Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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It’s essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don’t

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

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Even if you haven’t ready any of Ted Chiang’s stories, you may already be familiar with his Nebula and Hugo Award-winning work “Story of Your Life,” which was adapted into the Academy Award-nominated film Arrival. I haven’t read that story (yet), but the concepts in the film intrigued me enough that when I heard about this new collection, I was eager to read it. If you have seen Arrival, you won’t be surprised that Chiang’s writing continues to explore ideas about time, free will, responsibility, and […]

Looking for a story about a man in love with a cannon?

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

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…because have I got the book for you! Men loving cannons, zombies puking up pajamas, purses that can hold whole villages, horror writers that moonlight as upholsterers- this collection houses all of those freaks and geeks- and then some. The novella that gives this collection its title – Magic for Beginners– was the best of the bunch. It was difficult to single out one piece, as they are all delightful mix of suburban longing and creepy crawlies, but this piece reminded me of two of my […]

Scenes From a Memory

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

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Do you know hat time of the year it is?   Yes, the Hugo nominees are out! And I’ve signed myself up again to read as many of them as possible. Going down the Best Novel list, I have already read Gideon the Ninth – which I reviewed here – and I loved the hell out of it. But now voting is going to be a bit complicated because A Memory Called Empire is another excellent, if tonally different, addition to the shortlist. And I’ll […]

“It’s easy to repeat; it’s hard to speak.”

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

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This was an intriguing and well-written book, but I just never seemed to connect with it the way I wanted to. Babel-17 was the last book of my classic sci-fi binge in February, and it was also my least favorite of the three I read (the other two were Way Station and The Stars My Destination). Although, in another headspace, and maybe if I hadn’t had to do the Kindle version (because free) I might have been able to concentrate more and liked it better. […]

Life is Beautiful, and Life is Stupid

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

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  ‘Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything pulses to a beat laid down by the Big Bang. Everything feels the drumline of creation from star to sex to song.’   How do you determine if a species is sentient? Do you go running and hiding behind René Descartes when asked? Rig-up some kind of ad-hoc test to see if they are capable of a subjective, private point of view? Or are you of the mind that if critters have feelings, that should be good […]

An Impressive But Grim Debut Fantasy Novel

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

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  I hadn’t heard of R.F. Kuang until recently. It wasn’t until her name came up as John Campbell Award nominee that I decided to look into her work. And then I felt like a bit of a dill – because not only had The Poppy War been nominated for a John Campbell Award (Not quite a Hugo), but it had been nominated for a Nebula and a Locus Award as well. So I’m slightly ashamed I let her go unnoticed! There was nothing for […]



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