Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

An enjoyment of sci-fi was awakened by Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

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I will start by saying that I typically do not enjoy sci-fi, but I found it hard to put this book down. Leviathan Wakes primarily follows the Jim Holden, former military officer turned private captain of water transport ship, and Joe Miller, washed-up detective who doesn’t know he’s past his prime. Holden and his ragtag crew members start an interplanetary war after his ship is attacked. Miller investigates a missing persons case across multiple planets at the center of said war . Together, they discover a […]

A great series goes out with a whimper

The King of Crows by Libba Bray

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The King of Crows is the fourth and final book in the Diviners series.  The series is about a group of superpowered teenagers in 1920s New York City. Evie can read objects to learn about the owners; Memphis can heal diseases and injuries; Theta has fire that shoots out from her body; Henry can walk in people’s dreams and influence their dreams; Ling can walk in dreams to talk to the dead; Isaiah sees the future; Sam can become invisible; Jericho has superhuman strength and […]

Is love really the answer in the end?

Dimension W, vol. 16 by Yuji Iwahara

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I did a quick check and I’m a little surprised that I haven’t reviewed a volume of this series before now; I’ve certainly read them all but somehow not reviewed one until the final 16th volume. Dimension W is a manga series, and there was also an anime that covered basically the first two story arcs. The gist is that in the future, the world now relies on energy drawn from Dimension W although what the dimension is and how it works is not well […]

Breathing in a collection of sci-fi short stories by a master

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

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Exhalation: Stories is a collection of short sci-fi stories written by Ted Chiang. Below is a short review of each story but over-all, Exhalation: Stories made me think. Collectively, each story forced upon a small crisis of identity in how I relate to technology in my own world, and I am a more self-aware person for it. Chiang created a collection of stories that all meshes together. No story feels out of place or like an intruder. “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”: An interesting and […]

A murder mystery in the heart of a space opera

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

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I brought this book home in March 2019.  It was Mysterious Galaxy’s featured speculative fiction hardcover pick for the month.  Over the past year this book kept getting recommended; by fellow Cannonballers, articles, and it is nominated for a Hugo award.  That nomination finally pushed A Memory Called Empire to the top of my TBR. In a normal timeline, I would have torn through this book in a matter of days.  Instead it took a few weeks.  This book pushed all the right buttons; excellent sci-fi world […]

Recursion is repetitive

Recursion by Blake Crouch

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Recursion is about memory, time, and how the human brain processes and perceives both.  New York City detective Barry Sutton is investigating False Memory Syndrome, a terrifying condition spreading across the US. Victims have memories of a life they never lived. Sometimes the false life feels more real than their actual life, causing heartbreak and occasionally suicide.  Helena Smith is a neuroscientist trying to find a way to record memories and reimplant them in the brain in order to help Alzheimer’s patients remember their lives. […]



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