Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture

The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 1) By Guy Gavriel Kay – Book Review

With our national pride in full bloom, I was eager to revisit a classic written by Canada’s premier fantasy author, Guy Gavriel Kay. I think I read The Summer Tree back in the 80s (for a class project on a Canadian writer), but sadly I have forgotten almost the entire story. Inspired in many ways…

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…

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell – Book Review

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but with a title like “The Malevolent Seven”, I knew it was going to be fun. Though it’s got mages and spells and a quest to stop evil other-dimensional beings from taking over the world, it’s not your typical epic fantasy nor is it a…

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…

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy – Movie Review

Nine years after the last movie, and 24 years after the first, Bridget Jones is back (despite being in the age of reboots, I betcha didn’t see that coming, eh?). Though Renée Zellweger returns to play the beloved bumbling British single gal, a lot has happened in the last decade. She’s now the mom of…

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…

Wicked – Movie Review

I am a big fan of the Wicked musical. It’s one of my favourites. So I came to this movie with love for the material, along with high expectations. Shockingly, and happily, this film adaptation exceeded them all, and brought the musical wonderfully to cinematic life. I enjoyed the stage musical primarily for its soundtrack….

Creepily Catching Up With It & It Chapter Two

To celebrate spooky season this year I read some scary stories, and decided to finally watch the movie adapting Stephen King’s It (from 2017) and It Chapter Two (from 2019). Despite being old enough to have watched it on TV when it originally aired in 1990, I decided not to check out the Tim Curry…

Hellboy: The Crooked Man – Movie Review

As we have entered “spooky season”, I find myself once again looking for chilling stories (but nothing too scary for us chickens). Because I’ve always been a fan, I find myself turning to the latest Hellboy movie. The gruff, bruiser, quasi-anti-heroes are great characters to use as protagonists for exciting, action-fantasy stories (see also Marvel’s…