Book #161 of 2024: Out of Time by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #9) A fun penultimate adventure for this middle-grade sci-fi series, and by this point, I’m positive that I never read this far into these books back in the 90s, so I’m excited to see how everything resolves. The six teenage heroes start this volume …
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Book Review: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Book #160 of 2024: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid I might have liked this novel better if I hadn’t first heard about it on a list of #ownvoices Jewish-inspired fantasy works, which definitely set me up for disappointed expectations. Debut author Ava Reid does draw on some folkloric elements from her religious …
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TV Review: The Umbrella Academy, season 2
TV #44 of 2024: The Umbrella Academy, season 2 Categorically an improvement over the debut year of this comic book adaptation, which I rated at a frustrating 2-out-of-5 stars for all its elements that never really came together or lived up to their potential. The change for the better is felt immediately in the season …
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Book Review: Dragon by Steven Brust
Book #159 of 2024: Dragon by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #8) This 1998 title is a bit of an odd installment in the Vlad Taltos fantasy series. It’s not the first volume to take place earlier in the protagonist’s career, back when he was a low-level boss for the Jhereg criminal organization, but it’s unusual …
Book Review: Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
Book #158 of 2024: Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes An atmospheric example of space horror, but sadly not as effective as author S. A. Barnes’s earlier novel Dead Silence (unconnected except for occupying the same narrow genre). The premise here is fine: a psychologist joins a small crew on a corporate excursion to a …
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Book Review: Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard
Book #157 of 2024: Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard (Greenwing & Dart #6) This series had been steadily improving, but this sixth volume — the latest so far, barring a few spinoff short stories I haven’t read yet — feels like a step backwards for me. It is big on atmospheric winter comfort and overall …
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Book Review: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
Book #156 of 2024: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan #3) I think this is where I get off the Finlay Donovan train, unfortunately. This third volume feels like a significant step down for the series, which has never quite managed to grab me despite the fun overall premise of a …
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Book Review: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Book #155 of 2024: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King Author Stephen King has said that he wanted his second published novel to be a modern American version of Dracula, and almost half a century on, I think it’s fair to say that he succeeded in that aim. The parallels are there if you seek them …
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TV Review: Farscape, season 2
TV #43 of 2024: Farscape, season 2 An excellent escalation of an already-strong beginning the year before. While the passage of time and their shared experiences together have sanded down the edges and rendered Moya’s crew into more of a cohesive and friendly unit — with the possible exception of Rygel, who remains a bit …
Book Review: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Book #154 of 2024: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale #3) This is not a very Night Vale-centric novel. I mean that both in the literal sense — it’s an origin story for the titular character, most of which isn’t even …
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