The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

TV Review: Star Wars Rebels, season 3

TV #53 of 2021:

Star Wars Rebels, season 3

Another mixed bag of a season. The best element is clearly the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn, making his long-overdue introduction into proper Star Wars canon a full quarter-century after first appearing in the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. I actually haven’t read any of the Thrawn books — which were deemed ‘Legends’ back when Disney bought the franchise – so I can’t compare how his characterization and backstory may have been changed for TV. But at least on the show, he is a cunning strategist whose chilly demeanor is not easily rattled, and by far the most capable antagonist that the titular Rebels have gone up against yet. Elsewhere, the Mandalorian stuff this year is also quite strong, the new Fulcrum contact has a nice storyline, and we even get an Obi-Wan Kenobi episode that finds the old Jedi master facing down Darth Maul for one last time on the sands of Tatooine.

As for what doesn’t work: Ezra has the barest hint of a tempted-to-the-Dark-Side arc, but it’s developed too sporadically to land with any conviction and mostly just makes him seem like a moody teen. The Bendu character is the perfect embodiment of the mysticism that I hate in this universe, and being distinctively and distractingly voiced by Doctor Who’s Tom Baker can’t help sell his bland mantras. Meanwhile, “Double Agent Droid” is probably the worst twenty minutes the program has ever done, with a heavy use of the Alliance’s meanest crewmate Chopper, multiple heroes and enemies monologuing constantly to themselves to explain their actions, and a resolution that hinges on an absolutely unfounded use of the setting’s technology that raises way too many questions. The series around this nadir is thankfully much better, but the moment is emblematic of the weaknesses that continue to hinder everything throughout.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie

Book #177 of 2021:

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #18)

Four solid but generally unremarkable short mystery stories, also published in the US under the title Dead Man’s Mirror. There are murders disguised as suicides and vice versa, stolen military documents (in one of author Agatha Christie’s rare moments of letting real-world political developments inform her writing), and a weird beach holiday where Poirot predicts that someone might end up killed but makes little effort to stop it. This deep into his series, I need clever twists on the familiar formulas to really wow me, and this is largely paint-by-numbers detective work instead. It’s hardly the worst of its lot, but it’s probably not a book I’d particularly recommend, either.

[Content warning for homophobia, sexism, and ethnic slurs.]

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: Master of None, season 3

TV #52 of 2021:

Master of None, season 3

Returning to this series four years after its latest run gives the producers a chance to reinvent the narrative — and distance it from co-creator and original star Aziz Ansari, still under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations — and to their credit, they’ve seized that opportunity. This does feel like a brand-new show, a spinoff subtitled “Master of None Presents: Moments in Love” that focuses on formerly minor character Denise and her fracturing marriage. It’s an interesting change in direction, and the portrayal of a queer, black journey to pregnancy is a definite rarity for television. There are a lot of scenes and conversations, especially in the penultimate episode, whose kind I can honestly report having never before seen depicted in fiction.

With that being said, this season is not particularly fun to watch. Or all that funny, despite the program’s history as a comedy and actress Lena Waithe’s own background in that domain. The jokes do land, but they are few and far between compared to the usual misadventures with Dev. And there are so many lingering artsy shots, as though keeping the camera steady for long extra seconds or even minutes at a time (often on something totally mundane) will make some profound contribution to the meaning of the story. But it really doesn’t! For the most part, it just turns a serious drama that I’m already not wholly feeling into a frustrating exercise in tedium. The better elements in this experiment get inextricably bogged down in all that, to their unfortunate detriment.

[Content warning for miscarriage.]

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes

Book #176 of 2021:

The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone #2)

Another strong entry in this unfairly-obscure fantasy quartet. I don’t like it quite as much as the previous volume, in part since a couple of the new storylines — Anne’s to some extent, but especially Aspar’s — seem to consist largely of characters falling into and out of danger as they trek across the landscape, which is a genre staple that I don’t wholly love. It also feels a little less motivated when a few of those separate threads reconnect at the novel’s end. Mostly, though, I’d rate it as a minor step down simply because everything impressive about the worldbuilding of the debut is basically familiar now, and this sequel doesn’t push forward with as many further revelations of history, magic, or plot as I’d ideally want it to. It’s still an immersively-detailed setting, but one that offers fewer surprises this time around.

Luckily, I remember that the series does get there eventually! And I’ve spotted certain subtle hints to that effect here, although that’s all just setup so far. But in the meantime, even as a bit of a bridge book, The Charnel Prince has plenty to appreciate. I adore the new court composer protagonist for his efforts to be brave in the face of a censoring church, and Sir Neil’s quest to find and safeguard the lost princess has major Brienne of Tarth vibes. There’s fun political intrigue in Queen Murielle’s chapters too, and Cazio’s rakish swordplay and not-so-secret soft heart are always a delight. Overall, all of these heroes are becoming more confident and competent as the peril facing them grows, and alternating among their scattered positions throughout the realm helps build a sense of looming urgency spreading everywhere. So while I wouldn’t say this title is as thoroughly excellent as its predecessor, it’s a great segue towards the action that’s yet ahead.

