Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This does not mean they don’t exist.

To be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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This is a novella narrated by an astronaut waking from suspended animation, called torpor here, or more accurately delayed animation, which as we find out is the more accurate way to describe the very slowed down effects of the state, as opposed to pure sleep or stoppage. This is an exploratory spacecraft whose purpose to look into a series of different planets (with very different sets of factors) and see about them. But this is like playing Mass Effect or another planet jumping game or […]

Slow at first, but absolutely worth it in the end

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

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From Goodreads: From the ground, we stand. From our ship, we live. By the stars, we hope Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat. Tessa chose to stay home when her […]

The Reality of Space Travel

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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The lovely faintingviolet thrust this upon me a few days ago, and since I still hadn’t found something for my Science square, this little book was perfect. Faintingviolet’s a huge fan of Becky Chambers, and really enjoyed her first book, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. As I’m not so much in the sci-fi end of the speculative world, I’d never come across Chambers’ work before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful this novella was. Chambers builds an entire world in a […]

“The ache to return to a time long gone was almost worse than fear.” (CBR11 Bingo)

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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I knew what to expect from a Becky Chambers book after reading two of her previous novels in the Wayfarers series (which apparently this novella is not part of… but I swear its in the same universe). To Be Taught, If Fortunate would have some vivid writing, exceptional world-building (seriously, what Chambers can do in a matter of sentences to build an entirely new environment is insane), and diverse characters. I knew nothing else when picking it up, and I’m glad. I didn’t need to. […]

Questions about Modernity and Ways of Life – But in Space

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

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While Becky Chambers has already explained the circumstances of the descendants of Earth in broad strokes in her previous two Wayfarer novels, in this third novel, she shifts her attention to the remaining human fleet.  When Earth was on the brink of collapse, some people with resources started by colonizing planets and moons in the Solar System such as Mars.  Those left behind eventually had to deconstruct the cities and sky scrapers, and use those resources to create a fleet for the last of humanity […]

Choice, Purpose and Design

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

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While A Closed and Common Orbit deals with the aftermath of the events The Long Way to Small, Angry Planet, it can be read independently.  The novel alternates between the view points of two characters.  Lovelace/Sidra’s perspective takes place directly after the other novel, and Jane’s chapters take place about 20 years prior, and explore how she ended up escaping a planet where she was genetically engineered for one specific function/job.  This isn’t a spoiler since Pepper was introduced in the previous novel as a […]



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