Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

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I don’t want to review this book, Part 2: The Remix

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

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My appetite for Nisi Shawl’s Everfair has gone up and down since I first heard of it. It came highly recommended by multiple sources and ticked off so many intriguing boxes: a speculative, steampunk alternative history of an African nation by a woman of color. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. After I bought it earlier this spring, I noticed the Goodreads collective rating was on the low-ish side, and I’m not always as immune to popular opinion as I like to think I am. It sat on my shelf for two months, until after I finally watched Black Panther, and then […]

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7/11/2018 's CBR10 Review No:36 |

Don’t Expect Logical Actions from Racists

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

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Thank you so much to caitycat! I doubt I would have stumbled across this novel without her review, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite some minor complaints about potential red herrings or loose threads. The novel is set near Baltimore in 1880.  The North never won the Civil War because of the zombie outbreak that followed the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to a quick reconciliation between the two sides to face the common threat to the survival of humanity.  Slaves were declared free, but, for many, there is not much difference between their former lives and current – they don’t […]

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6/18/2018 's CBR10 Review No:112 |

Napoleon’s Last Gambit

League of Dragons by Naomi Novik

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The concluding volume of the Temeraire series starts where the previous novel ended, with the Russians and their allies in pursuit of Napoleon as he and his armies withdraw back to the safety of France.  While certainly weakened, Napoleon is not done, and still has the ability to wreak havoc, especially by using dragons and politics against his enemies. The whole series has demonstrated the vast differences in the status of dragons in countries, and focused on the inequality of their status in Europe compared to other regions such as Asia and South America.  As a result, appealing to dragons […]

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2/18/2018 's CBR10 Review No:20 |

From the East to the West

Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik

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While the novels are all divided into three parts, in some the breaking points between the parts are much more obvious than others – for example, His Majesty’s Dragon basically divided as the initial time between Laurence and Temeraire, their military training, and their time on active combat duty.  For others, it was less clear and the stories bled over between parts a lot.  This novel almost feels like three novellas united in one book, but in a good way. After the mostly successful mission to Portugal, Laurence is not sure about how his solution will be received and decides […]

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1/31/2018 's CBR10 Review No:19 |

Now We Know What Would Have Happened if the Conquistadors Had Faced Dragons

Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

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Fortunately after the slog that was the sixth novel in the series, Crucible of Gold has many of the elements that made the earlier novels so much fun – lots of interactions between different dragons and an introduction to another part of the world with some very well thought out analysis of how the presence of dragons would have affected global and local history. Over the past few novels, Napoleon has taken advantage of the Tswana dragons’ hatred of slavery and desire to get their people back by providing them transport to Brazil.  Since the Portuguese are one of the […]

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1/31/2018 's CBR10 Review No:18 |

In a land down under

Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik

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With the French pushed back in the last novel, it is now time for Laurence to face the consequences of his treason.  After Temeraire and Laurence are crucial to the British victory, rather than continued confinement, the government chooses to deport them to the penal colony of New South Wales, or Australia.  After all, Temeraire refuses to go back to the breeding grounds, and the government feels more comfortable sending a rebellious and politically minded dragon to a far away corner of the globe where he won’t be able to influence the rest of dragons and further disrupt the status […]

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1/30/2018 's CBR10 Review No:17 |

The French are Coming – Wait, What?

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik

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Laurence’s overarching character traits throughout the series have been his sense of duty, honor and morality (sometimes a bit stuffy and old-fashioned).  As a result, it was shocking but not out of character for him to make the decision he did in Empire of Ivory, and commit treason when the British government chose a course that conflicted with Laurence’s own sense of right and wrong.  Having seen the deadly effects of the dragon virus on the English beasts, and no longer considering dragons merely beasts such as cows or horses, but intelligent and developed beings, Laurence couldn’t stand by as […]

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1/29/2018 's CBR10 Review No:16 |

The moonlit wings reflect the skies that guide me towards salvation

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

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This time, the story kicks off right where the last novel ended, with Temeraire, the mercenary ferals and the remains of the Prussian army in sights of the English coast after their escape from the occupying French forces. However, there are no dragons to be seen, adding to the questions that have been building since the previous novel. It’s always hard to tell with series how much novelists plan ahead and know exactly where the broad strokes are going vs how much is figured out as they go. Novik has obviously been building up to this one with her references […]

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1/29/2018 's CBR10 Review No:15 |


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