Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

“She’d played so many parts she hardly knew which one was her. She was an onion made of only skins with nothing at the centre.”

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

August 24, 2026 by Malin 1 Comment

Nowhere Book Bingo 26: Book rec from a friend (Ashley/Narfna loved this) Defeat the Goblin TBR: The Rogue Book – a book with politics/intrigue/sneakery involved (this book has all three and lots of it) CBR18 Bingo: Left (All of my fiction books are alphabetised by author, so Abercrombie comes to the very top left of the bookshelf it’s placed on) A cowardly monk. A mercenary. A vampire. A werewolf (who used to be a viking warrior). An elf. A necromancer. A knight who cannot die. […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion Tagged With: alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, cbr18bingo, elves, funny, gory, Grimdark, historical fantasy, joe abercrombie, LGBTQIA, Malin, murder, quest, shapeshifters, Steven Pacey, The Devils, vampires, werewolves

Malin's CBR18 Review No:50 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion · Tags: alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, cbr18bingo, elves, funny, gory, Grimdark, historical fantasy, joe abercrombie, LGBTQIA, Malin, murder, quest, shapeshifters, Steven Pacey, The Devils, vampires, werewolves ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

A Grimdark Story Set in Fantasy China

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

April 11, 2025 by RouletteGirl 1 Comment

Rin is a war orphan whose foster parents are planning to marry her off to an older man. To escape a fate that she considers to be worse than death, Rin works herself to the bone to study for the national test that will determine whether she can escape her rural province. Thanks to the help of her tutor and her own brutal work ethic, Rin excels and earns a place at Sinegard, the war academy of the Nikan Empire. Arriving at Sinegard, she realizes […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: Grimdark, R.F. Kuang

RouletteGirl's CBR17 Review No:4 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: Grimdark, R.F. Kuang ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

“The important thing in running away is not how fast you run but simply that you run faster than the next man.”

Prince of Fools (Red Queen's War #1) by Mark Lawrence

The Liar's Key (Red Queen's War #2) by Mark Lawrence

Wheel of Osheim (Red Queen's War #3) by Mark Lawrence

October 16, 2022 by LittlePlat 1 Comment

Well, this is less ambitious of me than the time I tried to review an entire five-book series all in one go.  This is just a three book series this time! (Also, because I have chosen to review the books this way, there will be minor spoilers) I’ve started reading two of Mark Lawrence’s trilogies so far. Of those two, I would highly recommend The Book of the Ancestor series, starting off with Red Sister. They were one hell of a package: I loved both […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Tagged With: cbr14bingo, elephant, Grimdark, magic, Mark Lawrence, Red Queens War, series creeeeeep, trilogies

LittlePlat's CBR14 Review No:25 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction · Tags: cbr14bingo, elephant, Grimdark, magic, Mark Lawrence, Red Queens War, series creeeeeep, trilogies ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, he knows grimdark

A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1) by Joe Abercrombie

December 28, 2019 by thewheelbarrow Leave a Comment

I am a HUGE fan of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series which began with an original trilogy but has sprouted three additional stand alone novels and a collection of short stories. This is the first book in a new trilogy called the Age of Madness. It’s been a few years since Abercrombie visited the First Law series but that is because he spent several years writing all three books of this series at once. He wanted to be better with his continuity and ensure that […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: Adua, first law, Grimdark, industrial revolution, joe abercrombie

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: Adua, first law, Grimdark, industrial revolution, joe abercrombie ·
· 0 Comments

(Bingo: Pajiba) All shall fade into the whiteness of death

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

August 19, 2019 by sistercoyote 8 Comments

I was keenly intrigued upon reading both the Pajiba post about this one and I think also possibly Big Idea on Scalzi’s website but I’m not certain about that. I just know I saw a fair amount of press and was very interested in reading James’ take on an epic fantasy world beginning from an African perspective. “Children cannot help how they are born, they had no choice in it. Choosing to be a fool, though . . .” (Kindle loc 1020) Unfortunately, I am […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: #fantasy, African setting, bingo: Pajiba, cbr11, cbr11bingo, Dark Fantasy, everybody lies, feminism, Fiction, first of a series, Grimdark, lgbt, magic, not for me, read POC, sistercoyote

sistercoyote's CBR11 Review No:21 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: #fantasy, African setting, bingo: Pajiba, cbr11, cbr11bingo, Dark Fantasy, everybody lies, feminism, Fiction, first of a series, Grimdark, lgbt, magic, not for me, read POC, sistercoyote ·
Rating:
· 8 Comments

Everybody please read this so I can have somebody to talk to about it.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (The Dark Star Trilogy, #1) by Marlon James

February 18, 2019 by narfna 3 Comments

NB: I received a gratis copy of the book from the publisher but that has not affected the content of my review. “You want to know what’s my purpose? To kill the men who killed my brother and father, leaving a grandfather fucking my own mother. To kill the men who killed my brother, because they killed him because he killed one of theirs. Who killed one of his, who killed one of theirs, and on and on while even gods die. My purpose is […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: #fantasy, african mythology, Black Leopard Red Wolf, epic fantasy, folklore, Grimdark, Marlon James, mythology, narfna

narfna's CBR11 Review No:21 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: #fantasy, african mythology, Black Leopard Red Wolf, epic fantasy, folklore, Grimdark, Marlon James, mythology, narfna ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments
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