Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Scholomance Trilogy (and a Short Story)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman

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What would you do if you were basically in a dark version of Hogwarts, where the semi-sentient school barely cares if you live, and you can’t leave for 4 years? If you’re El, short for Galadriel, you spend the first 2. 5 years of that letting your prickly, angry, bitter exterior prevent anyone from getting close to you. This is where A Deadly Education starts off, about halfway through El’s junior year at the Scholomance. We find out over the course of the novel why […]

“You’ve gotten the taste for excitement and adventure:” Great Sci-Fi/Fantasy by Ann Leckie

Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie

Translation State by Ann Leckie

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Ann Leckie is one of those authors that my brain just clicks with so well that I love everything she writes, like a warm bath for my mind. I always feel very comfortable reading her books because I can trust that she’s taking the plot somewhere that will work for me and that I’ll be satisfied with. She may not be on lists of cozy sci-fi, but it’s somehow cozy to me. I was therefore extremely thrilled to see a collection of her short works […]

First of three interconnected prequel stories to Vox Machina,

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles Volume 1 Ripley by Critical Role, Tyler Walpole and Marieke Nijkamp

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The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles Volume 1 Ripley by Critical Role, Tyler Walpole and  Marieke Nijkamp is not OMG BEST BOOK EVER but it is a nice read. You know the story if you’ve followed Vox Machina in any of its forms, but also because it is a fairly straightforward Villain who does not see herself as Villain (and later a couple forms of revenge) story. The artwork is familiar. You know the scenes and setting. Few real surprises, but it is […]

A Meeting of the Tortured Poets Society

Tangled in Knots: A Dark Omegaverse Novel by Jenn Bullard

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Jenn Bullard’s Tangled in Knots: A Dark Omegaverse Novel is a hard sell. It requires an enormous number of trigger warnings. I’m not even sure that I *want* to recommend it. Don’t get me wrong – Bullard is a talented writer and creates a very detailed and realized world – but then concept of the book is just… DARK doesn’t even begin to cover it. STOP READING NOW IF YOU ARE EASILY DISTURBED BY VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. As with most Omegaverse […]

Ursula Le Guin is a Bad Ass

The Wild Girls by Ursula Le Guin

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The Wild Girls is a small collection of writings by Ursula Le Guin, as well as one interview. I enjoyed this book enormously and it’s a quick read. The first piece is a short story from which the collection gets its name. The Crown men, the elite denizens of a nearby city, kidnap children of the “dirt people,” otherwise known as slaves. They steal a little girl named Mal, whose sister Modha chases after them until she’s caught up with the cadre of soldiers. Among […]

Part cloud, part puppy all fun and (video) games

Cloud Puppy V02 Game On! by Kelly Leigh Miller

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Cloud Puppy V02 Game On! by Kelly Leigh Miller is a fun continuation of Cloud Puppy V01. I read this via an online reader copy. It is due in early March 2025.  While I like Cloud Puppy (part cloud, part puppy) it can be visually overly cute and sugary. It is for for the reader who likes friendship stories and stories about gaming (including LARPING). It does lend itself to a more stereotypical “girl story” but as one of the stories included tells us, we […]



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