Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Various Reviews During My Vacation, Some Were Brilliant, Some Were Good, Some Were Awful.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Once More Upon a Time: An Enchanting Romantic Fairy Tale by Roshani Chokshi

Hot and Sour Suspects by Vivien Chien

Gilded by Marissa Meyer

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

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The Kaiju Preservation Society-5 stars I don’t even know what to say except this was pitch perfect. It reminded me in a good way of “Old Man’s War” and I cheered through the whole book. I loved everyone. I am so sad this is a standalone so we don’t get to follow Jamie and his friends he meets in the Kaiju Preservation Society (KPS). “The Kaiju Preservation Society” begins with Jamie Gray getting fired. Jamie lives in New York and doesn’t know how he will […]

Let’s Save the Endangered Walking Nuclear Dinosaurs

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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I have to admit, I didn’t especially enjoy the only other novel by John Scalzi that I read (Redshirts) so I was hesitant about The Kaiju Preservation Society, but the premise was just too good to not at least give it a chance. The basic gist is that there are parallel worlds to our own Earth, and one them is home to kaiju, basically nuclear powered dinosaurs the size of mountains; once when one accidentally got through the barrier between worlds, someone who saw it […]

Kaiju fun and a great standalone from Scalzi

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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The Kaiju Preservation Society is a fun romp and a refreshing reset of Scalzi, for me.  His most recent works, “The Interdependency Saga” (a trilogy), left me feeling ‘meh’.  My review for the second book had me questioning whether I was cooling on Scalzi.  I still have yet to read the third.  When Scalzi announced this book, I was intrigued by the name and that it would be a standalone novel.  The Kaiju Preservation Society was preordered, and I’m grateful I did because it provided much […]

This is a Scalzi book, end of message

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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The Kaiju Preservation Society is intended to be 100% escapist, lightweight fun for the reader, and it certainly succeeds at that. I read the whole thing on my first plane flight since 2020, and it went down easy. The protagonist, Jamie Gray, is working as a food delivery driver in the early months of the pandemic when he gets recruited by an old friend to staff an “animal rights organization.” Given the title of the book you may guess approximately what comes next. It turns […]

“It’s like the foreign legion for nerds” I said, and laughed.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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The Kaiju Preservation Society is very definitely a John Scalzi book. In his Afterword, which is worth reading, he describes it as a pop song. It came to him almost fully formed after he finally abandoned a book he describes as “a brooding symphony.” It’s frothy, entertaining and goes down smoothly while pointing out significant cultural issues. The good guys win and the bad guy satisfyingly gets what’s coming to him. I really loved that Scalzi starts this book firmly in our world, in our […]

A satisfying end to a great sci-fi trilogy

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

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Reviewing books in the middle of a series is always tricky because, by definition, spoilers are inherent. The fact that the the cover of this book says it’s a sequel to Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades already gives away certain information about the plot, let alone the back cover summary. All that aside, I will try to just give the bare bones of this plot along with this statement of the trilogy – it’s a fun, entertaining, and satisfying series. Now, to The […]



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