The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

TV Review: Doctor Who, season 9

TV #5 of 2016:

Doctor Who, season 9

I know I just watched it as it first aired, but last year’s season of Doctor Who was just as incredible the second time around. My review from a month ago stands:

I know a lot of people have cooled on Doctor Who lately — or perhaps just on showrunner Steven Moffat — but the season that just ended was seriously the best one since Matt Smith’s first in 2010, and free of a lot of those twisty Moffatisms that many viewers dislike. Structuring the year primarily as a sequence of two-parters was a bold choice that really paid off, with the standalone “Sleep No More” being the only episode that didn’t really work for me. (And even that was more of an interesting failure of a unique format than an out-and-out dud.) Everything else was absolutely fabulous, with a couple of series-high greats. Definitely worth catching up on if you had stopped watching at some point!

★★★★★

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Book Review: The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

Book #6 of 2016:

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

The Witch’s Boy was a swing and a miss for me. This middle-grade fantasy had some interesting ideas, but they just weren’t well developed enough to cohere into a satisfying story. The whole book needed some major rewrites, and apparently it wasn’t even the author’s first novel. So, yeah – not reading anything from that author again. This book was a Christmas present from Gabby, who thought I might like it based on the plot description on the back. And it was a good pitch for a story, but just really lacking in follow-through.

★★☆☆☆

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TV Review: The Legend of Korra, season 3

TV #4 of 2016:

The Legend of Korra, season 3

I’m not a very big fan of the Avatar franchise, and Korra’s second season (as well as how it ended season one) just about drained what little good will I had in the first place. I really only decided to keep watching this show because I’m something of a completionist and because the episodes / seasons are so short.

With that being said: this was a really good season of television! Easily the best this program has managed so far, and in my opinion better than any season in its parent series too. I could raise some minor quibbles about the bad guys – like how their motivations are never really clear and how Zaheer shouldn’t be able to airbend nearly that well after only a week or so of bending – but the character work is stellar enough to look past all that. This is just one example, but hey: Korra and Asami finally have actual on-screen interactions! They hang out together, kick butt together, and compliment one another on their respective achievements. (Not for nothing, but Asami’s also the one there for Korra in that heartbreaking final sequence.) There’s finally a friendship between the two characters that lends itself to shipping, and them being endgame no longer seems at all a stretch.

The arc ends in a terrific spot, with nominal victories for the good guys but also lingering injuries and the knowledge that a greater threat is out there on the horizon. I’m hoping this means that the writers had a plan for season 4 in mind, to continue this hot streak. Endings are always tricky, so I’ll just have to hope that they took this year as their model and not the earlier stuff when drafting a series conclusion.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Book #5 of 2016:

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale #1)

It’s really hard for me to separate my thoughts/feelings about this book away from those about the podcast, especially because I listened to this as an audiobook (narrated by Cecil, natch). What I mean is, I liked the book about as much as I like the podcast, and if the one is not your thing, I can’t imagine you’d like the other much more. But the novel definitely shows that Night Vale stories can work in long-form, and it’s always nice to see female-centric narratives. (WTNV is written by two dudes, but the two protagonists are women, as are plenty of the supporting characters.) Like the podcast, the WTNV book features a nice display of diversity of gender, race, and sexuality among its characters, always presented matter-of-factly and never as someone’s most interesting feature. Recommended for fans of the podcast, but maybe listen to an episode or two of that first before diving into the book if you’re not a fan already.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Book #4 of 2016:

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #2)

Facebook memories reminded me that a year ago last night, I stayed up past midnight for finish an ebook I was hooked on: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson, an outstanding sequel to one of the freshest series premieres I had read the year before. So last night, I went ahead and did the same. Like Firefight, The Dream Thieves was a major step up from a book I had already enjoyed quite a bit. Stiefvater continues to develop this universe in really interesting ways that are both organic to the series and yet unpredictable from its opening. I’m really enjoying getting to know these characters better, and I’m looking forward to the next book, whenever I get around to it.

★★★★★

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TV Review: The Good Wife, season 5

TV #3 of 2016:

The Good Wife, season 5

I’m utterly gobsmacked by how amazing this season of television is. I loved the show to pieces already, but this stretch really elevates it to a whole new level. (I’ve already gone back and watched “Hitting the Fan” several times, and it works even better in the context of the episodes around it than it does in isolation like that.) Everything about the program’s tense plotting and sharp character work is firing on all cylinders here, and while I’m a little sad at reports that the next two years aren’t nearly as good, it was definitely worth it for this. If you like legal and political dramedies (think Boston Legal meets The West Wing) and you haven’t given this one a try yet, do yourself a favor and start. You have this truly remarkable season to look forward to.

★★★★★

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Book Review: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Book #3 of 2016:

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Somewhat cute, but the author’s voice was a little too intrusive for my tastes. It’s also weird that there’s an evil rat clearly hypnotizing people throughout the book and then nothing ever comes of that. But whatever. I was definitely not in the intended audience for this one.

★★☆☆☆

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TV Review: Master of None, season 1

TV #2 of 2016:

Master of None, season 1

This is my second time watching this odd comedy / experimental short film series from Aziz Ansari, and I think I liked it even better — there were a lot of subtle foreshadowing hints about how the season ends that I didn’t pick up on before. I also like how the series incorporates minority perspectives (not just that of its star) to tell stories that don’t often or even ever appear on television like this. Very masterfully done.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Book #2 of 2016:

The Martian by Andy Weir

This was good, but I think I like the movie more. Granted, there was some cool stuff that didn’t make it to the screen – I’m thinking particularly of the dust storm and the interruption of contact with NASA, but also having the Beck/Johanssen romance not come completely out of nowhere – but for the most part, the film did a better job telling this story. I’m really glad I saw it in theaters, and that I didn’t make myself wait until I had read the book first.

Recommendation: If you haven’t read or seen The Martian, just watch the adaptation. And if you’ve seen that version already, you probably don’t need to check out this one as well. Remember that The Martian is Weir’s first novel, and that it was originally self-published as a free ebook on his website. It’s still solid sci-fi material, but Ridley Scott and Matt Damon elevate it beyond what’s written here.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Book #1 of 2016:

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

So much better than I was expecting it to be. I remember seeing a trailer for the movie adaptation way back in the day, which made me think this story was going to be really Nicholas Sparks-y. And it was, to some degree, but it was all-around a really enjoyable read. (Well, actually, a really enjoyable listen. But I decided that I’m no longer going to differentiate between books and audiobooks.)

The author did a good job of un-creepifying the potential consent issues that necessarily arise from a grown man meeting his future wife while she’s still a child – it helps that they’re both meeting out-of-order, like River Song and the Doctor (although yes, I know this book came out before the Library episodes of Doctor Who). Also that the time traveler has no control over where/when he shows up and that changing history is demonstrably impossible in this narrative: if one character has lived through something, nothing can possibly change that even when the other character later goes through it for the first time. The book raised some really interesting philosophical ideas and was more or less a sweet love story.

★★★★☆

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