The Crusades – A Map

Herein lies the final reading list for the second phase of the CBRIII, in no particular order.  Created from recommendations from Facebook, the main Cannonball Blog and goodreads.com.  Thanks to everyone for the excellent recommendations.  Some books were omitted due the lack of a digital edition.   There may be additions, (there already are two) but I will finish these books by the end of the year, and hopefully before then.

Embassytown – China Mieveile  FINISHED
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe – Charles Yu
Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories – M.R. James
Faerie Tale – Raymond E. Feist
Gates of Fire – Steven Pressfield
Devil in the White City – Erik Larson
Dark Tower – Stephen King
Shades of Grey – Jasper Fforde
In the Woods – Tana French
Then We Came to the End – Joshua Harris
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
PS Your Cat is Dead – James Kirkwood
Stormlight Archive – Brandon Sanderson
Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

CBRIII Maneuver #2 – Yarn

Target: Jon Armstrong’s Yarn

Profile: Speculative Fiction,  Near Future, “Fashionpunk”

Summary: From the back cover, “Tane Cedar is the master tailor, the supreme outfitter of the wealthy the beautiful, and the powerful.  When an ex-lover, on the run form the authorities, asks him to create a garment from the dangerous and illegal Xi yarn – a psychedelic opiate – to ease her final hours, Tane’s world is torn apart.  Armed with just his yarn pulls, scissors, Mini-Air-Juki handheld sewing machine, and his wits, Tane journeys through the shadowy underworld where he must untangle the deadly mysteries and machinations of decades of deceit.

Vital Stats:
Pages: 309
Difficulty: Varies wildly
Rating: 4/5 Stars

CBRIII Maneuver #1 – Use of Weapons

Target: Iain M. Banks’ Use of Weapons

Profile: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Expanded Continuity

Summary: Taken from the back cover, “The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances’ foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks, or military action.  The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him toward his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.  The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people.  It had once saved the woman’s life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner.  It believed the man to be a burnt out case.  But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past.”

Vital Stats:
Pages: 478
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Commence the Attack

I’m off to a late start, but this is the official beginning of the Book Assault.  What’s going on?  Well…

This is one of the blogs for Pajiba.com’s annual Cannonball Read, a challenge to read a book every week for a year and write a review of each one of those books for perusal by the members of Pajiba.  All the real information is here.

But this is my (Fofo) hub for this delightful pastime.  While the blog is going up late, I have already started reading and wrapped up Iain M. Banks’ Use of Weapons on Sunday so a review on that is forthcoming.  Wish me luck!