More reviews. Getting through the backlog.

• Curses by Lish McBride: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. If Merit doesn’t want to become a beast permanently, she has to either fall in love or else agree to a marriage arranged by her mother. She enlists a con-artist, whose family owes Merit a debt, to help her vet prospective suitors.

The ( Read more... )

Some final notes about things I’ve watched for 2019.

• The Rise of Skywalker (2019): Without thinking about it too much, I really liked it! I liked that whatever computer magic they did to include Leia was so convincing. I liked all the different planet settings, particularly with the crashed Death Star and the ex-Stormtroopers. I loved the ( Read more... )

I’ve realised something that should perhaps have been obvious to me earlier: my readiness to rewatch a film (or TV series) depends a lot on how aesthetically pleasing I find it ( Read more... )

The downside to having gone on holidays with a pile of library books is that I now have too many books I want to review.

Elizabeth Wein, Cobalt Squadron: I didn’t find The Last Jedi very satisfying but I’m a fan of Elizabeth Wein, so I listened to this story about a mission that Rose, her sister Paige and the rest of Cobalt Squadron are involved ( Read more... )

My computer spent yesterday evening and then much of today stuck on the "Getting windows ready" screen. Obvious things, like turning it off and on again, just led to that screen again. Google did not bring up helpful or reassuring suggestions. I was bracing myself for having to do a complete reset/reinstall... and then it started working. Phew ( Read more... )

It took me weeks to read the first third of Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge. It’s a clever, sharply written fantasy novel about Mosca, a 12 year old orphan who burns down her uncle's mill, abducts a goose and frees a “poetic practitioner” from the stocks in exchange for a job as his secretary. I liked Mosca, approved of Saracen the goose, but I ( Read more... )

It’s a long time since I’ve written one of these, so there are lots of things.

I saw Rogue One. It’s an interesting exploration of how messy a rebellion can be. Sometimes there are no easy answers. People have muddled motivations and different ideas about what risks or collateral damage are acceptable. And if you take a stand, it can be the people ( Read more... )

Timezones are funny things. This morning when I woke up, there was a notification on my phone - one of my apps, telling me "Happy Valentine's Day ( Read more... )

Thoughts about things I've watched lately: Spaceballs, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Doctor Who series nine, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), Jessica Jones, and then an update on the webseries I'm watching, mainly AKF and Lovely Little Losers.

( I'm not sure how I hadn't heard of Spaceballs (1987) until now )

Some people, Commander Gil reflected, could make even melodrama sound routine and prosaic. Lieutenant Rosselin-Metadi clearly worked hard to be included in that category. His tale of the ’Hammer's adventures had enough holes in it to make a lace curtain, and the big medic hadn’t even tried to disguise the gaps.
-- from The Price of the Stars by ( Read more... )