Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Afflicted by a hero.

Dune Messiah (Dune, #2) by Frank Herbert

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Hoo boy, talk about conflicting thoughts and feelings. This book (at least my edition) starts with an introduction by Frank Herbert’s son, Brian, who has shepherded the world of Dune since his father’s death, co-writing books with Kevin J. Anderson and making sure his father’s stories and legacy are safe. This is nice of him! He clearly admired his father very much. Anyway, in the intro, he posits that Dune Messiah wasn’t nearly as well-received by fans and critics because Herbert does something unique to […]

Arranged marriage, murder and miscommunications – in SPAAAACE!

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

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I have desperately wanted to read this book since I saw the cover and read the blurb. Arranged marriage? Political machinations? Murder? Yes, yes and yes. And wow, did this book live up to it! This is near my perfect mix of scifi and romance. The romantic relationship is center stage, but there’s also twisty political machinations and a murder mystery, all of which serve to give the couple more insight into each other. It’s tropey as heck – arranged marriage, “oh no, we have to […]

The Ancillary trilogy ends with the tremendously satisfying Ancillary Mercy

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

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Note: Ancillary Mercy is the third book in the Imperial Radch series, following Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword. The trilogy is one long story and should be read from the beginning.   I spent a lot of my review for Ancillary Sword snarking about the unpronounceable names of characters and places. I did this because the plot itself was kind of a mess and not super engaging. Apparently, Ann Leckie took my feedback to heart, went back in time, and wrote Ancillary Mercy. It is the only way I can explain the leap […]

Who would want to redo your freshman year of high school repeatedly?

Time Travel for Love and Profit by Sarah Lariviere

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This book is weird, and not just in the way you expect a Groundhog-Day-esque time travel book to be. “Breakthroughs are great, don’t get me wrong; but admitting that there were epic flaws in your original idea is hella painful. I’ve decided that science is like a sausage factory. Major discoveries are delicious, but you don’t want to know what’s in there.” Nephele loves math. Frankly, she’s a genius. She knows that makes her weird and generally not like the other freshmen at her high […]

A Tale of Ralph and Carls in the Imperial Radish

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

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Note: Ancillary Sword is the second book in the Imperial Radch series, following Ancillary Justice. Because I had once been a ship. An AI controlling an enormous troop carrier and thousands of ancillaries, human bodies, part of myself. At the time I had not thought of myself as a slave, but I had been a weapon of conquest… – Ancillary Sword Like most of us on CBR, I read a lot and I read many series at once. Usually, when returning to a series it […]

Sympathy for the Devil.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

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Reread time! Massive reread time! This was all triggered by last years’ Cannonball Book Exchange, where ElCicco was kind enough to send me the three main entries in the The Machinaries of Empire series. I had read the books one by one as they had come out, but I had never sat down and binge-read them before. And honestly, now that I have done that—while adding the more recently published short story collection—I think the series is even better. Usual disclaimer: as I am reviewing […]



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