Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Sympathy for the Devil.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

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Reread time! Massive reread time! This was all triggered by last years’ Cannonball Book Exchange, where ElCicco was kind enough to send me the three main entries in the The Machinaries of Empire series. I had read the books one by one as they had come out, but I had never sat down and binge-read them before. And honestly, now that I have done that—while adding the more recently published short story collection—I think the series is even better. Usual disclaimer: as I am reviewing […]

I wish Coach Taylor was around to tell me what a chrysalis gun is

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

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Though I could not tell you the first thing about football, I love the TV show Friday Night Lights. Though I did not really understand the world of Ninefox Gambit, I mostly still enjoyed this book. Most of the time, when a book dumps me straight into a different world in the middle of the action, I eventually catch on and catch up (like Fifth Season). For this one, I never felt like I caught up or figured out exactly what was going on. Cheris […]

“I am not political,” Jebi said

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

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Poor Jebi. They tried so hard to get along as an artist, one of a conquered people in a recently conquered land, without being political. They very quickly find themselves in over their head in situations where they have no choice but to be political. Phoenix Extravagant is a stand alone silkpunk novel set in fantasy version of Korea under Japanese rule. Magic is real and automata – machines powered by magic patrol the streets for the Razanei. Jebi isn’t a chosen one, or the […]

Who Else Would Be Canny Enough to Try and Do Their World-Building Backwards?

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  Once again, I am going to try (perhaps unwisely) to review a book without reviewing its predecessors in the series! So be warned, I haven’t been able to do this without touching on some spoilers for earlier books. I guess this is what you get by making ´This Is The End’ a bingo square.   As far as authors go, Yoon Ha Lee can be a bit of a cruel master. The way he treats his readers throughout the earlier books in his Machineries […]

Sacrifices understanding for looking real smart. Mistakes complexity for depth.

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What it comes down to with this book is that the barriers to entry were too high. (I shouldn’t have to add the “for me” to that statement, but I will because other people are losing their mind over this book and it was nominated for a bunch of awards, so clearly SOMEONE gets it.) With science fiction and fantasy as a genre, certain barriers to entry are expected, even looked forward to. I always relish that feeling of confusion and displacement I get when […]



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