Lee

YA Annihilation that spends too long getting to its point, that by the time we get to the existential nitty-gritty, we’re already packing up. I do like the setting and initial mystery, but the author did not capitalize on the saved timed he had from skipping the actual apocalypse. Endgame Gantz had similar themes with more depth.

I definitely enjoyed The Last Astronaut much more than David Wellington's zombie book, Positive. Astronaut gave me some strong Alien/Contact/The Martian/Arthur Clarke vibes from it, but I absolutely wanted it to lean far far more into the body horror dread and existential nightmare fuel potential the plot could have offered. Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream came to mind at times, but it seemed like Wellington struggled a little bit when it came to juggling the large cast, thus resulting in some underwhelming sections that could have been scrapped in order to give more suspense/action. Don't let that dissuade you though, as this was a very fun and gripping scifi/horror book that I'd very much like a sequel to.

FANCAST:

- Mission Commander Sally Jansen (Charlize Theron)

- Roy McAllister (Tim Robbins/Jodie Foster)

- Dr. Sunny Stevens (Dylan O'Brien)

- Dr. Parminder Rao (Garaldine Viswanathan/Lou Llobell)

- Major Winston Hawkins (Alan Ritchson)

- Charlotte Harewell (Rebecca Ferguson)

- Kyung-Leonard (Song Kang-ho)

- Commander Willem Foster (Garret Dillahunt)

- Mission Specialist Sandra Chaniron (Eiza Gonzalez)

After watching the German adaptation of his book, Cut Off, I've been very intrigued by Sebastian Fitzek. He seems like the perfect fit for fellow fans of David Fincher and the Dragon Tattoo series. And so far, I can wholeheartedly say he is 2/2 in terms of dark mysteries with the tendency to dip into the unpredictable depravity of humanity. I was a little let down by how little Rebecca Hall is in this audiobook, but that isn't to say she nor the cast did a bad job. 

Still a little too soon to tell, but this might be my least fave of the Witcher books thus far. After the climactic schism of events in Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire already started on a disadvantage of matching the same epic scale. Baptism starts a bit slow to match Geralt's state from the previous outing, but feels light on the story aside from some team building for our Witcher, his trusty bard companion, and some familiar faces along the war torn path to Nilfgaard. In contrast to bouncing around a myriad different groups around the Continent, Baptism tends to primarily focus on Geralt and his new company of allies as they journey through danger towards Ciri. That said, those more curious about Ciri, will be very disappointed with this entry.

It's cool to see the forming of The Lodge, having played the games already allowing me to pinpoint the majority of the sorceresses. But the true surprise here was the introduction of a game fave character, Regis, of which I won't spoil any further for those who are not in the know.

Seeing that I'm currently viewing House of the Dragon with friends, the grandiose fantasy worlds filled with white hair protagonists were destined to be compared. As I said in my previous Witcher log (Blood of Elves, which S02 of the Netflix show uses a lot from), I'm writing these partly in hindsight, as I have been pushing myself to use GoodReads more as I begin to regain my literary stride. I had a couple pages left apparently, so I just finished it up with haste in order to pick the series back up. Time of Contempt, while not bad, is certainly the most dense and convoluted of the series so far. On one side of the blade, if you're not invested into this world and its politics by this point, good luck getting through this one. But on the opposite side of the blade, there's a similarity to the sociopolitical dynamics of Game of Thrones (the elongated banquet chapter specifically).

The fourth entry—if reading in chronological order of events—Time of Contempt sees most of the chess pieces prior set, all fall into place: traps, betrayals, deaths, and deceptions all ignited. By now, we are comfortably familiar with the majority of the big names, the complex world and its multifaceted politics, and the inevitable dawn of the Second Great War. What I'm trying to hit home, is that a lot happens in this book. A lot. So much that Geralt himself is forced to finally break free from a Witcher's neutrality and pick a side.

Those who were upset that Ciri had a lot of focal time will be glad to hear that the balance with her adoptive father, Geralt, is much more aligned here. Yenn and almost all of the sorceresses get moments to shine here (particularly in the aforementioned banquet chapter), and even Dandelion/Jaskier aren't forgotten in the giant mix of tumultuous events. There are various reunions of crowd faves, long-time-coming face-offs, and the lifting of the veil for the established cogs of destiny to begin speeding up. Suffice it to say the book does live up to its title quite well.

If their pacing and timeline is what I think it is, I'm both concerned and interested to see how the next season of Netflix's The Witcher manages to include all of this. I brought up HotD earlier because I can foresee S03 of Witcher also struggling to balance the lack of action with the abundance of dialogue, royal court negotiations, and political espionage that is overtly present and pivotal in Time of Contempt. It'd be smart of the show runner to break this book into two parts, were it up to me (I wouldn't want to miss smaller detailed moments like Codringher & Fenn, Yenn & Ciri dealing with tuition costs, Black Rayla, and Geralt & Yenn's romantic daydreams of impossible love and peace).

