Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

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I thought this was a great collection. I thought the first story was great with a  sci-fi/speculative fiction bent, and the rest were interesting/great, but I think the one story entitled “Stag Dance” just went on a bit too long. It dragged down the rest of the collection. Be warned that there’s a graphic depiction of animal death in “The Chaser.” “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” (5 stars)-This was a great start to the collection. We hear about something called The Rift Wars where […]

Invading plants from outer space

Overgrowth by Mira Grant

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Seanan McGuire is an incredibly prolific writer – I tend to prefer the things she publishes under Seanan McGuire but I still check out her Mira Grant work. Under that pen name, I like her Newsflesh series (zombies) and her mermaid novellas most. This novel is my least favorite thing I have ever read by Seanan McGuire. I wasn’t sure about the premise even going in but I figured Grant/McGuire would have an interesting take. It started strong, beginning with the horror of a little girl’s […]

I was just saying I don’t do re-reads usually, but then I went and read this again.

Mage and the Endless Unknown by S.J. Miller

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In October 2023 I read Mage and the Endless Unknown by S.J. Miller. I thought I had read it before when I saw it on the (sadly) to be returned cart at work in May 2025. But I figured even if I had read it, I didn’t remember when and a second reading wouldn’t hurt. Fairly quickly I remembered a lot of it, but then there were places that I did not remember at all (I am looking at you the pretty-not-so-nice ghosts) and wondered […]

State Sponsored Horror

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

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I’m not a short story guy. I like a long, dense tale I can sink my teeth into. And there are so many Latin American writers who have penned beauties in that regard. Bolano, Marquez, Gamboa just to name a few. Mariana Enríquez is known for her short fiction collections. I haven’t read them. But in reading the first fifth of this one, I can see why she is so acclaimed. The first part of this book is one of the more visually arresting tales […]

A Holmesian Mystery-Horror Set at Sea

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

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It is 1634, and a fleet owned by the Dutch East India Company is set to depart Batavia for Amsterdam, an 8-month long journey that will face perils throughout. Aboard are Jan Haan, the Governor-General of Batavia on his way home to join the ruling body of the Dutch East India Company, accompanied by his wife Sara Wessel, daughter Leah, and mistress Creesjie. Also on board are the world’s greatest detective, Samuel Pipps, arrested for an unspecified crime, and his bodyguard, Arent Hayes. The day […]

Lost and Found

The Terror by Dan Simmons

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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Life has an odd way of making things come together sometimes. Either that, or I simply wasn’t paying attention when I ended up accidentally reading two books about the lost Franklin expedition at the same time. Both books are fiction, which means that they take their own liberties with the truth; after all, not much is known about the exact fate of the men aboard the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus.  What we do know is this: explorer Sir John Franklin, experienced but not […]



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