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…
Category: Sci-fi
The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar – Book Review
Not quite sure what to say about this novella. It’s definitely not the kind of story I typically enjoy. The story of an unnamed boy from an underclass, the Chained, who toil in the belly of a gargantuan mining ship in space is given the opportunity to be brought up out of The Hold, and…
Fantastic Four: First Steps – Movie Review
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this movie. I have seen a couple of the previous Fantastic Four movies, but don’t remember much, and though I have read quite a few of their comics, I have not kept up with the characters for a while. Nevertheless, I did go into the theatre with…
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 2) by Matt Dinniman – Book Review
The events in this second book in the super-popular Dungeon Crawler Carl series continue immediately after the first one, where hapless and resourceful Carl survived the decimation of Earth to end up running and fighting for his own life in the dungeon (like the kind one finds in RPG video games) that the world has…
Things from the Flood by Simon Stålenhag – Book Review
I recently read The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag and was very interested in more of his work, so when I found out about Things From the Flood, I was very excited to read it. I first discovered Stålenhag as the author of the book that was the basis for the Prime Video TV series…
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…
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 1) by Martha Wells – Book Review
The Murderbot Diaries seems tailor-made for adaptation. Now as an Apple TV+ show is coming, I am getting excited and rereading the first novella in the series, All Systems Red. I’ve actually read three books in the series, and it feels very episodic as we follow the adventures of a security robot (maybe you could…
Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, Book 1) by Christopher Ruocchio – Book Review
We start with a story that the main character (and sole point of view), Hadrian Marlowe, is recounting: his life story after he has achieved the notoriety of being named “Sun Eater”, due to his having destroyed a sun, killing millions of enemy aliens. But that story is not part of this book (presumably we…
Catching up with genre TV: Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, Doctor Who, and more
It has been a long minute since I last posted, but I admit I’ve been feeling a bit of entertainment ennui. Most of my favourite franchises have been so mediocre and underwhelming. A lot of hype in the fandoms has been around how they appear to have gone “woke”, and that being the problem. I…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 