If not evident already, I have been reading these in chronological order rather than order of release. Yes, I really charged through these like Geralt to a morally grey option, because I was racing against the clock to finish as many as I could before the new Netflix season. And yes, I'm logging these in hindsight as I'm trying to use GoodReads more often in hopes of getting back on the proverbial reading horse.

This is the entry that really sets in motion the primary narrative of Geralt, Ciri, and company, focusing heavily on the latter from the downfall of Cintra, her constant struggle to escape, and her eventual training. Those expecting more of Geralt will be a little let down, as Blood of Elves gives more precedence to his protégé and daughter figure, Ciri. I'd say this entry spends far more time with Ciri and Yennifer, as well as putting some more emphasis on the sorcery of the world. Mainstay characters like Triss Merigold (a fave), Nenneke, Eskel, Vesimir, and goes to familiar gamer territory like Oxenfurt and Kaer Morhen. It also has one of the cooler moments of written battle, involving the face-scarred shadowy stalker, Riance. I'd argue the Netflix series borrows the most from this entry, which I do feel rather hit or miss about on their handling of the timeline and constant jumping around.

I recall this book ending on a moody ominous note, with a terrific book title name-drop and setup for Time of Contempt.

Mainly read this in order to watch the AMC show, but boy did I not expect it to be this much of a slog. Sure it's a big read heavily steeped into the historical drama of the real story, but it is not a page-turner at all. It never really picks up, instead just hoping that you form some kind of bond to one or more of the characters as it unfolds it's icy tale, but as with most slowburns, the tension and violence do increase the further you get. I strongly believe this is a story that will be experienced far better visually.

“I'd never learned how to relate to people, much less how to speak up for myself. I preferred to sit and rage quietly.”

There’s an underlying uneasiness to this somewhat stream of consciousness tale; an almost haunting feeling like there could be a supernatural element introduced at some point, but it never arrives. I don’t know if that’s what Shirley Jackson embodies at times, as I have yet to read the heralded author. Eileen is certainly a slow-burner—emphasis on slowburn—with moments of meandering coming of age blended in, but I enjoyed my time with this complex character study. Due to its intricate narrative pacing I do think it begins to lose steam in the third act, but there was a consistently palpable comparison to the great film, Carol. A strong debut for Moshfegh, and you can easily see the fleshed out development from Eileen to the Narrator in her best book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

One of the most atmospheric stories I have read, and at a little over 100 pages, one leaving you wanting so so much more. It leans far more into psychological thriller more so than horror; I got immediate A Cure for Wellness vibes blended with some Back Rooms, making this a perfect story to be adapted by Gore Verbinski. You can easily get through this in one sitting—ideally alone in the dim light with just your house/apartment creaks to keep company—and I strongly recommend it to those who loved House of Leaves.

I will absolutely be diving into more from Kehlmann, as I really enjoyed his style.

For a book that markets itself as being scientific and based in realism, I couldn't help myself from laughing at the ridiculousness throughout. Also, the weird shifting from first person to third person and narration is very off-putting, amplified by the author's obsession with reiteration and repeating phrases for emphasis—seriously, even Drake & Josh wouldn't put so much emphasis...EMPHASIS. Not sure how Gillian Flynn and Stephan Graham Jones gave this such appraisal.

Finished this in one sitting on account of it being brisk to read through, and having a consistently tense pace. Predictable—especially given the artistic choice to have a cold open essentially telling us the fates of the main cast—but still entertaining to read. It's a strong debut horror book, and one that will surely keep my eyes at attention for Kiefer's next book. My only primarily point of critique, would be that the characters could have been fleshed out better and made to be a bit more relatable: I didn't connect to any of the characters, and found one of them to have quite the drastic and unearned shift. 

I strongly recommend this to fans of Briardark, The Ruins, and maybe even a little bit of the Wrong Turn remake. 

“It was the most desolate place he'd ever seen. It echoed the desolation inside of him, the emptiness...the emptiness.”

Yellowjackets, but with Boy Scouts, then exchange the cultish vibes for a very lite sci-fi infection à la The Ruins meets Cabin Fever. Not nearly as gross as I was hoping for given the word of mouth, but I certainly appreciated the group dynamics and the brief moments of body horror. Consider me intrigued by Cutter's style, and I look forward to checking out more: next up being The Deep.

