Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not as good as the first; in retrospect, better than the third.

Magic Study (Study, #2) by Maria V. Snyder

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I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. I basically read it in a day. I did think it was a little scattered, but that was probably inevitable as Snyder builds up her world, and Yelena isn’t confined to the castle in Ixia anymore. But that does mean that it wasn’t as purely pleasurable as that first book, which was so well constructed and centered. I think this book does manage to avoid second book syndrome. Things I liked: *The worldbuilding in Sitia, Yelena’s homeland, […]

FYI no idea how it happened that I’m reviewing #6 before #5. Goodreads says I read them in that order, too, but I! Did! Not! I! Would! Never!

Hunted (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #6) by Kevin Hearne

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This series is still fun, but it’s not my favorite. The last three books especially have been mostly action, with Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon on the run from the Greek and Roman pantheons. They have to stay alive while trying to figure out how to reach safety, who is passing information from their side to the Olympians, and how they can make peace so they can all just be left alone. A couple of things have me rounding this up from 3.5 stars, even though […]

Soooooo much to catch up on

The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan

The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan:

The Trials of Apollo: The Tyrant's Tomb by Rick Riordan

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Hoo, boy am I behind in reviews. Here’s to a rapid catch up before year-end! The  Heroes of Olympus  series is a follow-up to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books. Book 1,   The Lost Hero, introduces three new characters in to the world of modern-day demigods. The twist is that the main character, Jason Grace, doesn’t seem quite Greek. He has no memory before he wakes up on a school bus for a field trip the Grand Canyon, but fleeting snatches of memory come to him […]

This is not a happy story, but hey- neither is The Little Mermaid. 

The Seas by Samantha Hunt

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I devoured Samantha Hunt’s previous novel, Mr. Splitfoot, last year and it easily fell into my top 10 of the decade (If you have yet to come across Mr. Splitfoot then I implore you to check it out; it has everything you’ll ever need: ghosts! cults! comets!) but The Seas easily steals a spot among my favorites of all time. The Seas is slim, spare, and haunting.  I have always been drawn to tales of maritime peril, and while there is no shipwreck here there are […]

Double Cannonballing on a re-read.

The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman

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Still a four star read for me. Currently kicking myself for not writing this closer to when I finished. As per usual, I have forgotten what I wanted to say about it. I do think this is a good ending to the series. It doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, but I think it’s a fitting ending, for a story about loss of innocence (and how that’s not a bad thing), different kinds of love, and questioning authority. Some disjointed (spoiler-filled) thoughts: * […]

If you want to scare me, just put a skinwalker in your book.

Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4) by Kevin Hearne

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I’m happy to say this was the best of these books yet. Makes sense. The urban fantasy I’ve read all start to crystallize around books three and four. That’s usually when you’ve got enough set-up and characters that you can start moving the pieces around in more interesting ways, and building on what you’ve already laid out. Here, we’ve got Atticus and his apprentice Granuaile on the run, both of them having newly faked their deaths (well, Atticus fakes his death starting on page one, […]



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