Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Children of Dune – a worthy successor to the original novel

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

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It has been probably over 30 years since I last read Children of Dune and I did not remember it being this complex or political. Of the first 3 books in the series, it is the one that is most focused on politics (yes, even more than Dune). The intrigues between Jessica and Duncan, between Alia and the twins, between the Preacher and Alia, basically everyone is scheming against everyone else. The religious subtext takes a backseat, with one notable exception, to the plotting of […]

Competent, Readable Science Fiction

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson

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Robert Charles Wilson writes enjoyable, twisty sc-fi and Darwinia fits into his usual pattern of work. It’s a straight forward book that I know I’ve read before, but I had no memory of any of the twists or the plot. I guess that’s part of my general sense of okayness with the book — it’s not groundbreaking or revelatory, but it is competent and fun, and not everything is going to be Ursula K LeGuin. You’ll probably like it but won’t remember it in a year. I […]

An Underdeveloped Look a AI-Human Relationships

Pixels of You by Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota, and J.R. Doyle

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I’ve been following Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota’s work for years (I really love their autobio comics), so I preordered this and promptly forgot I did that until it showed up in the mail today. It’s nice to give yourself little presents in the future like that, and preordering really helps the authors. Overall, though, I found this to be a bit of a disappointment when compared to their other work. Fawn and Indira are interns at a photography gallery, and their first meeting is […]

“With everyone working together and recognizing each other’s humanity, we will all get to space someday, and we will all have enough.”

Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti

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This was another great purchase courtesy of the new YA graphic novel section at my Barnes & Noble! Across a Field of Starlight has everything I want in a book — thoughtful science fiction, an examination of what growing up in a traumatic situation of deprivation vs growing up in a utopian commune situation does to you, interrogation of colonialism, mental health, trans and queer characters (one of the main characters has the pansexual pride flag tattooed on their arm!), body diversity, etc, etc, etc… […]

Fauxschizzle vs. 2099: An Introduction

Marvel's 2099 Series by Various

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I was an easy mark. Overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of stories, art, subject matter that filled my local Brooklyn comic store, and limited by a $5-per-week allowance, I had no idea where to enter the world of comic books. Even at a young age I was a story junkie. I loved Spider-Man, Batman, the Silver Surfer, and had a huge crush on Jubilee from the X-Men. I was interested in so many more… Wolverine, Sandman, Martha Washington Goes to War, Tank Girl, Ghost Rider, […]

How I Met Your Monster

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter: The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club Book 1 by Theodora Goss

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This YA novel, the first in a trilogy, introduces the reader to the members of the Athena Club. It is their origin story. What is the Athena Club? It is a group of young women in London ca. 1900 who have one thing in common — a monstrous past! They are Mary Jekyll, Diana Hyde, Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein and Beatrice Rappaccini. A series of gruesome murders of prostitutes will bring these young women together with a little help from none other than Sherlock Holmes […]



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