[Content warning for gore, torture, and sexual assault.]

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Capture by K. A. Applegate

Book #175 of 2021:

The Capture by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #6)

The big hook to this sixth Animorphs volume — the premise alluded to on the front cover and plainly stated on the back — doesn’t actually occur until about two-thirds of the way through the text. Spoiler alert: it’s that Jake himself is taken over by a Yeerk parasite, providing our first good look at what it’s like for someone to experience their body being controlled by one of the aliens, trapped in their own mind and unable to move a muscle while the invader rummages around in their memories to fool everyone else into thinking things are normal.

I like how author K. A. Applegate is able to keep the action compelling despite the protagonist’s basic lack of agency during this ordeal, as well as the clever strategies that the team ultimately finds to handle the threat without hurting their stricken leader or raising undue suspicions. It’s cool that he can communicate directly with the creature via their private internal dialogue too. At the same time, however, it feels like there’s way more that could have been done with this storyline, especially in the period before the imposter is detected.

Moreover, the majority of the novel is just setup leading to that point, leavened with some gross-out morphing into cockroaches and flies. We’re introduced to Visser Three’s human form, Tom gets switched to be the host of a different Controller, and his brother sees an ominous vision of a glowing red eye that will remain unexplained for now, but that’s about it as far as any series plot movement or larger significance. This is also the first time yet that we’ve repeated a narrator, which makes it even more striking how little is going on here.

Although I admit the endgame is pretty thrilling, I wish the book overall had really been as focused on that portion as the official publisher’s description suggests — and that it hadn’t glossed past the arguable war crime of the teen soldiers boiling alive ‘a hundred or so’ of their defenseless enemies. I have to wonder, where is Cassie’s renowned sense of morality, that she stands idly by without objecting in that scene?

[Content warning for claustrophobia, poisoning, and starvation.]

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Yearbook by Seth Rogen

Book #174 of 2021:

Yearbook by Seth Rogen

A heartfelt and hilarious memoir from actor Seth Rogen, reflecting on his childhood and Hollywood career thus far. I especially love how he centers his Jewish identity throughout, both in the particulars of a youth spent at bar mitzvah parties and religious summer camps and in his more recent public objections to increasing white nationalism and its tolerance on platforms like Twitter. That he manages to stay so funny while moralizing — or while describing some pretty bad drug trips — is a further success.

Nonfiction books by famous comedians often end up disappointing me, either from the eclectic and weaker stand-up material that’s been wrangled to meet the publishers’ required length or from the blatant insensitivities like sexism, ableism, and fatphobia that such authors almost inevitably demonstrate as they issue forth with their opinions. (I suppose winning laughs on camera doesn’t automatically translate to good writing, particularly since name recognition alone is likely enough to sell copies.) I always feel as though I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop when I read this sort of title, so it’s been a definite delight to realize that Rogen really does seem to be a decent person as he shares and comments upon his life story for us. Whether you enjoy his movies and TV appearances or not, he’s an entertaining and insightful host across these pages.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Book #173 of 2021:

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #33)

I generally enjoy the Discworld comic fantasy series, but this entry is perhaps a bit shaggy for my tastes. Although the basic premise of a con artist conscripted into running the failing Ankh-Morpork post office has potential, and that protagonist’s arc is a solid example of the scoundrel-growing-a-heart variety, there are a lot of strange side elements here like prophetic visions and sentient talking mail that aren’t given enough development to fully register. Similarly, a few neat ideas end up getting dropped as unimportant as the story goes along, while certain others that I’ve found less interesting seem to occupy much of author Terry Pratchett’s attention instead.

For instance: the fact that all letters have been piling up at the station for decades and are only now going to get delivered is hilariously twisted. Yet for some reason, we spend a lot more time on the invention of stamps, and the backlog concern which should be the biggest logistical hassle is abruptly shunted aside to make room for a petty rivalry with the telegraph industry. I appreciate the philosophical musings on government and criticism of how monopolies value profits over baseline efficiency, but the rambling narrative lacks the focus of this writer at his best.

One bright spot is a character who seems to be on this setting’s equivalent of the autism spectrum, and how his hyperfixation on select topics is allowed to grow beyond a punchline. There’s also a fun joke at the expense of a busybody blocking someone from entering a bathroom on the basis of apparent gender. (The golem, who is actually neither a man nor a woman and is merely attempting to clean up the place, is renamed Gladys to satisfy the objection.) As ever, I don’t think Pratchett is trying too hard to model acceptance of diversity — an earlier moment in the book contains a snide remark about a “transvestite,” particular physical descriptions are pretty fatphobic, and of course the title itself mocks mental health and gun violence — but the brighter spots when he leans in that direction are nice.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

Book #172 of 2021:

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

This is a remarkable and remarkably ambitious project, bringing together eighty prominent African American writers, from Angela Davis to Jamelle Bouie to Isabel Wilkerson, in order to pen a sweeping account of the first four centuries of black existence in the land that would become the United States. Each contributor takes a subsequent five-year period within that span to comment upon — with ten additional poets providing interstitial reflections as well — and their different perspectives as historians, lawyers, activists, journalists, novelists, and beyond draw out many distinctive facets of how their common ethnic group has experienced the changing times.

