Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

So much promise, yet so bland

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

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Bingo 24: Celestial The Mimicking of Known Successes takes place at some point in the future when humanity has left Earth (maybe hopes to go back) and largely now lives on Jupiter. By virtue of setting, discussed in some detail, this is a cosmic setting with some cosmic questions about the future of planet Earth and humanity and other species. This novella is marketed as a sapphic romance (there’s a little), a murder investigation (also a little), gaslamp (kinda), and maybe a few other things […]

Murderbot deals with a lot of (redacted) and more thwarting evil big business

System Collapse by Martha Wells

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Bingo 23: Tech Sci-fi general is a safe option for this box, and I just so happen to have had Murderbot Diaries #6 on my TBR shelf. System Collapse is definitely tech-relevant, but only if you’re pretty current with previous episodes of the series. There’s two big mysteries in this volume: can Murdebot and its humans save some divided groups of planetary colonists from an evil corporation that wants to trick them into slavery, and 2) what’s up with Murdebot and {redacted}? The {redacted} thing […]

Murder on an interplanetary cruise

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

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What: A murder mystery in space!  Lovebirds Tesla Crane and Shal Steward are celebrating their honeymoon on an interplanetary cruise ship.  Tesla’s notoriety has them traveling incognito and all is going well until Shal finds a woman who has been stabbed in the corridor.  When the woman dies shortly thereafter, he is accused of murder.  Tesla and Shal work to solve the murder, clear his name, and try to have a honeymoon! Who:  Tesla Crane is a ridiculously rich heiress and retired roboticist.  Living with […]

“Bourgeois fistula! Bourgeois fistula!” the rest of the dolphins chimed in unison.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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John Scalzi can usually be relied on to deliver some delightfully silly good fun, and Starter Villain is no exception.  Much in the same vein as one of his other more recent books, The Kaiju Preservation Society, Starter Villain starts with some down in the dumps protagonist whose life is suddenly shaken upside down and they are suddenly swept away to a secret, parallel part of society that we regular schlubs never get to see. A hidden section of society that’s a little fun, a little […]

I haven’t finished but still had thoughts

Mutant Cats, Volume 1 by Matthew Medney, Morgan Rosenblum, and Alex Arizmendi

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I hadn’t even finished the first five pages of Mutant Cats, Volume 1 and I was wondering if I should finish it. Or even if I could. There were some nasty images on those first few pages and I was just finishing up a tuna sandwich, so things in the ol’ tum were becoming not happy (totally ruined my lunch,  too). Yet, I said, give it a chapter.  Well, I finished that chapter and decided I’ll do my best to finish it as it had […]

Mystery, Political Intrigue, Science Fiction, and Quiet Romance

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

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January Stirling is a ballet dancer in a future England, forced to flee Earth as a climate refugee when his city – and seemingly much of Britain – becomes submerged in a massive flood. Climate refugees who manage to get off-planet are sent to Tharsis, the only city on a terraformed Mars, where their strength – unaffected by the weaker gravity and thinner atmosphere of Mars – causes them to be a major threat to the naturalized Martians. Earthstrongers, as they are called, are required […]



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