It's been almost two months since I posted something. I've been neglecting my reading because it's been too hot. I've been absorbing movies instead, so many movies, too lazy to turn pages. But I thought I'd throw out a few things about some TV I've been watching but maybe never mentioned.

Daredevil - Finished it, great show, good fight scenes. A bit dark occasionally, it never seems to be daytime, but I suppose that's its thing. I do wonder how much it's going to embrace its comic roots. I keep getting a weird supernatural vibe from some of it, but that's probably just me.
Penny Dreadful - This show is so Victorian it almost hurts, so many angsty Victorian faces. I always enjoy the hell out of all the drama and all the clothing and all the crazy Eva Green liberally sprinkled through every episode. Also ugly nightgowns, so many ugly nightgowns.
Hannibal -  Every time Hannibal comes back, I always forget how beautiful all the violence and fine dining is. Also they're not even trying to pretend any more are they. I love everything about it. No show is even close to this interesting to look at.
Dark Matter - Really wanted to like it after being disappointed with the graphic novel, but I'm finding it a little boring and predictable. I'm watching it just because it's sci-fi at the moment. Killjoys might be more fun but I haven't gotten to that yet.
Sense8 - I watched the first episode. I was tentatively interested in some of the characters, and the whole hive mind thing they teased hooked me. I wanted to like it. But I found the dialogue clunky, jammed with exposition and hard to take seriously. I've been told by the internet that I have to give it at least three more episodes because it gets better. Also apparently interesting stuff happens.
Humans - Honestly should have been the sort of thing that I really enjoy, and I kind of loved what they were doing with Anita and Odi, but I kept forgetting it was on, and I just couldn't be bothered to catch up.

I'm going to marathon Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I've been saving it up for some nebulous future time. And there are a couple of things around that sound interesting that I might end up watching. People keep talking about Zoo and The Whispers. Also Dominion is coming back soon, my crazy angel apocalypse show. And Agent Carter starts airing here next week. I shall definitely be watching that.

A Book With Pictures - Dark Matter by Garry Brown, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

The six-person crew of a derelict spaceship awakens from stasis in the farthest reaches of space. Their memories wiped clean, they have no recollection of who they are or how they go on board. The only clue to their identities is a cargo bay full of weaponry and a destination-a remote mining colony that is about to become a war zone! With no idea whose side they are on, they face a deadly decision. Will these amnesiacs turn their backs on history, or will their pasts catch up with them?

This is the graphic novel that a new pilot for a TV show is supposed to be based on, and I like sci-fi shows so I thought I'd have a look at the source material. Also, because I'm a sucker for an amnesia storyline.

The art style is dark and angular, it's not a style I would go looking for, but it's not completely off-putting either. I did find it hard to read facial expressions. I would have liked a little more colour, and some detail to the characters though, at times I was even getting two of them confused.

The story moves along very fast, there's no real time to get a look at the new characters before things are happening to him. But the mystery of who they are is solved very quickly, with the larger mystery of why their memories were taken and by who, and if there is a traitor on board, quickly becoming the new questions (which was a little disappointing as I would have liked the characters to come across as something and interact a little bit at least, before learning who they were supposed to be.)

By far my favourite character is the robot on the ship, his bright colouring, ominous dialogue and detailed eyes make him stand out, and his actions, motives and strange watchfulness as the plot played out intrigued me far more than any of the muddy characters.

I wasn't really hooked by any of the characters or the mystery surrounding them. They definitely seem to be going for a Firefly flavour, and I can see how people would like it, but it didn't work for me. It's a shame, as a little more personality and colour could have made it a book I might have recommended.

A Book With More Than 400 Pages - The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey.

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.

When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite. But they don't laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.


This is another book which I'd seen in a lot of the 'best books of 2014' lists. For some reason I was under the impression this book was about super powers. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I'd somehow come to that conclusion by catching half of a conversation or something. So I was very enthusiastic for this novel about a little girl who had super powers that were somehow so terrifying that she was kept in a government facility. It quickly became very clear that I was totally wrong, and the fact that I was disappointed was completely my own fault in this case. I know that's a problem of mine sometimes. I get too excited about what I think a book is about, and where I think it's going, rather than letting it just tell its story. I'll admit to that one.

The Girl With All The Gifts is a zombie book. Which I tried not to hold against it. I think there's still room to have new and interesting ideas in the genre (I think convincing people to read them while the genre is so overstuffed is much more difficult.)

