Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A delightful scifi Sherlock retelling with aliens and disability rep.

A Study in Black Brew by Marie Howalt

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They say life is a string of chances held together with grit and guided by passion, and who am I to disagree? If you are looking for a retelling to read on Sherlock Holmes Day (May 22), I would recommend Marie Howalt’s A Study in Black Brew. It’s a scifi setting, on a queer-normative world with multiple species. The plot is pretty straightforward as a retelling of A Study in Scarlett (except no dogs, or helpless pets are killed), but Howalt has made choices that […]

An old 16 millimeter camera and a real fantasy world

Final Cut by Charles Burnsa

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I gave Final Cut by Charles Burnsa a four for the illustrations. They are complicated and straightforward. The story is complex to the point of almost not understanding it. There is no real action (unless you count the two couples who get down and dirty with some mad monkey love), yet a lot is going on. There is language, drug use, alcoholism, nudity, and vomit. There is actually a story behind why I wanted to read this book. And I have no idea what it […]

Ragtag Crew of Humans Saving the World

Unstoppable #1 Victories Greater Than Death  by Charlie Jane Anders

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There are a lot of good things that are included in Unstoppable #1 Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders. However, not only is this a book that while you can stop after book one you need the series to fill in blanks, there are events that I just could not like. I know that this is a controversial statement due to the subjects included. We deal a lot with gender (in fact it is such an important part of things, when someone introduces themselves […]

Horribly Fun

Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Tchaikovsky has a knack for making humans supporting actors in his space-faring opera about intelligent animal life. After reading Children of Time, which I enjoyed, I wasn’t sure how he would do a second book about a different species in a fresh way. But this second book is just as good as the first. Told in a similar way to Children of Time, Children of Ruin switches between the past and present. The past being a time when human civilization has basically self-destructed and sent […]

“For I fear that the day when aliens reveal themselves to us fully will also become the first day of the end of life on Earth as we know it!”

UFO Mushroom Invasion by Shirakawa Marina

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This is the second book in Ryan Holmberg’s imprint of classic SF/horror manga from the 1970s/80s. I will say I enjoyed Her Frankenstein better but I thought UFO Mushroom Invasion was also interesting and had some striking moments that made me glad I read this. I do understand that smaller print books tend to be more expensive because they have smaller print runs and tighter economics to work out, but $19.95 is a tough price point for me here considering that most manga is ranging […]

Orphans and them

We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Clayton Cowles

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I have had We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Clayton Cowles as an online reader copy for a few months. I have had opportunities to read it, but for the most part I figured it would expire before I had a chance to. Thankfully I was able to find it and read it at lunch today. It was an interesting experience. This graphic novel is an on book. We know the dystopian aspects (a girl wakes up one morning to find […]



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