I’ve been having a fun spooky season so far this year, and wanted to continue with a sci-fi graphic novel series with some Lovecraftian cosmic horror mixed in. However, I was a bit nervous about this one because it is the brainchild of famous horror scion Joe Hill. I had previously tried out his classic…
Author: alving4
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher – Book Review
My third venture into the works of popular author T. Kingfisher could be considered cozy horror, or suburban gothic (if that isn’t a thing I just made up). It starts out in a pretty classic way: Sam, a 30-something archeoentomologist, comes to stay at her mother’s suburban North Carolina home for a while and, of…
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar – Book Review
I was surprised to love this story much more than I expected. It’s one of the best stories I’ve read this year. However, I’m learning that I have a much harder time talking about why I love a book than criticizing what I dislike about it. In essence, this is a very classic faerie tale…
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 2) by Martha Wells – Book Review
I enjoyed the first book in this popular series (along with the first season of the Apple TV+ show). So I was excited to follow Murderbot on more sardonic adventures. This time around they get unintentionally partnered with a ship’s AI system which Murderbot humorously nicknames “ART” (for “Asshole Research Transport”) and takes a quest…
The Fisherman by John Langan – Book Review
Even though this book came highly recommended as a modern take on the Lovecraftian horror story, from the start, I didn’t really know how we’d get from an upstate New York fish story to a tale of eldritch horror. This story is written with deceptively straightforward language, about some down-to-earth characters. The narrator, Abe is…
The Stone Man (Book 1) by Luke Smitherd – Book Review
When a gigantic stone behemoth appears in the middle of Millennium Square in Coventry, UK, it’s a photo op. When the stone man starts to move and walk relentlessly on its own, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, you’ve got an exciting sci-fi mystery. We follow reporter Andy Pointer, himself a witness at…
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Movie Review
Whoever gave this movie its title definitely believes in “truth in advertising”. After five seasons and two prior films, this one is predictably destined to bring the series truly to a close. The only word that might be a bit mischosen would be “grand” because most of the movie is actually relatively reserved and quiet….
The Lesser Devil (a Sun Eater story) by Christopher Ruocchio – Book Review
I had a lot of problems with the very popular galaxy-spanning epic science fiction series, Sun Eater, after reading the first book (Empire of Silence) — yes, I was condemning the whole series after only reading the first book — bad reader! However, in my heart I didn’t want to give up on it, and…
Grave Peril (Dresden Files, Book 3) by Jim Butcher – Book Review
The third volume in the Dresden Files series continues to expand the story universe set up in the first two. The adventures of Harry Dresden, a professional wizard, hiring himself out to investigate and handle all kinds of magical and malevolent cases in contemporary Chicago have so far involved evil sorcerers, demons, faerie and werewolves….
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 