically be boiled down to, “the gender dynamics here suck, the characterization is pretty awful at times, and the world building is incredibly and gratuitously detailed, but this series serves as a vital bridge between the endless Tolkien rehashing and the maturation of the fantasy genre that followed in its wake. There are many things here to admire – but I kind of hate these books. Anyway, here’s the […]

“That had been a little more than forty years past. Fatma was born into the world al-Jahiz left behind: a world transformed by magic and the supernatural.”

A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe, #0.5) by P. Djèlí Clark

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The highlight of this short story is definitely the world-building. I was immediately intrigued by the way Clark wrote about his alternate-history Cairo in 1912, populated with djinn and angels and steampunk machinery, and refreshingly devoid of colonialism. This takes place in a Cairo about fifty years after a curious man opened up a gateway through which djinn and other supernatural creatures, along with magic, entered the world. Egypt has become a world superpower, as the djinn helped them to kick the British out of […]

There was a game he could see and another he couldn’t, and he would play them both.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

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My formative King Arthur works were the 1963 Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, and 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I discovered Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, as a preteen, my life as a reader of fantasy and romance was set. I’m a King Arthur enthusiast, but not a purist (except for Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur – great cast, beautiful visuals, terrible movie that should never have been marketed as “historically accurate”). Hearing that a work is a retelling of […]

My Death Was Hilarious

The Calyx Charm by May Peterson

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May Peterson contains universes – gorgeous, expansive universes that love words. The best way to enjoy them is to sink in and let them wash over you. The third and final book in May Peterson’s The Sacred Dark series returns us to Vermagna and to Mio’s family. In a minor spoiler for Lord of the Last Heartbeat, Mio’s brother, Tibario, dies, but gets better, coming back as a cat soul – an immortal undead cat shifter. You should definitely read the first two books, Lord of […]

“I know what’s best for you” is insulting for anyone over three years old

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

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This one is basically an allegory about an abusive marriage, but it went to some interesting places. Dawit/David is immortal. He was made immortal by Khaldun hundreds of years ago in what would become Ethiopia. He can be hurt, but he heals. He can die, but he comes back the next morning. He’s lived multiple lifetimes, married, fathered children, learned different careers and languages. Currently, he’s married to a reporter named Jessica, with a five-year-old daughter named Kira. With this version of family, he’s actually […]

I should learn to not judge a book by my vague sentiment as to what they are!

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

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In hindsight, this book should have made me realize exactly what sort of book series I was getting into. About double the length (?) of the first outing in the Dead Djinn universe and with correspondingly longer to nail down the tone, I definitely was too caught up in the ride to realize that I’d mischaracterized the series (to everyone I talked to about it) (which is everyone. I cannot keep my mouth shut about books I’m reading). To be clear–I’m not saying I dislike […]



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