Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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They did the monster mash

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

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I kept looking at this one last year since it would come up on various lists and then finally picked up a copy. It also ended up being announced as the February choice for the Buffering podcast book club which worked out perfect – always great when book club just helps you prioritize a book you already have. This novel was just pulpy, campy fun, combining classic horror creatures with AIs (the good fictional kind that make you discover things about humanity) and space travel. […]

Something’s Wrong

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

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I’m going to be honest; I picked this one up based on the cover alone.  And like they tell you not to do, I did sort of judge this book by its cover. Well, the cover and the first section of the book. And I thought I’d be dealing with a short set of vignettes about pulp horror monsters in space. Turns out that was a bit of a lowball there—there is actually a story arc that we follow throughout the book.  Poor Dementer, has […]

“My passengers. I decide, then and there, to love them. I’ve never loved before. Love is not a standard component of my programming. ” CBRBINGO – ‘O’

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

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Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media & Dreamscape Lore, Bindery Books, and Ezeekat Press for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. I had a great time with this weird little genre-bender. I love books where the author was like, should I do mystery? Romance? Paranormal? Horror? Sci-fi? Why not all?? Indeed. Why not all. Our two main characters are ship’s AI’s, the navigator, and the ship’s doctor. Demeter is the ship’s name, and when the book starts she’s just a normal ship, […]

the presence of true innovation in literature is one of the most hopeful facets of reading

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

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BINGO: migrant, as everyone on these ships is migration to/from Earth and Alpha Centuri hot take who would have thought that a book about AIs and the limitations of their programming would touch my squishy organic heart so much and be the first thing in a while I’ve read that I genuinely didn’t want to put down, and which I didn’t know how it would end! What a quirky little book that absolutely nails its gimmick from the get go. Our POV characters are varied, […]



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