Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Slow Start, Then Great

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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CBR18 BINGO: Left (left side of my bookshelf) This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The first chunk of the book had more politicking than I expected from reading the book blurb, as well as multiple POVs. While I don’t mind political fantasies, I was in the mood for a story about Vasya’s life in her village and the trouble brewing there. We did eventually get to that, and then I was hooked. There were still multiple POVs, but I think mostly the perspectives were from […]

I Will Be Suprised If This Trilogy Does Not Become an Award Magnet

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy Book 1) by Katherine Arden

The Girl in the Tower (Winternight Trilogy Book 2) by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy Book 3) by Katherine Arden

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I’ve been a little bit neglectful – I finished this series several weeks ago, but I’ve only now found the time to write about it. I was actually spurred on a bit by the announcement of the Hugo Award nominees, where I discovered that the author, Katherine Arden, has been nominated for a John W. Campbell Award for the second year running. So I felt now would be a good time to finish my write up. It’s no wonder that Arden has been nominated again, […]

A wholly satisfying ending to a great fantasy trilogy

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

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Spoiler warning! This is the third and final volume in the trilogy, and the action starts immediately after the second book. This is not the place to start. If you are not caught up, drop everything and start from the beginning with The Bear and the Nightingale.  Vasilisa “Vasya” Petrovna managed to defeat one enemy, but at a great cost. Releasing the legendary firebird has caused much of Moscow to catch fire and the citizens, spurred on by the vengeful and jealous Father Konstantin are looking for […]

A defiant girl in a man’s world

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

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4.5 stars Spoiler warning! This is book 2 in a trilogy, and the story pretty much follows on directly from the ending of the previous book. This book, while very good, doesn’t really stand on its own, you would do much better to start at the beginning, with The Bear and the Nightingale.  There are roving gangs of bandits travelling the countryside around Moscow, pillaging and burning the villages and abducting young girls. Prince Dimitri sends his cousin, brother Alexandr, affectionately known to his family as Sasha, […]

This series is just so atmospheric.

The Girl in the Tower (The Winternight Trilogy, #2) by Katherine Arden

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I need to remember when it comes time to read #3 in this series that I will need at least a week to get through it. Arden’s writing is lovely and her story fascinating and absorbing, but I find it stressful as hell, and I kept having to put it down before I could keep going again. Basically every bad thing that can happen, does. (But by the end, you get a nice sense of resolution, which is necessary because of all the previously mentioned […]



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