Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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I feel like I read two different novels

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

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CBR18 BINGO: 26, because it was published in 2026 Just shy of the halfway point in This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, I was struggling to understand why it came so highly recommended. At the start of the novel, the heroine, Maggie, finds herself alone and naked in a ditch, in a world that she knows from her favorite fantasy series. While not a completely new premise, it’s a provocative setup. Maggie’s initial challenge is to find food, clothes, and shelter, and for that she […]

Wrapping Up the Tawny Man Trilogy

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb

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Two things: 1) Sometimes I think Hobb just turns to random pages in the dictionary to name characters. 2) I abhor the way Hobb sexualizes young teen girls. She did it in Liveship Traders, and she’s doing it again with Elliania in this trilogy. The argument that this is a medieval-type world and that this is accurate for the time period doesn’t fly because this is a fantasy world, and Hobb can choose whether that’s a cultural aspect she’s going to stick with. It doesn’t change […]

Such Compelling Characters

Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

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cbr17bingo: favorite (completes my first BINGO) I don’t think Robin Hobb can fully turn me into a wholehearted lover of multiple POV storytelling, but if anyone can, it will be her. I got frustrated each time the POV shifted because I wasn’t ready to be done with the one I was currently reading, and each time I was very quickly sucked into the new one. While I still had favorite and less preferred character POVs, each was still compelling in their own way. Robin Hobb writes […]

Expansion of Serpent Lore

Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

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cbr17bingo: green  This book took me on an emotional ride that was worth every moment. We continue to spend time with the same characters as the first book—the Vestrit and Haven families, Kennit, and Brashen—plus one of the Rain Wilders and a Companion of the Satrap. We also get more time with Amber and Paragon, which I loved. The characters are adjusting to the new and evolving situations in which they find themselves. Malta remained intensely frustrating for a large chunk of the book, as […]

For Those Who Like Their Fantasy Slow and Emotional

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

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This was an excellent book that I’m not likely to ever re-read, and I imagine I’ll say that about the other books in the Realm of the Elderlings series. Robin Hobb can tell a great story and an emotional story. The Farseer trilogy has evoked a lot of depressed and anxious feelings from me. They’re emotional, heartbreaking books, which is why I say I probably won’t re-read them. But they are masterfully told, which is why I will be continuing on with the rest of the […]

I’m Still Not Clear on How Different Wit and Skill Are

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

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This was heavy. I had heard Robin Hobb wrote depressing books, but I expected it to be depressing due to trauma and loss, and while the books aren’t short on those things, equally depressing is the powerlessness of Fitz. I sometimes found myself chafing at the restrictions placed upon him as someone who has both too much and too little power. As the son of a prince, he is viewed as important and maybe even a threat, but as the bastard son of a prince, […]



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