jormis – Page 5 – Cannonball Read 17

Love Knows No Boundaries

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amar El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

May 30, 2020 by jormis 2 Comments

In science fiction everything is possible. You can paint your canvas any which way you can. Do it wrong and you find yourself in exposition hell – books suffer from this far less than moving pictures – mired in inconsistent world building and plot holes. But do it right and the angel choir sings praise (maybe even literally, it is up to you) and the readers are drawn to your masterful creation. Birth, death, resurrection, restart (nobody knows nothing about time travel), duplication, transformation: you […]

Dragons in the Sky

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

May 25, 2020 by jormis 3 Comments

There are two fantasy genre tropes that I could do without. First, the stagnation: the world has been in a rot for ages, even thousands of years with no progress at all. It was better then: the society of yore was wealthier, the people mightier, wiser, and had longer lifespans. (They probably had better dental hygiene, too, although this is pure speculation.) The current civilisation has lost a lot of the knowledge of magic and technology, especially the good guys; the bad ones seem to […]

I made up this review but I did not lie

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt

May 12, 2020 by jormis Leave a Comment

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take this situation for granted. Harry G. Frankfurt starts the book with that observation. One of the reasons to grab this essay is the damage – literal and growingly, physical – that Trump & henchmen, Boris Johnson, and several other politician seem to spout nowadays. Ours is the true zeitgeist of liars and bullshitters; the snake […]

The Dark is Rising, Books I-III

Over Sea, Under The Stone by Susan Cooper

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

May 12, 2020 by jormis 6 Comments

It must have been 1980 when I got my first library card to a small branch library in an equally small town. I was 11 or 12. Trips to the library were always an adventure as I was allowed to make the journey by myself. Once, I even got reprimanded by a librarian for returning the books (hopefully only slightly) wet – I had explored the spring streams transporting water from melting snow to faraway places; I carried the books in a plastic bag […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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