Book #250 of 2021: The Narrows by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #10) This is one of the more serialized Harry Bosch adventures, at least of what I’ve read so far. Terry McCaleb, protagonist of Blood Work and the detective’s reluctant partner in A Darkness More Than Night, is dead. His widow suspects foul play, and …
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Book #249 of 2021: The Gap Into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #3) After a curious series debut and a more promising immediate sequel, this third Gap volume lands somewhere in between, delivering a decent yet slightly perfunctory follow-up. As is often the case for the …
Book #248 of 2021: Ariadne by Jennifer Saint The latest Greek myth to be retold as an extended novel, in the way that Madeline Miller famously did for Circe in 2018. This effort doesn’t soar quite as much as that one in either the quality of its prose or its basic character and plot work, …
Book #247 of 2021: The Warning by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #16) The internet stuff in this novel is fairly dated, with AOL-style chat rooms and explanations of screen names and browser cookies, but only because the technology has moved on in the decades since 1998, never in a way that seems like author K. …
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TV #70 of 2021: Star Wars Rebels, season 4 There are two resonant character farewells in this last year of Star Wars Rebels: first in the episode “Jedi Night” and then in the overall finale. We also get the surprise return of Ahsoka Tano following her apparent death two seasons back, which may have worked …
Book #246 of 2021: The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade & The Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World by Vincent Bevins A fascinating, informative, and utterly depressing chapter in twentieth-century world history, of the sort that’s generally either omitted altogether or heavily abridged in American textbooks and popular culture, obscuring our country’s shameful activities …
Movie #6 of 2021: Black Widow (2021) While I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, this particular title wasn’t high on my priority list, given its status as a standalone prequel for a character whose plot arc had already reached a frustrating conclusion in the main series. But I’m pleasantly surprised by it, especially …
Movie #5 of 2021: Star Wars (1977) As expected, this sci-fi classic absolutely still holds up. The worldbuilding is naturalistic and immersive, the characters are compelling, and the stakes of the storyline make sense at every stage. The pacing is excellent throughout, up until arguably the final attack on the Death Star, which maybe drags …
Book #245 of 2021: Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle #4) Also published under the name Easy to Kill in the U.S., this is the fourth Agatha Christie novel to feature Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, although as usual he barely makes an appearance at all (here only showing up for a couple …
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TV #69 of 2021: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4 Worf is here! And so is the Klingon Empire, muscling in on the local sector of space now that Cardassia and Bajor have reached a tentative peace. Both the transfer officer from the now-ended Star Trek: The Next Generation and the warrior civilization that …
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