Books
- Shattered Pillars (Eternal Sky #2) by Elizabeth Bear: Some of the most well-written, compelling fantasy I’ve ever encountered. A
- Heir to the Empire (The Thrawn Trilogy #1) by Timothy Zahn: Good plain Star Wars fun. B+
- Dark Force Rising (The Thrawn Trilogy #2) by Timothy Zahn: Continues the story, with some fun twists. B+
- The Last Command (The Thrawn Trilogy #3) by Timothy Zahn: A satisfying conclusion. Good character moments. B+
- Specter of the Past (The Hand of Thrawn #1) by Timothy Zahn: I’ll be completely honest; I read this mostly for the Mara sections. B
- Vision of the Future (The Hand of Thrawn #2) by Timothy Zahn: Again, mostly read it for the Mara/Luke sections. B
- Borne by Jeff VanderMeer: A fascinatingly strange and disturbing story. Come for the giant flying bear, stay for the other weirdness. A-
- The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald: My least favorite of the three Sebald works which I’ve read to date, but still worthwhile. A-
- Steles of the Sky (Eternal Sky #3) by Elizabeth Bear: An immensely satisfying and surprising conclusion to an incredible trilogy. High stakes and a fast pace, but it doesn’t forget the importance of the characters and their relationships. A+
- Boxes by Pascal Garnier: An odd, understated little novel originally written in French. Predictable, but with an appealingly dry humor. B
Movies
- Searching for Sugar Man: Enormously fun, if heavily skewed toward men. A-
- Atomic Blonde: Outstanding cinematography, fight choreography, casting, soundtrack. The story was a bit obtuse. A
- The Artist: I’m late to the party on this one, but this is an incredible film. A+
- Wind River: I am very conflicted on this film. On the one hand, it is beautifully shot, tightly edited, and well-acted. On the other, in my opinion the assault scene was unnecessary, and I was disappointed that a film set on a reservation was still centered around a pair of straight, white protagonists. B+
- Ladyhawke: In my estimation it is impossible to get more 80s than a film starring young Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Matthew Broderick in which every scene that features horse-riding through the countryside features synths. B
Comics
- The Wicked + the Divine: Outstanding. I’m a huge mythology nerd to begin with, and this modern spin on gods is superb. Stunning art as well. A