Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Silly, Funny, Worth Your Time

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson & Eugene Yelchin

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CBR Bingo: Friendship What a wonderful little book, and perfect for the Friendship square in Bingo. The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge takes place in a world where elves and goblins live in neighboring countries with an uneasy truce after centuries of war and invasions. It begins with the elfin historian, Brangwain Spurge, on a mission to goblin country to offer a gift to the goblin king. He also has a second, secret mission–to spy on the goblins and report back to elfin high command. When […]

Commencing the Great Cosmere Re-read.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

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This was my first Brandon Sanderson book, and in retrospect I’m very glad I read it first, not just because it’s a good fantasy standalone novel (for now, he keeps threatening a sequel but it’s years out) and thus a good gateway to his writing. I’m glad I read it first because now that I’ve read so many of his books (nearly all, still haven’t managed to read the Alcatraz books), including all of his epic fantasy, it’s very obvious this was his first published […]

Entire epic fantasy in one novel: cbr12bingo “Orange” – Bingo!

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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“Orange” square completes my first Bingo! The Priory of the Orange Tree was the featured speculative fiction pick of the month by Mysterious Galaxy when it was first released.  One of the booksellers, who is a huge epic fantasy fan, was eagerly waiting to read it because it’s the type of fantasy that has appendices.  At the time it came home, I didn’t have space space in the TBR.  However, it was the perfect fit for the orange square, which gave me the push to […]

I fell in love with this book a little.

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders, #1) by Robin Hobb

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I will be honest, I went into this book with as open a mind as I could muster, but I did not really expect to like it that much. This is because I did not end up liking the Farseer Trilogy very much at all, for a variety of reasons (despite having rated the first book in that series four stars, which I should honestly revisit and lower). Ironically, I went into those books fully expecting to love them. But much to my surprise, and […]

I wish this had been longer and more fleshed out. #CBRBingo – Cannonballer Says

Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan, #1) by Allie Therin

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This was a solid first novel, and a good start to this fantasy/romance series. This is paranormal/fantasy romance set in 1925, where some people have paranormal powers but most don’t, and magic is a well kept secret. Our main characters are Rory Brodigan, a scryer, who can see the history of any object, and Arthur Kenzie, a politician’s son who fought in WWI, and who uses his wealth to employ paranormals to keep the world safe. Rory is caught up in their net when a […]

I Expect I’ll Turn the World Upside Down

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

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The Midnight Bargain is a wonderful stand alone fantasy novel. C.L. Polk has created a world that feels very mid-18th century – not quite on the verge of an industrial revolution, but moving in that direction. The society is stratified by wealth and a good way to earn wealth is through magic and the magical societies open only to men. Women are prohibited from the magical education which would allow them to practice higher levels of magic. Beatrice Clayborn is the eldest daughter of a […]



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