The story is a fairly familiar post-apocalyptic one, it pulled up one or two new ideas but on the whole it is something I've seen done before, in a few novels, and more than a few short stories. It's a direction I don't really mind and the characters were good, engaging, real-feeling people. It also helped that Melanie is one of those narrators that I like, where it's clear they're more naive than the people around them, and the reader can work out far more of what's happening in the world through their observations than what the main character is aware of. I don't know if there's a word for that...something something narrator?

But if you're willing to read another zombie book, I think it's worth giving a look.

So there was a trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan but everyone seems very happy. So I'm happy for you guys and your new Stars Wars movie.


Also, the Batman Vs Superman trailer teaser thingy appeared last night. And I just wanted to talk about DC movies for a bit before I head out.
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I was going to post something that wasn't a book review for a change, but then I had two books on the same general theme for the weekend, and I ended up reading them both. So I thought I'd review them both at the same time. So, on the theme of disaster, isolation and survival in a sci-fi setting I take on The Martian by Andy Weir, and The Explorer by James Smythe.

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A Book By A Female Author - The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lillith Saintcrow.

The game is afoot!

London's geniuses are being picked off by a vicious killer, and Emma Bannon, a sorceress in the service of the Empire, must protect the next target, Archibald Clare. Unfortunately he's more interested in solving the mystery of the murders than staying alive . . .

In a world where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare will face dark sorcery, cannon fire, high treason and the vexing problem of reliably finding hansom cabs in the city.

This book looked like fun, it sounded like fun. I was expecting Morgana and Sherlock Homes solve crime! That sounded like a fun book. A mostly romance-free adventure with a victorian theme, a little like Soulless by Gail Carriger, which I quite enjoyed.

But the first thing I have to say about this book is not a compliment. It annoyed me from beginning to end. Constantly describing your adult female heroine - or any of her body parts or mannerisms - as 'little' or 'childlike' is throwing me the hell out of the book. Especially if they're observations being made by a man with any romantic interest in her. No. No. Stop it.

Emma Bannon is a bearable heroine, though at times she feels frustratingly like a collection of female protagonist tropes. I feel like we never really get to know her as much as I wanted to. Archibald Clare gets to be our pov character for alternate chapters. He seems to get the meat of the fleshing out, dialogue, interesting companions and inventive steampunk plot. The world-building has some interesting ideas, though it does jolt from alternate Victorian London with magic, to heavily steampunk-flavoured, mechanical human craziness with dragons, in a way that doesn't quite feel earned.

It's not exactly romance free - but weirdly the love interest is almost completely extraneous to the plot, he has barely any personality and no chapters from his pov. He barely does anything but look grumpy/jealous, occasionally fight things and protest the heroine doing stuff. Poor cardboard love interest. He feels like he was just stuffed in so the book had a love interest. You could cut him out of the book entirely and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference. I suspect people with no real interest in romantic sub-plots or main plots might find him an annoying diversion, and people who like to read romance will probably find the lack of it disappointing.

Honestly, the book works best when Bannon and Clare are interacting, I thought the book was better when they were together, driving the plot forwards. I would actually have read more of their adventures if Emma was fleshed out a little more, and if there was a little more for them to do, and a little less in the way of over-used urban fantasy tropes. And if they could stop talking about her little childlike face of course, because that's just weird...

A Book With Magic - The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

In the far future, unbeknown to humankind, an apocalyptic war is brewing. Fearsome, vengeful Demons rage at the boundaries of the world, held at bay by a spell called the Forbidding. But now that barrier is dying. Evil is beginning to break through. And only the Chosen can banish the Demons back to their realm.

Wil Ohmsford is a healer, not a fighter; a man of duty, not great deeds. But this epic battle seeks him out, for he holds the Elfstones: mysterious protective talismans passed down by his grandfather. Wil is recruited to act as guardian to the Elf girl Amberle, who must venture far to deliver a seed that will help the Forbidding to grow again. The fate of civilization rests upon her shoulders—and the completion of her mission rests upon Wil’s. Now, as the forces of darkness descend, Wil and Amberle embark on a perilous journey, placing their faith in each other to survive the bloodthirsty terrors that await.

The second in the first Shannara trilogy (though the books standalone). I didn't enjoy the first book that much. The world-building didn't feel that interesting, it felt like the plot was mostly on rails, and none of the characters felt like they had any real agency. It also overused its magical macguffin to a ridiculous extent. But this second book is the one they hope to make into a TV show, and I'd been told it was much, much better than the first.

