Book #93 of 2026: Jupiter by Ben Bova I’m not convinced that this story about an established research station orbiting Jupiter really is the next chronologically in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour sequence after The Precipice, in which humanity was first starting to mine the asteroid belt for resources, but that’s what the late author’s website …
Tag Archives: four stars
TV Review: Classic Doctor Who, season 26
TV #28 of 2026: Classic Doctor Who, season 26 By certain metrics, what we now call the “Classic” iteration of Doctor Who had already gone on too long when it was eventually cancelled in 1989. Twenty-six seasons is far more than most TV shows get to have, and the program had passed through some dire …
Book Review: Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
Book #90 of 2026: Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins (The Underland Chronicles #4) This penultimate volume is easily the strongest of its series since the debut, largely for dispensing with the tired structure of yet another ancient prophecy sending our returning tween hero on yet another quest. (Granted, those elements both …
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Book Review: Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins
Book #87 of 2026: Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins Like its characters, this 2023 coming-of-age novel grows on me as it winds along, although I’m still not totally satisfied with the framing conceit that it’s the result of a relative stranger piecing together the fractured evidence to reconstruct the events in question. …
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Book Review: Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
Book #85 of 2026: Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli I don’t read a lot of actual comic books, but I bought this in the airport on a recent whim, having heard how classic and influential it’s considered in such circles. (It’s also in part the basis for certain arcs on Marvel’s …
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Book Review: The Precipice by Ben Bova
Book #82 of 2026: The Precipice by Ben Bova (The Asteroid Wars #1) This 2001 novel marks the start of a new sub-series within author Ben Bova’s Grand Tour saga, but it also represents the culmination of several previous titles that provide valuable context for returning readers. It’s chronologically the last of his stories to …
Book Review: Doctor Who: Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimer
Book #81 of 2026: Doctor Who: Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimer (Virgin New Adventures #14) The longest entry in its series so far is also one of the best, delivering a militaristic space opera that in many ways presages later adventures in the franchise such as The Impossible Planet / The Satan …
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Book Review: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Book #76 of 2026: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker This novel carries a strong feeling of True Detective seasons 1 and 3 for me, and not only for the core plot involving a string of unsolved child abductions. It also spends a long time on people processing trauma and obsessing about …
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Book Review: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
Book #75 of 2026: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie This latest entry is probably the weakest of the six novels in author Ann Leckie’s extended Imperial Radch saga so far, but it’s still an enjoyable enough time that I’m comfortable giving it three-and-a-half stars (radiant or otherwise), rounded up. It takes place during / after …
Movie Review: Clerks (1994)
Movie #24 of 2026: Clerks (1994) Even on a rewatch decades on, Clerks feels like a marvel. Filmed in black-and-white on a shoestring budget in the adjoining convenience and video rental stores where writer-director Kevin Smith worked at the time, it captures the aimless Gen X burnout spirit of works like Office Space (1999), but …
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