Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hussain

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Have you ever thought a book sounded interesting, got it, then started it, and decided maybe it wasn’t something that would interest you, then picked it up again almost a year later? That was me with The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday. This time, I read it all the way through it about one sitting; it’s a novella so in terms of length that’s not a big thing. I did get drawn in this second time, and the whole thing ended up being pretty […]

Man, Magic, and the Machine

The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hossain

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This is a delightful novella.  It’s fresh and weird and engaging, a sci-fi-fantasy set in near-future Kathmandu.  An interesting mix of traditional magic elements (djinn!  I love djinn.) with traditional sci-fi elements (vaguely creepy AI!), and pretty bonkers…but weirdly lovable?…characters.  The themes and the narrative are brutal, whimsical, funny, and sobering, sometimes all at once.  This was riiiiight up my alley, and I recommend it to anyone looking to mix it up a little. Melek Ahmar, the Lord of Mars, the Red King, the Lord […]

It’s complicated; romance, family, politics, whether one is dead or not, all of it is complicated

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This book suffered from next book-itis.  I started reading it but got distracted by wanting to read other books when I realized that two more bingo squares would give me a second bingo (Between the Bridge and the River and Eleanor and Park).  I half-heartedly kept reading City of Brass while waiting to get to my main city library where I could pick up both books.  At the time of stopping reading, I was feeling so so about the City of Brass.  I was having trouble keeping track of the […]

Is a Western fantasy set in a Middle Eastern environment an Eastern?

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Amani Al-Hiza is poor orphan, raised by uncaring relatives in a small desert town where most inhabitants work in the local mine. She knows that if she doesn’t collect enough money to get out soon, she’ll end up as third wife to her unpleasant uncle, a fate she would rather die than accept. One night, she disguises herself as a boy and enters a shooting competition at the local watering hole, trying to win enough money to finally leave. She’s an excellent shot, and sure […]



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