The first half of the book didn't leave me that impressed, I found the main characters, Wil and Amberle (both drawn as fairly passive and childlike, constantly reacting to things happening around them) bland and uninteresting, the magical macguffin makes another appearance (weirdly I think the stones are actually used/focused on less, considering this book is supposed to be about them.) Interesting characters show up just long enough for you to think they might improve the story/cast, only to leave just as quickly. But halfway through the book the focus splits - and the story quickly improves. The plot becomes something other than 'constantly running away' and main character's chapters become a little more satisfying as they're given things to do, and I found the secondary story genuinely compelling with good characters. I really, really wish this book had concentrated on the armies under siege. Or made Ander, Crispin or Stee Jans (or anyone else really) the main character. I don't understand why most of the good characters, development, interesting choices, compelling plot and action/fight scenes were given to the secondary plot/second half of the book. Though the second half did make it a much better book.

But for all that it's a book full of demons, death, and dangerous questing it's all very...clean. I'm not sure if it was originally a young adult book before it became popular, but it feels familiar in that sort of way.

A Book That Made You Laugh - What If? by Randall Munroe.

Munroe's hilarious and compelling answers explain everything from the odds of meeting your one true soulmate to how many humans a rampaging T-Rex would need to eat a day.

This book was very silly and immense fun. Written and illustrated by the mind behind xkcd it's a fun blend of serious science, absurd thought experiments and ridiculous hypotheticals. The author does his best to answer both utterly ridiculous questions and genuinely intriguing random thoughts and flights of fancy, to the best of his ability (when he's not accusing the questioners of wanting to feed their friends to a T-Rex.)

But there's also a constant, and amusing tendency to go off on tangents and colour outside the lines - answering questions that would need to be answered as well as the original question, or questions that arise that he finds interesting. There's a section on what would happen to the earth if everyone jumped at the same time - but it goes into far more detail getting everyone to the same place for the grand jumping, and then explaining the difficulties of everyone needing to eat, go to the toilet and then fly home (spoiler, most of us would starve to death.) It feels like it was a lot of fun to write, it was definitely fun to read.

Though I'm still curious about that whole feeding T-Rexs to Sarlacc pits that never got answered.

I thought I'd do a snake post, since Niko's fully grown now and I haven't put up pictures of him for more than a year. For anyone that doesn't know, in September 2011 we found a baby snake curled up in the recycling, and I kept it. Because in my family that's often how we end up with pets.
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A Book Set In The Future - Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear.

A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination - unknown. Its purpose? A mystery. Its history? Lost.

Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home, a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms, he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger. All he has are questions: Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to the woman he loved? What happened to Hull 03?

All will be answered, if he can survive. Uncover the mystery. Fix the ship. Find a way home.

I was in the mood for something science-fiction flavoured and I knew that Greg Bear's Hull Zero Three was on my list of stuff to read as a 'generation/sleeper ship gone wrong' book. The general feel of it is a little like the movie Pandorum, if you've seen that (if you haven't - think waking on a spaceship that's in a worrying state of collapse and decay, with no idea what's happening and the nagging sense that things have gone wrong in a way that may involve monsters.) The book has more of an emphasis on zero gravity and a way of suggesting that the monsters may not be the most obvious. I enjoyed reading it, finding out what had happened, how long they'd been travelling, why everything had gone so horribly wrong. It's not a huge book by sci-fi standards, only 310 pages, and it has a good pace. I'm a sucker for space mysteries and sometimes if the journey has good characters, or is compelling enough, or has enough interesting or unsettling twists/shocks, I can forgive a shaky ending (though not a stupid ending.) The book was satisfying enough that I came away with no real complaints. Good science fiction.

I hate when a song has the most amazing, incredible intro, one that makes you go 'oh my god I have to listen to this, it's going to be amazing!' only to find out that's the best bit of the song, or the rest of it is just terrible.

I read a couple of books, but I don't want to spam them all at once, so I shall spread them out.


A Book With A Female Heroine - Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Most people dismissed the reports on the news. But they became too frequent; they became too real. And soon it was happening to people we knew. Then the Internet died. The televisions and radios went silent. The phones stopped ringing

And we couldn’t look outside any more.

I found this book as a recommendation in a comment section, as a new book with a genuinely scary and unsettling premise. Having read it, I agree with that, and I'm impressed at both the idea for the story and what the author did with it. I liked this book a lot.

There is something outside, something that if you see it you're doomed to madness, violence and death. A lot of the book is written by characters in blindfolds, in utter darkness and there's a lovely aura of menace that never quite lets up.

It uses its tension and the forced darkness really well. It's creepy in places, tense in others, I enjoyed letting the plot drag me along, and making me look in all the scariest cupboards. It's occasionally grim, but in a very realistic way. I didn't want to leave the female protagonist's pov. I sort of don't want to say anything else about it, so I'm just going to recommend that other people read it.

