Book #162 of 2024: After the Forest by Kell Woods I like the idea of following up with Hansel and Gretel (sorry, “Hans” and “Greta”) as young adults, haunted by the trauma of what they experienced as children, but this fantasy novel spends a bit too long getting to the point, which then winds up …
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TV #45 of 2024: ReBoot ReWind, season 1 In honor of its 30th anniversary, this new eight-part documentary series is a neat look back at the 90s TV show ReBoot, which was the first cartoon to be made with entirely CGI graphics. Drawing on newly-restored footage and interviews with over 50 members of the old …
Book #161 of 2024: Out of Time by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #9) A fun penultimate adventure for this middle-grade sci-fi series, and by this point, I’m positive that I never read this far into these books back in the 90s, so I’m excited to see how everything resolves. The six teenage heroes start this volume …
Book #160 of 2024: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid I might have liked this novel better if I hadn’t first heard about it on a list of #ownvoices Jewish-inspired fantasy works, which definitely set me up for disappointed expectations. Debut author Ava Reid does draw on some folkloric elements from her religious …
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TV #44 of 2024: The Umbrella Academy, season 2 Categorically an improvement over the debut year of this comic book adaptation, which I rated at a frustrating 2-out-of-5 stars for all its elements that never really came together or lived up to their potential. The change for the better is felt immediately in the season …
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Book #159 of 2024: Dragon by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #8) This 1998 title is a bit of an odd installment in the Vlad Taltos fantasy series. It’s not the first volume to take place earlier in the protagonist’s career, back when he was a low-level boss for the Jhereg criminal organization, but it’s unusual …
Book #158 of 2024: Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes An atmospheric example of space horror, but sadly not as effective as author S. A. Barnes’s earlier novel Dead Silence (unconnected except for occupying the same narrow genre). The premise here is fine: a psychologist joins a small crew on a corporate excursion to a …
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Book #157 of 2024: Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard (Greenwing & Dart #6) This series had been steadily improving, but this sixth volume — the latest so far, barring a few spinoff short stories I haven’t read yet — feels like a step backwards for me. It is big on atmospheric winter comfort and overall …
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Book #156 of 2024: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan #3) I think this is where I get off the Finlay Donovan train, unfortunately. This third volume feels like a significant step down for the series, which has never quite managed to grab me despite the fun overall premise of a …
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Book #155 of 2024: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King Author Stephen King has said that he wanted his second published novel to be a modern American version of Dracula, and almost half a century on, I think it’s fair to say that he succeeded in that aim. The parallels are there if you seek them …
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