Fancast

Director: Ben Affleck

Ted: Matt Damon
Lily: Riley Keough / Meghann Fahy
Miranda: Blake Lively / Anne Hathaway
Brad: Casey Affleck / Bobby Cannavale / Wyatt Russell
Eric: Callum Turner / Jacob Elordi
Det. Henry Kimball: Joel Edgerton / Clive Owen
Det. Roberta James: Jodie Turner-Smith
David: Michael Douglas / Timothy Dalton
Sharon: Sharon Stone / Susan Sarandon

Stumbled upon this due to discovering Yorgos Lanthimos is planning to adapt it into a film. A strange and intriguing short supernatural western that certainly fits his unique style and eccentricity. Not really the western horror I was looking for after reading the synopsis, but still an interesting concept when it comes to the “monster.” I'm envisioning Christopher Abbot and Robert Pattinson as the two bounty hunter leads.

Yeah...if like me, you were expecting for this to be something more akin to Dead Space, Sunshine, and Annihilation, best out this lacklustre scifi book back on the shelf. I lost interest around chapter 10, but touched it out in hopes that there would be some epic twist ending, but no, it just kept trudging through one-note monotony. I forget the name of the short comic about an astronaut trying to make it back to his ship in an advanced AI spacesuit, but the suit keeps eliminating non-essential parts of his body in order for him to survive and keep moving. But that short comic alone does more with terror, suspense, and space tech than this overlong book.

Feels like a mumblecore thriller/drama where anything you imagine to be the cause of this mystery is better than what we actually get. You can tell this was stormed up or in some part adjusted to fit a COVID lens, as it absolutely plays with themes of paranoia, isolation, and fear mongering, among others. I liked the intrigue and the prose, but the third act and ending fell incredibly flat. There were slight vibes of a possible Twilight Zone episode direction it could have taken, but then it decides to remain more so in the mundane lane.

I haven't looked at the Netflix cast for the future film adaptation yet, but while reading it, I envisioned:

- Amanda: Meghann Fahey/Rebecca Hall
- Clay: Adam Driver/Dan Stevens
- Ruth: Ruth Negga/Viola Davis (after it's revealed she's older)
- G. H.: David Oyelowo but then Denzel Washington/Delroy Lindo (after you find out he's older in age)

A very fun and energetic meta scifi comedy from one of the writers of The Simpsons, Disenchantment, and Regular Show, narrated/acted by a fourth wall breaking Richard Nixon. An alternate history where JFK survived the assassination attempt, with nothing but an even more bolstered popularity and a new roguish eyepatch for his lost left eye. After a brief coma, Jack leads the States upwards and onwards to the final frontier of space, forgoing political strife in Vietnam and the Soviet Union to focus on building a lunar colony. By 1968, the United States had already launched dozens of successful Moon landings, established bases, and quickly expanding America's consumerism. Come 1969, Hilton hotels, breakfast chains, and entertainment venues for the likes of Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Jerry Lewis make appearances.

We follow Natasha Lyonne's sassy smoker night nurse Nancy Kramich aboard Howard Hugh's space station, the Liberty Bell. What follows is a very fresh, entertaining, meta, scifi mystery comic romp, despite a lacklustre ending.

I know I'm going to be in the minority with my rating, but it seems to perfectly align with the fact that I'm also in the minority of the reader demographic this far: the only guy. I shed light on this observation simply because I feel like Cathy Ulrich's Small, Burning Things is a collection of disconnected short stories that certainly seem to aim for more of a female readership. I don't know how to explain it, but I jus found myself struggling to relate or latch onto these shorts that felt more like fleeting thoughts shared intimately between two friends under the stars. Now this isn't to say that it's something akin to a Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey—as it's not romance—but I couldn't help but feel like I just wasn't being spoken to throughout. About halfway through when some of the stories began to lean a little more supernatural—minus the suspense and thrills—another collection of unique yet more enthralling shorts came to mind, Darrin Doyle's The Dark Will End the Dark (which I think Lori also worked with in promotion). Small, Burning Things felt like reading an American-Midwest high school girl's intimate collection of diary entries–I'm feeling during the transition from summer to fall near the end of fair season.

Regardless, many thanks to Lori of TNBBC fame for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Very much the Samurai oriented Game of Thrones that word of mouth sold it to be. I'd go an additional step further in specifying a more acute comparison to House of the Dragon, as Shogun leans more into the socio-political aspects of its feudal 16th century Japan. It's over 1000pg count allows the characters to breathe and develop through its various revelations, fights, betrayals, and romantic ties. While I would say that author James Clavell gets a little trigger happy with his assumption that seppuku was committed on the fly left and right, Clavell does take detailed pauses to showcase the stark cultural differences between the English, Portuguese, Spanish, and of course, Japanese. It's a tome to get through, but I did enjoy my time with it—possibly the longest I've taken to read a single book ever.

Stories ranked best to least:

- Late Returns (by and far the best)

- Throttle

- The Devil on the Staircase

- Dark Carousel

- By The Silver Water Of Lake Champlain

- Faun

- Wolverton Station

- In The Tall Grass (now I can watch the Netflix adaptation)

- All I Care About is You

- Thumbprint

- Mums

- You Are Released