I fully intended to keep up with my LJ a little better this year. But then I immediately forgot and went to replay Dragon Age: Inquisition, and play Alien Isolation (the last third of that game tested both my resolve and my controller, and also left me with a terrible fear of polite, plasticky robots.) So now it's more than a week into February, which already has less days than all the other months. Also I recently snagged Darkest Dungeon and Sunless Sea so I'm officially doomed already.

In other news, I have a reading bingo for 2015, using prompts that me and nausicaa83 put together from previous cards, and ideas we thought would be fun, and it was made into a beautiful card by juuhachi_go (download link for fancy version.) It makes me want to read everything.

With resources via The Velvet Factory.

The 2014 bingo made me read so much and I couldn't pass up the chance to devour more books for various squares. I have a ton of new book recs from various places, and I'm hoping I can discover something amazing this year.

I have a cold, which won't come out and be an actual cold, but won't go away either. Either that or I'm turning into an incubator for several dozen different strains - which is disturbing and I'm going to stop thinking about it.

But I did want to say that I've tried one of the new Cadbury's Creme Eggs. Since everyone has been making a fuss about their new 'substitute generic chocolate shell.' And I've been eating the damn things for three decades. In my opinion eating the actual egg I notice only a little difference, more sweetness less actual chocolate taste. It's still recognisable as a Cadbury's Creme Egg. But there is now a definite cocoa-y after-taste, obvious and lingering, which I'm going to admit to not being a fan of. Not quite a 'ruined forever' situation but annoying nonetheless.

I would say I'll get used to it, but I still miss Opal Fruits. They said Starbursts was just a name change and they'd be exactly the same, but that was a lie.

A Book Published This Year: Neverland's Library: Fantasy Anthology by Various

Dragons, magic, princesses of mighty kingdoms...elements of fantasy that have carried on throughout the many ages, and yet, may one day be forgotten. Enter and delve into the roots of fantasy, rediscovering the fantastic, and exploring lost worlds. NEVERLAND'S LIBRARY is storytelling at its finest. This collection of original works will take readers back to that moment when they first fell in love with the genre.

This book didn't have the most interesting blurb in the world but it had a beautiful cover (I'm a sucker for a beautiful cover) and it was a big fantasy anthology put out this year. Good fantasy anthologies are hard to find. I often end up with an anthology that's mostly (or entirely) urban fantasy, or modern day earth with slightly fantastical elements. But the reviews of this one seemed to suggest that this anthology was definitely tipped towards more of the fantasy I tend to look for - interesting worldbuilding, wildly different alternate versions of earth, traditional pre-industrial fantasy worlds, strange creatures, weird stuff. So I figured I'd give it a try.

I had to pick a book that was nearly five hundred pages long for my last read of the year. Though the stories themselves aren't too long so I could read it a little bit at a time if it was tough going.

It wasn't tough going, it was an easy to read collection that I liked as a whole, there was a variety of themes and settings, only a few of them modern and recognisable. And even though few of them really strayed towards the completely unexpected/fantastical most of them were interesting and even the worst of them simply felt like chapters pulled out of generic fantasy books where nothing much happened, I didn't think any of them were really bad. There were a few that I really liked - Deception, The Height of Our Fathers, On the Far Side of the Apocalypse, A Tune From Long, Long Ago, and An Equity in Dust which I thought all had interesting ideas. I would read a whole book of each of them.

And that's my 2014 book bingo all done, with a few days to spare! It did a great job of encouraging me to read more this year. Which is never a bad thing.

A Funny Book: The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes


Some people are born boring. Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort.

One fateful night – different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful – Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver wereponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to “survive.” Because even after it’s over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.

You never really know if a funny book is going to be funny. So I picked a book with a funny title that had promise. I like funny titles, and I decided that was a title that promised I might have fun reading it.

It's the sort of urban fantasy which will be familiar to anyone who's read more than a handful. It's separated into short adventures, which Fred the vampire accountant is reluctantly roped into by his monster-hunting girlfriend. Fred just wants to stay home, drink wine and do accounts. He wears sweater vests, he's not built for fighting things or having magical duels. He's not built to be a badass, or menacing in any way. Which was an entertaining set-up. His issues aren't annoyingly over-the-top, he worries, he wants to be decent guy, and for much of the book the character genuinely feels normal. I ended up liking him.

I also liked that everyone knows more about supernatural things than him, due to him being basically abandoned he's quietly confused by a lot of what happens. Also there's the 'picking up supernatural strays' trope which I always like in urban fantasy books.

