TV #76 of 2021: Fringe, season 1 This series is a little clunkier than I remember at the start, with lots of empty ominous talk about The Pattern (of strange events happening across the world but mostly in Boston that our new team has been created to investigate) that isn’t as inherently compelling as creator …
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Book Review: The Solution by K. A. Applegate
Book #289 of 2021: The Solution by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #22) [Note — this review is more spoiler-heavy than usual! It was too hard to discuss this volume without getting into specifics.] A chilling end to the saga of David, the reluctant recruit who has gradually blossomed over the course of this trilogy into …
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Book Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Book #288 of 2021: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow #1) This #ownvoices sci-fi / fantasy debut is going to appear on many best-of-2021 lists, my own very much included. Loosely based on the only female emperor in Chinese history, it’s the powerfully intimate tale of a girl raised in a society that …
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Book Review: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker
Book #287 of 2021: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker (Scary Stories for Young Foxes #1) Middle-grade horror can be a tricky genre to pull off, with an atmosphere that’s spookily disquieting yet not full-on terrifying, but this Newbery-winning title from 2019 navigates that threshold nicely. Structured as a series of connected …
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TV Review: What If…?, season 1
TV #75 of 2021: What If…?, season 1 The debut animated feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fun, with a few key caveats. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a show for all fans, as these alternate versions of events do lean on audience familiarity with the proper timeline for their full effect, but the …
Book Review: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer
Book #286 of 2021: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (Riverworld #1) This Hugo-winning tale from 1971 pitches an intriguing scenario: all humanoids who have ever lived on the earth — including neanderthals from the distant past and an alien who was visiting the planet in 2008 — are resurrected in the …
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Book Review: Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Book #285 of 2021: Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (Skyward Flight #1) I wasn’t sure what to expect of this first spinoff novella from author Brandon Sanderson’s main Skyward series, especially after not caring for his previous attempt at YA co-writing, Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel. Luckily, I’ve enjoyed this one a lot …
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Book Review: Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon
Book #284 of 2021: Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon I’ll be charitable and say that this strikes me as a novel that really requires readers to get on its particular wavelength, which I was unable to do. It’s graphically sexual, albeit with the occasional giggle-inducing word like “dong,” and deeply rooted in a religious tradition that’s …
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Book Review: The Threat by K. A. Applegate
Book #283 of 2021: The Threat by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #21) So it turns out, most of what I’d remembered from this story arc about the new kid David joining the Animorphs actually takes place in the next / final book of that unofficial trilogy. Luckily, this middle volume is a lot stronger than …
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Book Review: Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
Book #282 of 2021: Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #24) This mystery novel has a few solid twists to it, mostly via the inclusion of false testimony from a guilty party or two. Author Agatha Christie, several decades into her writing career by this point, has grown rather adept at that …
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