Movie #20 of 2026: Terminator Genisys (2015) [Note: this is an updated version of my review from 2016.] The fifth Terminator movie is a fun but deeply incoherent action spectacle, enjoyable only to the extent you can turn off the parts of your brain that obsess over plot holes or try to keep track of …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
Book #64 of 2026: The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang This fantasy novel starts out strong, gets legitimately great around midway through, but then unfortunately peters out in the end, without really resolving some of the larger plot threads that it introduces (which might be excusable for the launch of a series, but …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang”
Book Review: In Lonely Lands by Victoria Goddard
Book #63 of 2026: In Lonely Lands by Victoria Goddard This is the sort of title that I almost hate to see released as a standalone item, because it’s too insubstantial to bear much scrutiny but could be perfectly situated as a part of a larger story collection. In this case, it’s a ‘tale of …
Continue reading “Book Review: In Lonely Lands by Victoria Goddard”
Book Review: 84K by Claire North
Book #62 of 2026: 84K by Claire North This novel has an interesting dystopian setting, which reads sort of like Gattaca meets V for Vendetta meets some of the depressing ultra-capitalist futures from Black Mirror. The justice system has shifted all crimes to be punished with indemnity charges rather than jail time, meaning that even …
TV Review: Matlock, season 2
TV #19 of 2026: Matlock, season 2 The modern gender-swapped Matlock is a CBS legal procedural that loves to over-explain things to its audience, but I still rated the debut season at four-out-of-five stars for how propulsively fun the core premise can be at its best: an elderly lawyer infiltrating a law firm under an …
Movie Review: Terminator Salvation (2009)
Movie #19 of 2026: Terminator Salvation (2009) A competent action spectacle that finally shows us John Connor in his element as a resistance soldier (though not yet a leader) in the post-apocalyptic future that the franchise had repeatedly warned us was looming. That’s a reasonable premise to explore and one that never plays like much …
Continue reading “Movie Review: Terminator Salvation (2009)”
Book Review: The Red Box by Rex Stout
Book #61 of 2026: The Red Box by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe #4) These 1930s mysteries remain solid enough as a sort of American pastiche of Agatha Christie, but so far they’ve failed to hit the heights that she could periodically achieve for me. The premise to this novel, for example, is initially interesting — …
TV Review: Abbott Elementary, season 5
TV #18 of 2026: Abbott Elementary, season 5 As a sitcom, this series has always had a somewhat tenuous connection to any sort of grounded reality, but like The Office, it feels as though the comedy is getting broader and the characters more flanderized as the program ages. So here, for example, the teachers spend …
Book Review: Moonwar by Ben Bova
Book #60 of 2026: Moonwar by Ben Bova (Moonbase Saga #2) Author Ben Bova’s novel Moonrise was a somewhat scattered prelude about life in a near-future lunar settlement, but it built nicely to the situation that’s front and center for this sequel: the facility’s leaders declaring their independence from Earth, so as not to be …
Book Review: Doctor Who: Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans
Book #59 of 2026: Doctor Who: Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans (Virgin New Adventures #13) One of the better entries that I’ve read in this 90s spinoff series so far, and especially notable for a few fun developments on the side. First, this is the sole VNA novel written by editor Peter Darvill-Evans, and so offers …
Continue reading “Book Review: Doctor Who: Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans”
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 