Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

New to me sci fi romance where we jump across galaxies

Grimspace by Ann Aguirre

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I can get stuck in a paranormal romance rut, but I also love me some romance in space. Even better if there’s a twist on the enemies to lovers trope. Grimspace is the first Sirantha Jax novel from Ann Aguirre. This sci-fi romance is written from the main character’s point of view. In this part of the universe, space travel requires a pilot and a special navigator like Sirantha to fly through the wormhole-esque grimspace. Ships can jump through the galaxies with these jumpers possessing […]

The Reality of Space Travel

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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The lovely faintingviolet thrust this upon me a few days ago, and since I still hadn’t found something for my Science square, this little book was perfect. Faintingviolet’s a huge fan of Becky Chambers, and really enjoyed her first book, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. As I’m not so much in the sci-fi end of the speculative world, I’d never come across Chambers’ work before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful this novella was. Chambers builds an entire world in a […]

Questions about Modernity and Ways of Life – But in Space

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

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While Becky Chambers has already explained the circumstances of the descendants of Earth in broad strokes in her previous two Wayfarer novels, in this third novel, she shifts her attention to the remaining human fleet.  When Earth was on the brink of collapse, some people with resources started by colonizing planets and moons in the Solar System such as Mars.  Those left behind eventually had to deconstruct the cities and sky scrapers, and use those resources to create a fleet for the last of humanity […]

Choice, Purpose and Design

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

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While A Closed and Common Orbit deals with the aftermath of the events The Long Way to Small, Angry Planet, it can be read independently.  The novel alternates between the view points of two characters.  Lovelace/Sidra’s perspective takes place directly after the other novel, and Jane’s chapters take place about 20 years prior, and explore how she ended up escaping a planet where she was genetically engineered for one specific function/job.  This isn’t a spoiler since Pepper was introduced in the previous novel as a […]

“Nothing … was private: only secret, only silent. We ate our tears.”

The Birthday of the World and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin

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  This book is so wildly out of my wheelhouse that I don’t really feel qualified to assess it. I’ve almost never read science fiction and rarely read short story collections, and I’m sure I’ve never read a book that was both. There were some stories I loved and some I hated (luckily, the longer novella at the end hit a solid “liked a lot” on that scale), but without a doubt I now have tremendous respect for Le Guin as a writer. It’s astonishing […]

“… these are the differences that determine the fate of the universe.”

Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson

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In the year 2213, Earth no longer exists. Mysteriously, the sun began expanding in size, approaching supernova phase far far earlier than it should.  Humanity was prepared, having developed the plans and ability to colonize Mars briefly, before regrouping on a distant star with Earth-like qualities. By now, most humans have begun the 150 year journey to this new star, and a select few remain behind on Mars to finish terraforming and collect data to ensure the trip to our new home goes smoothly.  Liam […]



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