Merryn – Page 11 – Cannonball Read 17

The world was silent when we died

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

July 25, 2020 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Biafra lived less than three full years, from May 1967 to June 1970. Its national symbol, half of a yellow sun, shining from the flag, gleaming on the arms of soldiers, hanging on a string around the neck of proud citizens. Today, for those who have heard of Biafra, the image most likely to come to mind is a starving child. Our story starts in the early 60s, Nigeria newly independent from Britain, ethnic fault lines papered over by a map wilfully ignorant of cultural, […]

Murder ballad with a swinging beat

Jazz by Toni Morrison

July 25, 2020 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Jazz. The themes are laid down, a story old as dirt, a triangular tangle of middle-aged man and wife and young girl with the tragic end at the beginning. “Can’t rival the dead for love. Lose every time.” Harlem, 1926. The pulse of a city, “in halls and offices people are sitting and thinking future thoughts about projects and bridges and fast-clicking trains underneath”. These people have come north in the Great Migration from the rural south to the northern cities, looking to escape the […]

90s Hard Sci Fi Classic

Quarantine by Greg Egan

July 21, 2020 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Revisiting a book I loved from early 90s, I wondered if it would hold up. It sure does. It gripped me again from the killer opening line: “Only the most paranoid clients phone me in my sleep.” Nick Stavrianos is a PI, hired to search for a woman who disappeared from her room in a secure mental institution. He is an ex-cop who can use his standard police neurological mods to ‘prime’ himself into what his ex-wife called the ‘zombie boy scout’, “so earnest, so […]

Zoom in as the scope expands

Cibola Burn (The Expanse Book 4) by James S A Corey

January 3, 2020 by Merryn 5 Comments

Spoilers for Abaddon’s Gate and series 3 of the TV series. I came to this series via the television adaptation, and it’s been a difficult choice with each season – read or watch first. This time I watched, and while the adaptation continues to stay true to the shape of the story while tinkering around the edges, a major difference between Cibola Burn and season 4 was the book’s tight focus on the story of Ilus/New Terra while TV bounces us around between the additional […]

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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