TV #20 of 2025: Classic Doctor Who, season 18 Airing from 1980 to 1981, Tom Baker’s final season is a turbulent time for Doctor Who — and not just because it finds him finally departing the series after a still-unbroken record of seven years / 172 episodes as its star. This run also sends off …
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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Cloud Exiles & Other Stories edited by Michael Stevens
Book #75 of 2025: Doctor Who: The Cloud Exiles & Other Stories edited by Michael Stevens I’m going to quote from my own review of 2024’s Doctor Who: The Phaser Aliens & Other Stories — which I coincidentally listened to one year ago today — as so much of it applies to this subsequent release …
Book Review: The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley
Book #74 of 2025: The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley This title is a good example of why I often struggle with historical fiction as a genre. On the one hand: author Natasha Pulley has plainly done her homework here, and she ably depicts her chosen setting, which is a clandestine Soviet …
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Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Book #73 of 2025: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games #2) In certain ways, I think this dystopian YA sequel improves upon its predecessor. Whereas the series debut focused — understandably! — on the setting, the characters, and the inherent brutality of the premise, this volume is more able to expand on the …
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Book Review: Traitor by John Peel
Book #72 of 2025: Traitor by John Peel (2099 #3) Another quick but propulsive adventure, bringing us to the halfway point of this middle-grade sci-fi series from 1999-2000. Our main hero Tristan begins this installment in police custody (thanks to innocently sharing identical DNA to his terrorist clone twin), and after dodging an attack from …
Book Review: The Winter Prince by Elizabeth E. Wein
Book #71 of 2025: The Winter Prince by Elizabeth E. Wein (The Lion Hunters #1) This 1993 novel offers a limited yet engaging retelling of the Arthurian legend, centering on the king’s illegitimate son Medraut (or Mordred, as he’s known in other versions). The primary innovation, which I don’t believe I’ve encountered elsewhere, is that …
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Book Review: Lyorn by Steven Brust
Book #70 of 2025: Lyorn by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #17) And just like that, I’m all caught up with Vlad Taltos (though not its sister series, the Khaavren Romances). This 2024 title is the latest to be released, with reportedly only two additional sequels left to go. It’s another perfectly pleasant adventure with the …
Book Review: Star Wars: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed
Book #69 of 2025: Star Wars: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed (Reign of the Empire #1) Just in time for the second season of Andor, here’s another recent Star Wars title that grapples seriously with the idea of life and resistance in an era of growing fascism. In this case, it’s the early …
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TV Review: Bosch: Legacy, season 3
TV #19 of 2025: Bosch: Legacy, season 3 Bosch isn’t exactly a great TV show, but it goes out about as solidly competent a mid-tier crime drama as ever. Technically, of course, this isn’t even Bosch but its successor program Bosch: Legacy, although the distinction between the two has never been as clear-cut as I’d …
Movie Review: Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998)
Movie #3 of 2025: Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998) This TV movie aired during the middle of Babylon 5‘s fifth/final season, but I’ve chosen to watch it where it apparently falls in continuity, which is immediately after episode 4×8 “The Illusion of Truth.” I’m satisfied with that decision, but in all honesty, this is such a …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 