If we’re splitting hairs, the end result is less a strict history than a historically-informed narrative, with some of the entries for instance using their designated window as more of a springboard into relevant memoir or philosophical debate. But it’s overall a deep journey through oppression and resistance, tracing those evolving threads from the earliest slave ships to Reconstruction to Jim Crow lynchings to the Black Lives Matter movement today. All told, it’s a powerful production to commemorate a somber anniversary and a past that deserves our attention.

[Content warning for rape and slurs.]

★★★★☆

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Movie Review: Serenity (2005)

Movie #3 of 2021:

Serenity (2005)

When the show Firefly was canceled — before the planned end of its first season, after airing its episodes all out of order — it left a lot of plotlines open and a lot of strengths on the table. Fans were outraged, and as the series gained further followers via its DVD release, it became enough of a nerdy cult classic that this big-budget revival / sequel was greenlit and ultimately released a few years on.

It’s a bit of a strange film, as much a conclusion to the preceding 14 hours of serialized narrative as a totally standalone adventure. The script is nimbly written for both halves of the bifurcated audience that that suggests: for those viewers who already know about these characters and their ‘verse and don’t want to sit through unnecessary exposition and the ones who do need at least a little hand-holding to properly set the scene. One of the big successes of the piece, in my opinion, is how it manages to satisfy those opposing demands to produce a title everyone can enjoy — which I can attest to, having actually been a member of each camp in turn myself.

For the familiar crowd, it’s pretty clear anyway that this is not just a super-sized installment of the television program. The tone is subtly different, more of a Star Wars-esque space opera than the sci-fi western of the small screen. The iconic theme song and similar cowboy musical cues are gone. The main cast members return in all their dusty glory and spouting the same clever Joss Whedon quips, but circumstances for a few have changed, and there’s no sign or mention of any of their previous friends, opponents, or even acquaintances. This project is definitely its own independent story, despite the background that many of us bring to it.

And what a story! It condenses the existing conflict and unused plans for later seasons to present a powerful galactic government seeking to recapture the escaped psychic they’ve experimented upon, while her shipmates race to figure out what secrets worth killing over might be locked inside her traumatized mind. The action is exciting, but it also enables a continued thematic exploration of the tensions between the rigid control of civilization and the anarchic liberty of the frontier. It’s a fine underdog tale too, with a freedom of information message that I remember playing well in the Bush-era protests of the time. The Operative is a fascinating new foe, one particular death is cruelly effective, and the whole thing functions as a far better sendoff to this franchise — give or take the subsequent comic books — than the original TV finale.

Of course, there are some issues. We’ve still got the orientalist set dressing and frequent Chinese code-switching without any meaningful presence of Asian performers on camera. The only evidence of Judaism in this future is a minor ally who stomps a glass in the video of his wedding to a sex robot. Shepard Book is sort of awkwardly squeezed into the picture and then poorly-utilized. And the plot beats are almost too frenetic to address everything in full, as though the creative team knew this was their last big chance to wrap up the continuity and didn’t have room to let anything breathe. The cracks are apparent, the closer you look.

Mostly it all works, however. A propulsive interplanetary sprint is not such a bad framework, and the representation is disappointing but unsurprising given the identical situation in the earlier run. Overall, this is a great final showing for the crew of the Serenity, and one I’d say holds up today.

[Content warning for jump scares, gore, cannibalism, and suicide.]

★★★★☆

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Book Review: City of Bones by Michael Connelly

Book #171 of 2021:

City of Bones by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #8)

I wouldn’t say this Harry Bosch novel is bad per se, but it’s probably my least favorite of the series yet. There’s a lot of attention placed on the reckless rookie cop that the detective is dating, coupled with a brusque rejection of the department rules that rightly flag such a relationship between a superior and a junior member of the force as problematic — a behavior in line with the protagonist’s continued disdain for Internal Affairs and the squad who investigate all officer-involved shootings to find or rule out police corruption. If the main plot at hand were more interesting, all that might matter less, but the twists of its cold case are fairly telegraphed and I’m frustrated by how Bosch seems equally certain about each of his incorrect conclusions on the way to finally identifying the true culprit. Author Michael Connelly is generally capable of producing solid workmanlike procedurals, and this particular story is no exception, but he offers little to elevate the material here above a typical episode of something like Law & Order.

[Content warning for gun violence, suicide, domestic abuse, death of a child, and pedophilia.]

★★★☆☆

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