Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Three sci-fi books making me think about robots and AI

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Rose/House by Arkady Martine

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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The end of January to the very beginning of March has had the good fortune to have three excellent books looking at robots, AI, sentience, autonomy, finding meaning, and limitations on the flawed way humanity has programmed robots/AI.  While setting up this post, I just realized all the author’s first name start with A.  Huh, kind of interesting. First up was a novella by Annalee Newitz, Automatic Noodle.  This is the most fun and lighthearted of the bunch.  It is the year 2064, a few years […]

Heartfelt Nonsense

Hinamatsuri, vols 1-19 by Masao Ohtake

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After I played the Yakuza video games, I went hunting for more of the heartfelt nonsense the games did so well. The closest found was Hinamatsuri by Masao Ohtake. Now that the game series is crashing and burning, I decided to revisit Hinamatsuri – a story about telekinetic child soldiers from the future living in the modern world as normal kids. Hina is the main girl. Put time out until she stops being a WMD, she falls into a yakuza’s apartment and parks her lazy […]

My friend wrote a book (two, actually) and you won’t be able to read it if you can’t read Danish

Kraft & Mod (Courage) by Trine J. Cederlof

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4.5 stars Nowhere Book Bingo 26: A Middle Grade Book Defeat the Goblin TBR: The Shiny book (added in December 2024) Disclaimer! The author is a friend of mine, but my opinions are my own, and I bought the book with my own money (because friends make sure friends get royalties). As part of the peace agreement between the Green Shores and the Blue Mountains, Prince Mirounga (called Miro), nephew and heir to the king of the Green Shores, is sent into fosterage to the Blue Mountains. […]

Who is Jean Moreau if he is no longer a Raven?

The Sunshine Court (All for the Game book 4) by Nora Sakavic

The Golden Raven (All for the Game book 5) by Nora Sakavic

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“He hasn’t played a clean game in years,” Kevin admitted, “but he knows how to follow orders. If you tell him to submit, he will.” “Literally the most awkward way you could’ve worded it,” Jeremy said. ― Nora Sakavic, The Sunshine Court The Sunshine Court tells the story of Jean Moreau after he leaves the Ravens. Jean’s story overlaps with the end of the third book in The Foxhole Court trilogy, “The King’s Men.” After being extracted from Edgar Allen, Jean Moreau must come to […]

Strong Concept, Uneven Writing

Burn Down Master's House by Clay Cane

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I really expected this book to be 5 stars and ended up mildly disappointed when it didn’t live up to that expectation. Clay Cane set out to write a slave narrative focusing on moments of rebellion. The novel is divided into 4 lengthy chapters, each of which focuses on 1-2 characters and the rebellion they pursue. It is a book filled with violence because the enslaved characters go through hell before bringing violent justice upon the enslavers. The plot carries the book, with the actual […]

Cinderella triumphs again

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

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I’ve watched most of the Bridgerton series, and I generally find it entertaining. So, when the latest season became available on Netflix, I watched the first half of the season–everything that was available at the time. It is a Cinderella story, involving the second-oldest Bridgerton brother, Benedict (the spare). And I really liked it. I thought the chemistry between the two lead actors was great, and I found Benedict to be a charming, charismatic, and funny leading man. I decided to read An Offer From a Gentleman (2001) by Julia Quinn […]



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