Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About sabian30

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Sixty something retired banking software analyst in Little Rock, Arkansas who writes science fiction and fantasy short stories. Has four great kids (one the editor of Cannonball Fodder) and one awesome grandson.

sabian30's Reviews:

Penric to the Rescue

Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold

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One of my favorite authors, Lois McMaster Bujold, has written a series of novellas about Penric and Desdemona, a wizard and a demon who help people needing the services of wizards and demons. Penric, tall, handsome, and charming, is just what a young widow named Nikys needs when her brother, General Adelis is accused of treason and blinded by boiling vinegar. Penric, an secret sorcerer and physician, posed as a simple courier when he provided the documents showing Adelis had sought employment in a neighboring […]

A Change to the Modesty Blaise Formula

Dragon’s Claw by Peter O’Donnell

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In almost every Modesty Blaise pulp fiction novel, there’s a simple thriller formula. Usually, a nefarious and colorful megalomaniac is trying to take over the world/kill everyone/overturn countries and needs some hapless schmo to accomplish a key task in their plan. Modesty and her hunky partner, Willie Garvin, encounter the poor victim and save him. Then, they go after the mastermind to ensure their new friend is safe and bring the villain to justice. Modesty generally takes the schmuck to bed during the healing and […]

Fergus to the Rescue (Again)

Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer

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I enjoyed the sequel to The Finder even more than the first book. Initially, I thought Fergus had another unwilling partner in Zacker, a NY cop who attacks Fergus when he returns to Scotland to make amends for deserting his family as a teenager. In typical Fergus fashion, he’s at the wrong place at the wrong time and is mistaken for a murderous art thief. In The Finder, Fergus took a job on the other side of the galaxy to find and retrieve an almost […]

The Importance of Story Over Plot and Character

Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig

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Mr. Wendig is a blogger known for his colorful language and his writing skills. In Damn Fine Story, he drops a couple cusswords, but he has a different approach to writing. His rules of writing don’t emulate the plot, plot, plot lessons of other DIY writing books. He mentions his father who told a damn fine story but didn’t write or even read books. The story is the main focus here, and a good story is even better. So, beginning writers, don’t focus so much […]

“Be interesting,” said the alien.

Finder by Suzanne Palmer

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When Bothari43 says, “I’ve found a book you’re going to love,” I listen. The Finder is definitely a book I enjoyed. I already ordered the sequel. Fergus Ferguson has a simple job—repo a spaceship that was stolen during a test drive. He travels to a deep space cluster called Cernee with the protocols he needs to retake the ship and return it to its owner. He’s big, has a red beard and red hair, and stumbles into the internal conflict going on within Cernee, a […]

And a Side of Short Short Story

Tall Tales and Timeless Stories by Mary Lou Condike, Brian Condike, and Emily Young

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This anthology is different for several reasons. None of the stories are longer than 1,500 words, meaning a great many of them feel unfinished. They are also split into various genres including paranormal, mystery and crime, literary and memoir, science fiction and fantasy, historical, adventure and western, and young adults and children. I kind of like that. The same writers’ names appear over and over across genres, giving the reader a nice taste of the writer’s style and ability to write in different categories. There […]



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