Book #6 of 2018: Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone edited by Rich Handley and Jim Beard Some of the short stories in this anthology are better than others, but on the whole it’s an incredibly strong collection of tales spanning the length of the classic Planet of the Apes film and …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Book #5 of 2018: Golden Son by Pierce Brown (Red Rising #2) This is my second time reading this novel — although the first time as an audiobook — and I think my original review from 2016 mostly stands: “Given their common themes of dystopian wargames and rebellion against a corrupt government, The Hunger Games …
TV Review: Stranger Things 2
TV #1 of 2018: Stranger Things 2 I felt like this season was a little bit scattered compared to the one before it, and the overall threats / plots never really clicked for me. (The Eleven-centric episode in particular didn’t seem to bring anything much to the table.) The character arcs were great, though, and …
Book Review: Doctor Who: How to Be a Time Lord by Craig Donaghy
Book #4 of 2018: Doctor Who: How to Be a Time Lord by Craig Donaghy This Doctor Who children’s book was a bit of a disappointment. It’s presented as a manual prepared by the Eleventh Doctor for his successor regeneration(s), but in practice is more of a mini-encyclopedia of various elements from across the show’s …
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Book Review: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Book #3 of 2018: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid There’s a bit of a disconnect between the beginning and end of this novel, but they’re both appealing in their own right. The first half tells a love story in the characters’ war-torn home country (which is never specified by name but appears to be somewhere …
Book Review: The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Book #2 of 2018: The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan #2) This pulp sequel doesn’t quite hit the ludicrous thrills of its classic predecessor, which makes it harder for a modern reader to look past all of the 1900s racism and sexism. It’s worth reading if you want to see the happy …
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Book Review: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Book 1 of 2018: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (The Queen’s Thief #1) This tale of a skilled thief released from prison to rob for the monarch was somewhat predictable, but still very fun and strongly reminiscent of other stories that I’ve enjoyed. (The religious aspect feels straight out of Tortall, and I can …
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TV Review: Game of Thrones, season 5
TV #49 of 2017: Game of Thrones, season 5 This is where the wheels really start to come off Game of Thrones. It’s still better than season 7 in terms of character logic and a lack of plot armor, but this is the point where the writers were past the current ending of the books …
Movie Review: The Judge (2014)
Movie #26 of 2017: The Judge (2014) The cast is good (especially if you’ve been dying to see Marvel’s Iron Man and Kingpin as brothers), and they act their hearts out, but the writing completely fails to live up to their performances. My dad has seen this movie a few times and was really excited …
Book Review: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Book #265 of 2017: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft (The Books of Babel #1) There are some definite rough spots in this steampunk Tower of Babel story, but I like how its protagonist steadily grows from a fussy schoolteacher into someone braver and more capable over the course of the novel. The Tower itself is …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 