Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this book takes place in a world with a cultural assumption of bi- and pan-sexuality, and people who aren’t are considered “gender exclusive”!

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

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This is going to be a short review. I read this too long ago, and have forgotten too much of it. I did like it, though! Quite a bit. I just wish I had gone into it with the correct expectations. Somehow, I’d gotten it into my head that this was a romance with some science fiction in it, rather than what it actually was, the other way around. This is waaaay more science fiction than it is romance, in a space opera sort of […]

Bland Stories, Hack Work, Bad Opinions — 60s Sci-Fi Strikes Again

Shards of Space by Robert Sheckley

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I know there is good 60s SF out there, but the good thing about working through my backlog of old SF I’ve been lugging around is the relief that I can throw this out and never read it again. Shards of Space is a short story collection by Robert Sheckley with some bad stories, some hack work, two decent stories, and a bunch of terrible opinions about eugenics and women. I should probably only give it one star, but there are two okay stories in […]

Will This Be the Year the Earth Refuses to Forgive Us?

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North

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Notes from the Burning Age deposits its readers sometime between Mad Max and The Broken Earth. The world that seems in the first chapter to be an unknown, fantastical place, is actually a snapshot of a future Earth, its landscape shifted by centuries of exploitation. Eventually, it seems the Earth fought back, defending itself by unleashing fearsome spiritual creatures called the kakui, who, depending on who you ask, burnt the world or saved it from the burning. Regardless, it was a hefty price that humanity […]

This book was wild.

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology, #1) by N.E. Davenport

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This is most definitely adult fantasy. It is very, very adult, and not in the sexy way (though there is a pretty good sexy scene in here). Nope, it’s adult more like in the gory, stomach-turning way (though these scenes are spread out). So be prepared for that. But this was a very promising debut! Not everything worked perfectly for me, but I was very compelled by the story, and read this not-small book in about two days flat. This is a hybrid fantasy/science fiction […]

“There was a button,” Holden said. “I pushed it.” “Jesus Christ. That really is how you go through life, isn’t it?”

Nemesis Games (The Expanse, #5) by James S.A. Corey

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Once again, I find myself rushing to complete this review before I can allow myself to start my re-read of book six. This book was just as good as I remembered, and in fact, I actually think it was better. I noticed so many things this time around that I didn’t before, when I was just focused on, basically, OMG WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. (Something you can only notice on a series re-read: SPOILERS They really hit it hard that Amos would be the “Last […]

“As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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Although I saw all of the rave reviews (‘saw’, not ‘read’), it took me a while to get this lovely novella. Part of the blame is on my library system, as it took several months before All Systems Red, by Martha Wells, was available, but mostly the blame lies with me. Although I have read some fantastic science fiction over the years, I am very cautious when it comes to this genre – perhaps because my older brother was a huge sci-fi nerd? (Certainly he […]



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