Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Happy Horror Days

Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Christopher Golden, Benjamin Percy, Alma Katsu, Terry Dowling, Nick Mamatas, Glen Hirshberg, Garth Nix, Tananarive Due, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Nadia Bulkin, Josh Malerman, Cassandra Khaw, Kaaron Warren

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I am a big fan of horror all year round, so I am going to be that person right now and be all “Ghost stories at Christmas are Victorian tradition!”  And they were, and I like to embrace this particular tradition.  There are 17 creepy seasonal horror stories in this book, so next year if I am on the ball I might even be able to set up a spooky reading advent-ish adventure for myself. This collection is not just about Christmas, other winter holidays […]

Her magic was as blunt as she was: like a nuke hidden in a birthday cake.

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey

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I don’t know what prompted Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey to write a book together, but I am so glad they did. I’m also very excited that there will be another book from them. The Dead Take the A Train is the first in the Carrion City duology. I saw an ad for the book a couple of days ago, and John Langan blurbed the book as “compulsively readable.” I can’t think of a better description. It was hard to put down, and even when I […]

Cannonballing to the end of the world with Sandman Slim

King Bullet by Richard Kadrey

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King Bullet, the last book in the Sandman Slim series, is a pandemic baby, and you know it. It is steeped in isolation, anxiety, and the futile desire for simple answers in the face of complex problems. And it’s James Stark, so there’s violence, mayhem, hidden Hollywood, and heavenly hosts. James Stark was sent to hell alive by his magician friends who were jealous of his powers. While there, he became Sandman Slim, the monster who kills monsters. Stark escaped from Hell to wreak vengeance […]

I Just Saunter Amok These Days

Ballistic Kiss by Richard Kadrey

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Sandman Slim is still my favorite urban fantasy series. As Ballistic Kiss opens, Stark is living alone, doing his best to deal with his PTSD, trying to figure out what he’s going to do with this new life now that Candy has moved on with Alessa (he doesn’t blame her, he died after all), and whether or not he’s willing to move on with Janet (they/them) from Donut Universe. I listened to the audiobook narrated by MacLeod Andrews. He is still an excellent narrator. Thomas […]

TFW you’ve been to Hell and back

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

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Betrayed by his friends who sent him to Hell, James Stark (don’t call him Jimmy) has spent the eleven years since fighting in the demon pits and acting as a hitman for Lucifer. Having been given a very special key in order to commit his kills, Stark can now pretty much walk through shadows to gain access anywhere, which is how he’s escaped Hell and returned to the world determined to take revenge on his former friends. While talking a very good game about how […]

Some non-Sandman Slim from Richard Kadrey

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

Dead Set by Richard Kadrey

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I am a big fan of the Sandman Slim series, especially the narration by MacLeod Andrews who just NAILS the character.  Thus, I tried some of the author’s other books, The Grand Dark and Dead Set.  I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect and yet I feel that my expectations were met.  Both books deal with grim worlds and the occult.  I think I could identify them as Kadrey books even without knowing, but that might be some really strong hindsight bias. I read The […]



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