This was the perfect story for the season as we approach midwinter: even the beautiful cover and title of this book promise an enchanting tale, full of magic and infused with Slavic folklore. The story of a country lord, Pyotr Vladimirovich and his family, starts out with a recounting of the legend of the Frost…
Category: (2.5 out of 5)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones – Book Review
Having seen the beautiful and fun movie adaptation from Studio Ghibli, I went into reading Howl’s Moving Castle with the expectation of finding a twee, charming, quaint, light-hearted children’s story with a lot of magic and a little adventure, something in the vein of Peter Pan or Mary Poppins. The story began with a young…
What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier, Book 1) by T. Kingfisher – Book Review
One of T. Kingfisher’s “scarier” Gothic horror stories (a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of User) is not too scary — even for my delicate nerves — but unfortunately I didn’t find it very engaging or compelling either. I had not expected to read another T. Kingfisher story so soon,…
The Electric State (by Simon Stålenhag) – Book & Movie Review
After I stumbled upon the unique and provocative sci-fi series Tales From the Loop on Prime Video, I wanted to keep an eye on the artist whose haunting art and ideas inspired the show. But when I heard of the new Netflix film adaptation of The Electric State, another sci-fi art book by Simon Stålenhag, I was…
Oscar (Animated) Schmoscar 2025
Some years I like to give my takes on the Oscar nominees that I’ve seen, but since I’ve barely seen any this year (sadly I saw very few movies in 2024) I decided that I am not going to bother catching up. Disappointments over the last few years have convinced me that perhaps some hope…
Getting Creepy With Netflix 2016
This year, for my Halloween creepfest (that’s where I watch a bunch of movies that are scary, but more on the psychological side, without all the gratuitous gore and demonic horror that can be part of a scary movie these days), I once again decided to plumb Netflix’s movie collection for some creepy gems. Last…
Fall TV 2016 Wave 1 – Returning Shows
In this year’s batch of returning shows, we’ve got a few long-timers, some shows with a few seasons under their belts, but very few sophomores — mostly because last year’s new shows were so weak. Surprisingly and disappointingly, rather than getting a fresh start on the new season, the pattern or theme this year so…
Summer 2015 Sci-fi & Fantasy capsule book reviews
I’ve been reading a number of books over the summer: tales of magical lawyers, medieval samurai, peculiar children, interplanetary missionaries, and blade-carrying death-gods really run the gamut, but sadly most of them have been disappointments. (Given that they all had good reviews out there, maybe it’s just me.) Nevertheless, I think they’re all worth checking…
Midseason TV 2013
For a couple of years, I thought that the networks were taking a genius new direction in developing a year-long TV schedule, where ultimately there would be great new shows premiering throughout the year. Instead, midseason seems to have reverted to its old ways of being a dumping ground for shows that were not good…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 