Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

*Sigh*

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

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In John Scalzi’s When the Moon Hits Your Eye, the moon has turned to cheese, what now? So, When the Moon Hits Your Eye did not work for me for a couple of reasons. First, the structure of the story, looking at an event from a variety of perspectives as they experience it, is one that is hard for me to stay engaged with. Second, I had a hard time reading this story in this particular moment. I found reading about governments responding competently and listening […]

Soooooo Good

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

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So back in December, I reviewed The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, the tale of a female pirate in a medieval Near East Indian Ocean, and spoiler alert, I was totally smitten.  So I took myself off to Powell’s Books, to see if there was a sequel, and I spotted this.  A trilogy, clocking in at a massive 1887 pages, and bought it immediately.  This is the first volume, and friends, it does not disappoint. There are many echoes of Aladdin and other Arabian Nights stories, […]

Queer fantasy novella feat. shape-shifting, mammoths.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

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This was a delightful novella, surprisingly rich for its 100 pages! Here’s the summary: Cleric Chih is a cleric in an order whose mission is to record history accurately. They are traveling via mammoth (!) with a guide, Si-yu, but are attacked and trapped en route by three wild – and hungry – tiger sisters who are also shape-shifters (!) To stall their captors, they propose to tell the human version of the story about the tiger Ho Thi Tao and the human scholar Dieu. […]

Not sure if this was a hit or miss, so guess it’s appropriate for my third cannonball

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht 

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The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht  (Watterson wrote and illustrated with Kascht also illustrating) is very odd and very amazing. It is an experience book. The authors/illustrators are geniuses and seriously disturbed. The black and white illustrations make for a unique read. If you like Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson’s signature creation) and its darker side (and it can get deep) then I would say that you are still not prepared for what is happening. I am not familiar with John Kascht and […]

I see the potential but …

Steelflower by Lilith Saintcrow

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Seanan McGuire did an AMA a few months back and one of the questions involved recommendations for under-read authors. Her response was that Lilith Saintcrow was always worth the time. And I seem to have, naturally, picked up the exact Lilith Saintcrow book that wasn’t going to be a good match for me. I feel kind of bad not rating this higher but I just had a much better time with the other books I rated as a 3 so far this year so it […]

Sometimes the Real Treasure is the Monsters We Made Friends With Along the Way

Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell

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Heracles may be the son of Zeus, but he does all his deeds in the name of Hera, the goddess of families. When he is struck with madness by a mysterious god and kills his children, he’s sure Hera will return that devotion and help him gain revenge on whoever it was that did it – not realizing that she has hated him all along. Greek mythology retellings have been in vogue in the last few years, following heroes and villains alike and reinterpreting their […]



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