Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Everybody’s Talking at Me

Babel by R F Kuang

April 17, 2026 by matt_thac Leave a Comment

  Britain has a problem. It’s struggling to find its place in a shifting world order which is made even more difficult by its inability to have any real societal discussions on its imperial legacy. Our schools and entire educational system were built to churn out good colonial administrators, able to manage an empire but not think about the suffering of the peoples enslaved by it. It also has a rich folkloric history, one of magic and the supernatural. R. F. Kuang’s Babel brings those […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History Tagged With: British empire, cbr18, R.F. Kuang

matt_thac's CBR18 Review No:36 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History · Tags: British empire, cbr18, R.F. Kuang ·
· 0 Comments

Hubris and the British Empire, a Match Made in Heaven

Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin

October 16, 2025 by Zirza 2 Comments

Erebus tells the story of the eponymous ship, part of the British Imperial navy at the height of its power. Though it was originally meant for combat, it was used for exploration – polar exploration, to be precise. It was first sailed to the south pole by James Clark Ross, with its sister ship HMS Terror, for a very successful exploration: geographical landmarks still bear their names (Mount Terror and Mount Erebus). However, the ships’ glory came to an abrupt halt several years later in […]

Filed Under: Featured, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: #history, British empire, Erebus, James Ross, John Franklin, lost franklin expedition, Michael Palin, Polar exploration

Zirza's CBR17 Review No:47 · Genres: Featured, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: #history, British empire, Erebus, James Ross, John Franklin, lost franklin expedition, Michael Palin, Polar exploration ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

The Necessity of Violence

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution by R.F. Kuang

August 18, 2022 by Emmalita 11 Comments

I think my mixed feelings are going to come out so I’ll say up front that this is way outside of what I usually read, and while I appreciated that it is a very good book, I often didn’t enjoy reading it. I appreciate it more than I love it. But, I think it’s a worthwhile read. Maybe don’t pick it up right after you put down a book that owns your whole heart. This book is also in conversation with The Secret History and […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, History Tagged With: advance reader copy, Babel, British empire, burn it all down, colonialism, dark academia, linguistics, NetGalley, R.F. Kuang

Emmalita's CBR14 Review No:88 · Genres: Fantasy, History · Tags: advance reader copy, Babel, British empire, burn it all down, colonialism, dark academia, linguistics, NetGalley, R.F. Kuang ·
Rating:
· 11 Comments

Spanning Years and Continents. Lives Ruined, Bloodshed. Epic.

The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

September 4, 2019 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I’ve had this novel on my Kindle for ages! I have enjoyed all the Duran romances I’ve read but some of them can get intense, and a romance novel set in India during the mutinies?  That topic definitely has the potential to get dark, and the fact that the novel opens on a shipwreck certainly means this is not going to be a light comedic romance. Emmaline Martin and her parents were on the way to British occupied India for Emma’s wedding.  She has been […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History, Romance Tagged With: 19th century India, British empire, historical romance, Meredith Duran, the duke of shadows

Jen K's CBR11 Review No:55 · Genres: Fiction, History, Romance · Tags: 19th century India, British empire, historical romance, Meredith Duran, the duke of shadows ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

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