Movie #23 of 2015: The Martian (2015) This was so good! I really wanted to read the book first, and I still plan to get to that at some point, but I’m #10 on the library waiting list and I decided the movie was worth catching in theaters. And I’m so glad, because the visuals …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
TV Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 2
TV #44 of 2015: Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 2 This was a big improvement over season 1, especially in the back half of the year. The characters and plot are getting a lot more development, in terms of both surprising twists and actual narrative movement in the first place. On the other hand, basic …
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Book Review: Doctor Who: Engines of War by George Mann
Book #66 of 2015: Doctor Who: Engines of War by George Mann This first official Doctor Who novel to feature John Hurt’s War Doctor has some interesting Time War backstory stuff, especially regarding what Rassilon was doing beyond what was seen in the David Tennant special The End of Time. There’s also some fun Classic …
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Book Review: This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Book #64 of 2015: This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Last Survivors #3) I don’t know how I feel about this one. I liked the first two books in this series about life after a climate-driven societal collapse, but basically every character in this third novel is a hormone-crazy teenager, and that …
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TV Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 1
TV #41 of 2015: Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 1 I know this is close to sacrilege in certain circles, but I’m pretty thoroughly underwhelmed by this acclaimed cartoon series so far. It’s very… adequate? I guess it feels kind of like the show ReBoot to me: above average children’s entertainment with some occasional cool …
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Book Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore
Book #62 of 2015: Fire by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #2) Just like its predecessor in this series, I have mixed feelings about Fire. There’s a lot it does right, including foregrounding gender discrimination issues in an organic way throughout the plot. But there’s so much falling action, with a good 20% of the book …
Movie Review: Ant-Man (2015)
Movie #22 of 2015: Ant-Man (2015) This was every bit the disappointment I was afraid it would be based on set rumors, but I am just too much of a completionist to not see it. On the plus side, it does have cool effects, some decent humor, and not an entirely white cast. But on …
Book Review: Horns by Joe Hill
Book #60 of 2015: Horns by Joe Hill This book about a man who wakes up with demon horns and the ability to make people tell him their deepest secrets and desires can’t decide what sort of story it wants to be telling. There are a few different ones at play here, from a detective …
Book Review: Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb
Book #59 of 2015: Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb (The Fitz and the Fool #1) Ideally, any sequel should justify its own existence. Why are we returning for another chapter of this story? What new developments require plucking these characters and their world out of the happily-ever-after stasis that we last left them in? Of …
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Book Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Book #58 of 2015: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler An unflinching and unsettling look at the horrors of slavery, as seen through the eyes of a modern-day black woman suddenly transported back to antebellum America. Dana cannot control the strange forces that send her back in time, nor can she avoid getting caught up in …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 