Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not what Schrödinger had in mind, but I’ll take it

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

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Jason Dessen is a physics professor at a local college. He lives in Chicago with his wife Daniela and his son Charlie. Once upon a time, Jason was a promising young scientist, destined for greatness, who gave it all up when his girlfriend turned out to be pregnant. Jason’s life is not unpleasant, but it is dull and sedate and the what-ifs occasionally nag at the back of his head. But then, suddenly, Jason is abducted at gunpoint. His assailant stabs him with a syringe. […]

Live to work/work to live, la la la

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow

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I don’t know if this even counts – it might be a short story. But then again, it might be a novella (I read it online and wasn’t paying attention to its length). So, I’m both a great and terrible audience for this – I won’t pretend to have understood most of their sysadmin stuff. But I do love an apocalyptic situation. So…here we go. An extremely short and oversimplified synopsis might be Computer Geeks Save Us All. An extremely fast-acting virus has more or […]

A fun read but current events in Crimea affected the reading

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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My Mom has been trying to get me to read Jasper Fforde books for easily over a decade.  Not sure why I’ve resisted.  Though perhaps it’s due to our different reading preferences.  She only likes a small percentage of recommendations I make .  Naturally, The Murderbot Diaries was one success but mostly I miss.  With how long she’s been persistent I read “The Eyre Affair”, I have felt pressured to like it.  Which has made me drag my feet.  I borrowed it two years ago […]

If you like wildly imaginative and clever sci-fantasy this series is the one for you

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

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The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook is the third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Review for book one Dungeon Crawler Carl Review for book two Carl’s Doomsday Scenario Carl and Princess Donut have descended to the fourth level of the dungeon and into the Iron Tangle.  An entire level that exists exclusively in subways but has trains of all types from steam engines to monorails.  There is no map, there are colored lines (yes, zomp actually is a color) and named lines (like the Nightmare Express), trains […]

Silly gags abound but questions are building faster than goblins on meth

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

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You know how sometimes the next book in the series isn’t as good as the one before it? Carl’s Doomsday Device does not fit in that category.  It continues to be uproariously fun ala Carl having to remove all magic items and running around naked because even his boxers are magic.  However, the questions continue to build.  Why are some NPCs aware and others not?  How mentally stable are the previous crawlers that become NPCs? What is going on in the broader universe that is impacting […]

Are you not entertained?

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

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I was travelling visiting family over the holidays and found that I didn’t bring enough physical books to occupy myself with while away from home. I ended up searching through my Kindle for something new to read, and quickly devoured the first three books in Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series, consisting of Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, and The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook. The plot is sort of a mix of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Hunger Games. One evening in […]



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