Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A Great (and Chunky) Prequel

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

February 25, 2026 by Tracy Leave a Comment

My first 5-star read of the year! I liked The Priory of the Orange Tree a bit more because I was 100% engaged all the way through, and with this prequel my engagement dipped occasionally, but it was still excellent. In some ways it was easier to settle into the world because we already know the basics from Priory, though there will still a lot of names and titles to adjust to. One of the things I really loved was seeing the differences between the world now […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: epic fantasy, Roots of Chaos, Samantha Shannon

Tracy's CBR18 Review No:13 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: epic fantasy, Roots of Chaos, Samantha Shannon ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

This standalone fantasy goes incredibly hard.

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

February 16, 2026 by narfna 16 Comments

Sending up the Bat Signal on this book, my first use of it this year. (FYI the last time I used it was with The Raven Scholar, my best book of 2025, so you know it’s serious.) I wouldn’t recommend this book as widely or as often as I have The Raven Scholar, but for a certain type of reader, this thing will hit hard. (As it hit me. Last night, crying softly on my couch as I opined to myself, IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL.) First […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction Tagged With: #fantasy, epic fantasy, narfna, Shen Tao, The Poet Empress

narfna's CBR18 Review No:9 · Genres: Featured, Fiction · Tags: #fantasy, epic fantasy, narfna, Shen Tao, The Poet Empress ·
Rating:
· 16 Comments

An intricately woven tale

The Light of All That Falls by James Islington

An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington

December 29, 2025 by Jen K Leave a Comment

While I read the entire trilogy rather closely together, I reviewed the first novel much earlier in the year. These are large books so it seemed like they each deserved their own review rather than a series review but it was harder for me to articulate my thoughts about the second and third novel. And now, I’m having a hard time entirely distinguishing which parts happened in book 2 vs 3. I had seen some tag lines for this series that compared it to The […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: epic fantasy, james islington, licanius trilogy

Jen K's CBR17 Review No:151 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: epic fantasy, james islington, licanius trilogy ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Are All of Robin Hobb’s Books a Masterclass in Writing?

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

May 28, 2025 by Tracy 3 Comments

While I don’t mind multiple POV books, I generally prefer single POV. This book, though, masterfully demonstrates just how useful multiple POV can be. It was so different from the Farseer trilogy in which we’re always in Fitz’s head, and the emotions are unrelenting. In Ship of Magic, when you need a break from the drama with one character, there’s a different character whose drama you can jump into! It’s written in the 3rd person, but don’t expect that to spare you from the author’s toying with your […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: epic fantasy, liveship traders, multiple POV, realm of the elderlings, robin hobb

Tracy's CBR17 Review No:37 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: epic fantasy, liveship traders, multiple POV, realm of the elderlings, robin hobb ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

what happens when you impulse murder a monarch

Anji Kills a King (The Rising Tide, #1) by Evan Leikam

May 21, 2025 by narfna Leave a Comment

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. This was a really interesting debut fantasy, but it didn’t quiiiite do it for me. I thought it was more intellectually interesting than emotionally, but I am going to read the rest of the series because I’m super curious to see where this is going. We start out strong with the titular Anji killing the king and then going on the run. We don’t know who she […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy Tagged With: #fantasy, Anji Kills a King, ARCs, audiobooks, epic fantasy, Evan Leikam, moira quirk, narfna

narfna's CBR17 Review No:14 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy · Tags: #fantasy, Anji Kills a King, ARCs, audiobooks, epic fantasy, Evan Leikam, moira quirk, narfna ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

An impressive example of a first novel

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

April 29, 2025 by Jen K 4 Comments

I have had this on my TBR for a while but had ended up reading The Will of the Many, the first and only one in the author’s newer trilogy first because I didn’t want to get sucked into binging a trilogy. That’s always the question – go with something that will leave me waiting year to year for the next book, or something that will end up dictating my next few reads. I really enjoyed this one as well (and predictably got sucked into […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: epic fantasy, james islington, licanius trilogy

Jen K's CBR17 Review No:52 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: epic fantasy, james islington, licanius trilogy ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Patrick
    on “The perfect pass…is the simple part. The living with what it takes…is the mystery.”
    Can anyone tell me what quarterbacks are included? I do not want another book about Brady and Mahomes. It wasn't...
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