Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

CBR Facebook Page. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Instagram. The CBR Tumblr CBR on Goodreads

Goth aliens call them ‘stop-stop dancers’ instead of go-go dancers

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

by Leave a Comment

It’s nearly impossible to read this book and not compare it to Hitchhiker’s Guide, and I don’t know how to give it a fair review without those thoughts tumbling around in my head. This was an interesting, fun read…but NOTHING is going to come out on top when you compare it to Hitchhiker. Humans are just getting close enough to attempting space travel to make the rest of the universe nervous, so they have to compete in the universal sentience test or risk total destruction. This test takes the form of a kind of intergalactic Eurovision-style battle of the bands, […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "Goth aliens call them ‘stop-stop dancers’ instead of go-go dancers"

3/31/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:7 |

I felt like I could see the wizard behind the curtain, pulling the strings

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

by Leave a Comment

 On a visit to London last year, I stopped by Foyle’s on Charing Cross Road a few times, and on one of those visits, I picked up three space opera books: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley, and Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. The cashier’s face lit up when he saw my choices, saying that he’d read and loved all of them, especially Ancillary Justice. I’m not sure why it’s the last of the three that I’m getting to, but I’m sorry to say that it’s my least […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "I felt like I could see the wizard behind the curtain, pulling the strings"

3/24/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:18 |

Days of Our Trying Not to Get Humanity Blown into Smithereens

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

by Leave a Comment

By the time I was not even halfway through Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente I thought, “This is one screwed up book.” As one reviewer on Amazon put it, “it is a barrage of fluff” (more later). It is all these strung together words just to put words together. They are not run-on sentences but run-off-the-page-turn-left-at-the-corner-and-keep-going-on sentences. The story, once you get into it, is easy enough to understand: a has been singer (as one of my coworkers put it, “a Meatloaf like performer” but I say any glam-rocker that was not Bowie) and his band have to save […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "Days of Our Trying Not to Get Humanity Blown into Smithereens"

1/29/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:31 |

I taught you better than to open doors you can’t close

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

by 2 Comments

Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness of Ghosts is yet another great example of the kind of book I would have missed had I not started reading more speculative fiction and diversifying the voices in my library. That would have been a pity, because this complex, powerful novel may very well end up at the top of my 2019 favorites list. After Earth suffered an unnamed cataclysm 300 years ago, the remnants of humanity were crowded onto the spaceship Matilda and launched toward some long-forgotten destination. Humanity being what it is, the ship ends up segregated by race and privilege, with white […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "I taught you better than to open doors you can’t close"

1/20/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:3 |

Spaceship pilot/dragon rider.

Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

by 2 Comments

I had so much fun with this book. I’ve not really seen Brandon Sanderson go full sci-fi before. He did that novella, Snapshot, but that’s pretty much it. Everything else has been in the realms of epic fantasy, superheroes, and the more speculative end of fantastical fiction that doesn’t really have a scientific basis (i.e. Legion). But I wasn’t really worried because a lot of the same tools he uses for his fantasy books are also applicable to sci-fi. He’s a fantastic worldbuilding, an excellent plotter, and is great at structuring a narrative. He’s not always the strongest on his characters, […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "Spaceship pilot/dragon rider."

12/30/2018 's CBR10 Review No:167 |

Just as good as the first, maybe better?

The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency, #2) by John Scalzi

by 2 Comments

I was not disappointed by this sequel. P.S. writing this on my phone. I don’t actually have much to say about the book. I enjoyed it a lot, and I was worried that I would have forgotten everything that happened in the last book, and I sort of had, but Scalzi makes it easy for you to catch up. Cardenia is still emperox, Kiva is still a profane little firecracker, Marse is traveling around giving lectures about the flow collapse, and the effing Nohamapetans are still messing everything up like the galactic class assholes they are. They are all trying […]

Share the post "Just as good as the first, maybe better?"

11/30/2018 's CBR10 Review No:158 |

The Interdependency

The Collapsing Empire & The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi

by Leave a Comment

I love Scalzi.  He is fun and his books a fast reads that always leave me entertained.  His audiobooks are frequently narrated by Will Wheaton and I enjoy his voice work.  All in all, I am a fan and the Interdependency trilogy is a lot of fun and I really enjoy it. This is a new world for Scalzi.  In this universe, interstellar travel is possible through pathways known as the flow and it is collapsing.  Soon worlds will not be able to access each other and entire planets and systems will be left on their own.  The premise is […]

Share the post "The Interdependency"

11/24/2018 's CBR10 Review No:43 |

Well, thanks a lot for leaving me with further emotional scars for a whole year, Brian!

Saga, vol 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

by 1 Comment

4.5 stars This is volume 9, it is NOT the place to start the series. Do, however, get to your nearest retailer of comics/graphic novels and buy volume 1, it’s pretty much the best thing out there right now. You won’t regret it. Normally, the volumes of Saga tend to vary between heavy and emotionally wrenching storylines, followed by something a bit more funny, light-hearted and uplifting. Vol 7 ended on a very sad note, and Vol 8 was an exploration of grief and loss and not exactly a barrel of laughs either. Lured by the cheerful cover illustrations (the back of […]

Share the post "Well, thanks a lot for leaving me with further emotional scars for a whole year, Brian!"

10/30/2018 's CBR10 Review No:94 |


Follow CBR on Instagram

Shop on Amazon and Support CBR

Buy Original Cannonballer Prisco's book and help CBR!

Ad Partner