Book #2 of 2024: The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (The Downworld Sequence #1) This is my least-favorite sort of science-fiction, where the fundamental worldbuilding mechanics that underpin the premise are so opaque that the action is rendered basically incomprehensible. The general idea here is that certain all-powerful AIs once ruled the world, before …
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Book #1 of 2024: North Woods by Daniel Mason My first read of 2024 is this moving sequence of interconnected stories taking place over centuries, following the successive inhabitants of a house nestled deep in the woods of rural New England. From the Puritans who built the home all the way through to its latest …
TV #62 of 2023: What If…?, season 2 Not nearly as impressive as the first year, which was a neat concept for a show but already had some issues in the execution that are worsened here. I swear, I’d feel so much more favorable towards this series if it truly were the anthology that it’s …
Book #136 of 2023: Defiant by Brandon Sanderson (Skyward #4) [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with this author.] A generally satisfying finale to author Brandon Sanderson’s YA space opera Skyward, following three previous novels and a sequence of tie-in novellas cowritten with Janci Patterson. The wider ‘Cytoverse‘ that began with the 2008 story Defending Elysium …
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Movie #10 of 2023: Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road (2023) Disney+ has decided to label this festive Doctor Who outing as Special 4, which suggests a certain close continuity with the recent David Tennant / Catherine Tate trilogy that doesn’t really pan out in the episode itself. Instead, as expected, the script is …
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Book #135 of 2023: A Power Unbound by Freya Marske (The Last Binding #3) Romantasy is the buzzy new publishing genre these days, but for me personally, the fantasy elements always take priority over the romance ones in such a blended work. For that reason, I’ve grown less enamored of this particular trilogy as it’s …
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TV #61 of 2023: Animorphs, season 1 I’ll admit, I went into this 90s Nickelodeon adaptation rather skeptically. I’m a big fan of the original book series about kids turning into animals to fight an alien invasion, which I felt held up pretty well on a recent adult reread, whereas I remember giving up on …
TV #60 of 2023: Star Trek: Discovery, season 3 Discovery’s messy second season ended with the ship jumping far away from the familiar, and this next year quickly confirms that the crew have arrived in the distant future, 900 years after their original era directly preceding TOS. That’s a smart writing choice on a couple …
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Book #134 of 2023: Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan In 1990, reporter Ellen McGarrahan witnessed the state of Florida’s botched execution of death-row inmate Jesse Tafero. (The electric chair sparked and caught fire, ultimately taking seven minutes and three separate jolts to …
Book #133 of 2023: Third Girl by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #40) A fine mid-1960s title from author Agatha Christie, although at this point she’s clearly struggling to understand the contemporary counterculture youth movement. So there’s some silly depictions of nihilistic young people and their supposed drug habits throughout, and the mystery itself hinges on …
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