Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Timothy Chalamet with nose plugs is gross

Dune by Frank Herbert

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I can’t say if I liked the movie or the book better. I fell asleep during the first (new) movie and I’m just meh about the book. I don’t know, the story was fine. It’s grand in scope, literally spanning the universe, but dealing mostly with one planet, the sand planet of Arrakis, inhabited by the Fremen and spaceship eating sandworms that produce something called, spice, which is necessary for interplanetary travel. Herbert writes about the struggle for power over Arrakis between two powerful families, […]

Murderbot and ART: relationships, trauma, and planets are the worst

Network Effect by Martha Wells

System Collapse by Martha Wells

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Note: This is a spoiler-free review for Network Effect and System Collapse.  If you’ve read Network Effect dive into both reviews!  However, if you haven’t read Network Effect do not continue on to the review of System Collapse.  In order to discuss System Collapse I need to include information that is learned in Network Effect (which is kind of spoiler-ish if you haven’t read it yet).  If you have not read Network Effect yet, please enjoy its review.  When you’re finished come back for my review of System Collapse! […]

Aliens Everywhere

On Earth As It Is On Television by Emily Jane

The Seep by Chana Porter

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I loved both of these books. They are both technically science fiction, in that they both deal with alien invasions. But like the best scifi, the stories are less about aliens and more about what makes us human. In Emily Jane’s On Earth As It Is On Television, the ships show up, hover for a day or so, and then just leave. What follows is a bit of a wacky adventure, featuring cats as main characters and an average dad just trying to hold it together […]

A Future I Can Believe In

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

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I seem to be having a bit of a #scifisummer and it has been so fun and refreshing, even when it’s tense and complicated. Sometimes the chaos goblin who runs my brain at the library is on the right track, and I’ve had some excellent grabs recently. Rocketing straight to the top of the list (get it? rockets?? science fiction???? you’re welcome), is this bonkers beauty that I finished this morning and cannot stop thinking about. In short, we’re about 50,000 years in the future, […]

Smashy Smash

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

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CBR Bingo- Strange Worlds I am glad to see a bunch of folks reading The Kaiju Preservation Society because it was great fun. Very much like his Redshirts novel where a merry band of misfits exist and wackiness ensues. It’s not completely low stakes, and it had enough tension that I almost worried a little for our misfits. These misfits are smart scientists, except for the main character, Jamie. Jamie lifts things. Jamie is pretty non descript. Most of the characters are not described in […]

WHen zombies may not be just zombies and the body and soul connection is not what anyone seems to think

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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Bingo 9: Strange Worlds Nona the Ninth takes place in an apocalyptic city but there are references to space travel and planets and other not-Earth realms (namely The River, but that might be a little spoiler-y); this novel definitely fits the strange part of Strange Worlds and by the final third or so starts to really get more into the worlds part. Nona seems to be around 12 or so, but really has maybe only existed for about 6 months, at least that’s as far […]



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