Timeline by Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton used to be my favorite author. Then I read State of Fear. That’s not really an exaggeration, State of Fear is so bad it changed my whole opinion on the author. It’s a breathless screed against climate science wrapped in the barest wrapper of a story. It’s one of those “why even did you write this” things that doesn’t feel at all out of place in 2023, the age of Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman and Elon Musk demanding a renowned vaccine […]
Chickaloonies Vol. 1 by Dimi Macheras and Casey Silver
I discovered Chickaloonies because it was on the bartop at one of my favorite bars in all the world: Seattle’s Twilight Exit. Run, don’t walk there, and order the fried mozzarella. It turned out the bartender was the author, drawing on his experience as an Alaska native and tribe member. I was immediately drawn to the bright and colorful cover and asked for more details. He described it as “Avatar from the perspective of Native American myth.” Sold. The book is chock full of details […]
Berserk by Kentaro Miura
The worst part about Berserk is that I can’t recommend it to anyone, and indeed the gorgeous deluxe editions are sort of hidden inside my house. I dread the idea of my mother or mother in law picking one up and leafing through it casually. It’s an unfortunate position to be in because the art is unbelievable. Soaring castles, epic battles, imaginative monsters, and detailed character designs. But, the rub: also graphic rape, violence, casual racism, outdated sexism, demonic engines powered by suffering, and torture […]
No Kindness Too soon by Sylvain Neuvel
This is perhaps the weirdest and most shame-faced Cannonball I will ever write (I hope) but I read this back in March after hearing the author speak at ComicCon and mention the work, and I’m writing in June. As such, I can hardly remember anything about it. There’s no mention of this on the author’s Wikipedia, I had to check the Audible listing to make sure I had it right. I vaguely remember something about first contact with aliens, or rather, first sign that aliens […]
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
First off let me say that everything this book asserts about rowers is true. We’re a weird little bunch of obsessives who think our terrible hobby, which we hate, is the best thing on earth. I even heard about it from another rower: my mom, because rowers getting together can only talk about rowing. When some tiny piece of our insular world breaks out into the wider one, it spreads like an old fashioned “send this to ten friends or die” chain email. I felt […]
Earthside by Dennis E Taylor
Every general bit of praise and criticism I have for Earthside can be cribbed/shared directly with my criticism/praise for Outland, so I’ll avoid rehashing all this here and get to what’s both different and worse, much much worse, about Earthside: Dennis E Taylor turning his Pollyanna rose-tinted glasses to a post-apocalyptic justice and political system. There are witch trials, and it’s terrifying. The stakes of these witch trials are life and brutal, unyielding death. If you’re lucky you’ll be exiled to an almost uninhabitable Earth, […]