colonization – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

‘The spook and her pet’ take on an alien empire in this amazing sequel – and Bingo #2!

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

August 31, 2021 by Dome'Loki 1 Comment

CBR 13 Bingo: New Series – This is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire which was published in 2019 and completes my second bingo. I loved A Memory Called Empire , in my review said it was deserving its spot on the Hugo nominee list and I was delighted when it won! The follow up, A Desolation Called Peace, is similarly incredible. In preparation for reading this, I found an excellent recap that goes over individuals and factions, and their motivations. I highly recommend it. The […]

Stolen History

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

January 22, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Going into Unfamiliar Fishes, my knowledge of Hawaii was sparse, to say the least. I can’t say that we covered any Hawaiian history in school- not even that it is our “newest” state. Information came in fits and starts; a friend of mine teaches Hula through VSA, I was familiar with Captain Cooks adventures (and one serious misadventure) in the archipelago, and I caught an old episode of No Reservations. Embarrassing, I know. I had nothing to write home about. Enter Sarah Vowell and her “almost oral […]

Finally, Some Good Sci-Fi Again

June 20, 2018 by Jen K Leave a Comment

Bothari43 mentioned Elizabeth Moon as an author to check out when I was lamenting my inability to enjoy sci-fi, and this novel had been mentioned on a Book Riot discussion about novels “with a female protagonist over 60” (or “sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author”). With those two recommendations, I decided to give it a shot, and: it wasn’t me! I have simply been choosing the wrong sci-fi novels. It turns out that I might get bored with descriptions of the […]

Felt Like the Sam-Frodo part of The Two Towers But On Mars: Or, It’s a Rock, I Get It, Can We Get to Someone or Something Interesting?

May 28, 2018 by Jen K 4 Comments

I have seen this novel recommended at least two separate threads in the greater Pajiba FB ecosystem so I thought I would check it out. And I am starting to think that maybe I don’t like sci-fi anymore, because it seems like the last few novels I have read that fit firmly in sci-fi weren’t exactly that great for me (unless we count Red Rising as sci-fi? Because I love those books). The Three Body Problem started out interesting if dark but each novel was […]

A sci-fi adventure on the evils of imperialism

September 22, 2014 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

After reading and loving the Silo trilogy by Howey, I went back to look for others of his works, and found Half-Way Home to be a fascinating and well-done novel in its own right. It is the story of a group of 15-year-olds who had been raised in artificial wombs aboard a spaceship, one of hundreds of such missions sent out from a future Earth to find and colonize viable planets. Missions landing on nonviable planets were abruptly aborted by the artificial intelligence (AI) controlling […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission