Mobius_Walker – Page 22 – Cannonball Read 17

A really good premise ruined by casual racism and poor characterization

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

February 22, 2021 by Mobius_Walker 4 Comments

The Scholomance is not your typical school. And not just because it’s a school for magic. No, this school is not your average school because it will straight up try to kill you. Students have to stay alert constantly and travel in packs everywhere lest one of the evil creatures, or malefecaria, who live in the school try to kill them. Galadriel, or El, is a student at the Scholomance determined to survive all the way through graduation and do so on her own terms. […]

A masterclass in the novella; body horror and racism collide.

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

February 7, 2021 by Mobius_Walker 4 Comments

We know that the people who join the Ku Klux Klan are monsters. Average people who act in monstrous, horrible ways. But what if some of the Klan members were actual monsters? Giant, hulking, dog-like beasts that want to consume and destroy Black people? Such is the premise of Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark. Maryse, a Black woman, hunts these monsters in Prohibition America with the help of her magical sword infused with the anger, pain, and despair of Black men and women of […]

The most effective collection of short stories I have ever read

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez

February 7, 2021 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed is a collection of short stories by Mariana Enriquez. The stories are a mix of magical realism and outright horror. An Argentine writer, many stories take place in Argentina but a fair few also take place in Barcelona, Spain. Enriquez embues each story with a richness of their environment that make each story feel real and possible, despite the more horrific, fantastical elements. Most collections of shorts stories that I have read in my life are mostly fine. They […]

You should read this book even though I did not like it

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

February 3, 2021 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

Aster is low-deck woman on the spaceship Matilda. The citizens of Matilda are stratified across racial lines: darker people of color on the lower decks with lighter skinned citizens occupying the upper decks. As you might guess, the lower decks have increased police presence and poor living conditions. The upper decks have more freedom and significantly better quarters and living conditions. Sound familiar? The citizens of Matilda were long ago promised that they were on a journey to a new land, yet that promise seems further and further […]

A love story set in the Arctic surrounded by terrible men ruining things

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

February 3, 2021 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

It is 1617 and nearly all the men of the northeasternmost city of Vardo, Norway have been tragically killed by a storm while fishing out at sea. That leaves the women and children of Vardo to fend for themselves. Maren is among those women. Maren must find a way to balance the headstrong Kirsten who feels that no tradition is too sacred to be broken in service of herself, the pious Toril who passes judgment on anyone who does not fall in line with her […]

A stylish start to a trilogy filled with welcomed diversity

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

January 25, 2021 by Mobius_Walker 2 Comments

A war rages between a coalition of Earth and Mars versus one of Mercury and Venus. Geans vs Icarii. Naturalism versus augmentation. Old versus New. First Sister is the highest ranking member of the Sisterhood, a religious/military organization, on a spaceship called the Juno; her role is part silent counsel listening to all of the soldiers confess and share and part concubine providing escape and pleasure for all of the soldiers on board. That is the role all Sisters play. Lito is an elite Icarii […]

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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