TV #17 of 2021: His Dark Materials, season 2 A clear improvement over the debut year of this literary fantasy series, in two key areas. First, perhaps simply due to an increased effects budget, we actually see dæmons — the trademark animal soul companions of the franchise — in most shots of anyone from Lyra’s …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Snuff by Terry Pratchett
Book #43 of 2021: Snuff by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #39) Another fine comic adventure, but not quite up to author Terry Pratchett’s best work, which makes it all the more regrettable that this is where we leave the stalwart Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The writer finished just one or two further …
Book Review: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Book #42 of 2021: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy I like the idea of setting this story in a near-future dystopia where climate change has led to mass extinctions, but the overall project is a bit of a misfire for me. I’m deeply uninterested in the narrator’s mysterious past, which comes out in dribs and drabs …
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TV Review: The Stand
TV #16 of 2021: The Stand There’s a promising start to this recent adaptation of Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic epic, which adopts a bold new nonlinear approach to introduce its main characters both surviving the immediate downfall of society across America and establishing a new settlement in the remains of Boulder. Remixing the narrative in that …
Book Review: The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson
Book #41 of 2021: The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson (Mordant’s Need #1) As with many of author Stephen R. Donaldson’s works, I have some complicated feelings towards the Mordant’s Need duology, and especially this first volume. In terms of worldbuilding and atmosphere, the story is top-notch. The mirror-based magical system is …
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TV Review: Community, season 1
TV #15 of 2021: Community, season 1 This is an interesting season to approach on a rewatch, even after so long away. Like many sitcoms, the series takes a while to settle into its rhythms and find its distinctive style, and so a lot of the earlier stuff doesn’t quite feel like the Community that …
Book Review: Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein
Book #40 of 2021: Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein Another podcast turned pop science book, this one offering a whirlwind tour of the history of money as a concept, from its earliest known appearance in ancient civilizations through today’s cutting-edge developments of cryptocurrency and MMT. Author Jacob Goldstein clearly …
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Book Review: The Effort by Claire Holroyde
Book #39 of 2021: The Effort by Claire Holroyde There are occasional glimmers of potential to this new sci-fi release that tempt me to award a 2-star rating — ‘it was ok,’ on the Goodreads scale — but the bad parts are honestly pretty bad and even the best sections aren’t great. The sex writing …
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TV Review: The Americans, season 1
TV #14 of 2021: The Americans, season 1 I’m really enjoying this tense spy thriller, which so far has been equally about its outlandish premise of Soviet operatives in deep cover as a normal American couple and the quieter moments within their marriage (or sham thereof). There’s a natural thematic element of negotiated trust in …
Book Review: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
Book #38 of 2021: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty A short but interesting travelogue exploring different funerary customs around the world. From ancient practices of cannibalism to modern peoples who mummify and go on living with their deceased loved ones to body farms that study …
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 