Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


When your buddy has a real chip on his shoulder

Murderbot Diaries All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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cbr13bingo  Rec’d (by y’all) What can I say about Murderbot Diaries All Systems Red that has not already been said? I have nothing new to add to the conversation about Martha Wells series. Only (for those who have not read) this first novella deals with the idea of what is human and what is robot. It asks can a robot be “human” or at least human-like? Can one make that choice themselves or must someone or something validate them, make them “legitimate”? I told a […]

AI: Not scary in the way you think

You look like a thing and I love you by Janelle Shane

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You say AI and people immediately start thinking about Skynet, The Matrix, or HAL 9000. We have been programmed by decades of literature and film to associate the concept of AI with human like intelligence and thought processes that sees these creations go rogue and decide to “kill all humans”. Probably Boston Dynamics scary dancing robots and “dogs” are not helping here either! But as this book shows the reality is closer to the kind of decisions made in “I Robot” where a decision is […]

Hilo and friends are repeat business!

Hilo V03 The Great Big Boom by Judd Winick

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The Great Big Boom is the third instalment of the Hilo graphic novel series. Judd Winick continues the same humor (one mention of repeat business, along with the usual puns, action and more), illustrations (bright, bold, with the comic book/graphic novel style) and adventures of the first two (battling the baddies). This time our heroes Hilo and DJ must save Gina from the portal she was sucked into at the end of our last adventure. But portal travel is tricky (so tricky in fact Hilo […]

“Disinformation, which is the same as lying but for some reason has a different name, is the top tactic in corporate negotiation/warfare.”

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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AHHHH, YOU DON’T SAY?! That phrase hit me this morning while I was failing to get ready for work in a timely manner- I was listening to this book, brushing my teeth, scrolling through twitter, and BAM. I’m pretty sure I heard that same sentiment expressed several times over while stress-watching the entire certification process on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning after, you know, homegrown terrorists were allowed to run amok in the Capitol. Lies are still flying fast and furious, and it becomes more and […]

Oh Murderbot, why did it take me so long to heed your call?

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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Thank you again, Cannonballers, for alerting me to another treasure that would have stayed hidden from me had I not seen your many rave reviews!  I am a sucker for both “robot learns to person” and “people learn to robot” stories; I do not know why it took me so long to give Murderbot a go! Earlier this year I was awed by the beauty of A Closed and Common Orbit, but this time I was delighted by some good old-fashioned gruesome space violence. Our […]

From Reality Star to Kick Butt Author!

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick

Hilo V02 Saving the Whole Wide World by Judd Winick

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Do you ever look at a book and think, “Well that’s not going to be for me?” Then one day, you find it on the library shelves (or in my case the website and I could put in a request for curbside pickup) and you didn’t want to waste your five-limit book allotment, so you pick it up? And did you then ask yourself, “Why did I wait so long to read this?” Okay, I might have been in the right humorous mood, but I […]



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