It was a very easy book to read, and stuff is always happening, though it bounces along a little fast, sacrificing much in the way of character development and world-building along the way. Possibly because it's barely two hundred pages. But it was fun and I didn't mind reading it at all.

Which leaves me one book left to finish after Christmas!

A Bestselling Book: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie Nancy is not actually fat. He was fat once but he is definitely not fat now. No, right now Fat Charlie Nancy is angry, confused and more than a little scared - right now his life is spinning out of control, and it is all his dad's fault. If his rotter of an estranged father hadn't dropped dead at a karaoke night, Charlie would still be blissfully unaware that his dad was Anansi the spider god. He would have no idea that he has a brother called Spider, who is also a god. And there would be no chance that said brother would be trying to take over his life, flat and fiancée, or, to make matters worse, be doing a much better job of it than him. Desperate to reclaim his life, Charlie enlists the help of four more-than-slightly eccentric old ladies and their unique brand of voodoo - and between them they unleash a bitter and twisted force to get rid of Spider. But as darkness descends and badness begins is Fat Charlie Nancy going to get his life back in one piece or is he about to enter a whole netherworld of pain?

I actually didn't really like Neil Gaiman on my first try. Though Good Omens had been one of my favourite books for years, I'd read Neverwhere shortly after I discovered it, and didn't really enjoy it. Then I was recced a later Sandman book and ended up confused and disappointed (because everyone seemed to love it.) But then I read American Gods and really liked it, and I also quite liked The Graveyard Book. I was told firmly by several people that I had to start Sandman from the very beginning because if I did I would love it - that turned out to be true (and by then Lucifer was one of my favourite series.) His short story collections had some really interesting ideas in them too (his story The Price is impossible to forget.) So for a while I thought he was an author I'd just needed to warm up to.

But I found Anansi Boys tough going. There were definitely some interesting ideas, and I wanted to see them played with, but I didn't find any of the main characters that interesting. Most of the character moments and weird quirks I enjoyed all came from side characters who had barely any attention paid to them. The middle of the book seemed to go on for too long with nothing really interesting happening. I would have liked to see a lot more of the eccentric old ladies, and strange gods than Fat Charlie's life.

A Book Based on a True Story: South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton.

As the first world war broke out across Europe, Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole became trapped by ice. Their ship, the Endurance, was crushed and the men were forced to survive in and escape from one of the world's most hostile environment. Traversing glaciers, scaling cliffs and crossing treacherous seas in open boats, all the time threatened by brutal cold and hunger, the men, through their own strength and Shackleton's leadership, all made it to safety. This story makes the efforts of latterday adventurers pale in comparison.

I really didn't know much about the Shackleton expedition apart from the very basics.

The book starts out quite dry, though I found the passages at the begining about securing funding for the expedition and the outbreak of war almost derailing it before it started really helped add details. The tone may be dry but it's by no means flat or emotionless, and the details and observations are so interesting that after a dozen or so pages I no longer cared. I was too interested in the descriptions of wind conditions affecting the ice, the geologists constant disappointment at not having anything to observe, dog races and penguin chasing, and near-death escapes. The man who played his violin with one string, the man who was nearly crushed by an enormous block of ice, the carpenter who built amazing things on the fly. It continues on like that, triumphs and hardships described in a dry and exact, but never emotionless voice, interspersed with amusing little asides concerning how people wanted their tea, cooking adventures with sometimes only one or two ingredients, and falling into the water chasing penguins. There are also passages throughout written not by Shackleton but by the men who went with him.

Even as the mood slowly slips downwards, as things become more difficult after the loss of the Endurance, hard decisions are made, and they spend long stretches at sea and on floating chunks of ice, there's still a compelling sort of restrained respect and wonder for the environment they found themselves in, for all its unpredicatable moments (where the cold, ice, thirst or killer whales tries to murder them.) But what definitely comes through is the absolute determination not to let any of the men fall into despair, which Shackleton goes to great and often unnoticed lengths to ensure. Then the eventual rescue of every one of his party. Also I have developed a love for the underused word 'inspiriting' which he seems very fond of.

The last third of the book outlines the fate of the Ross sea party which was supposed to lay provisions for the second half of Shackleton's journey. Which was plagued by illness, frostbite, scurvy and inexperience and ended much less happily. And the last mentions of members from both teams who were soon after wounded or killed in the first world war.

I'm absolutely glad that I read this book. Stupid explorers making me have feelings.

I'm determined to finish this challenge before the end of the year. Because it's been excellent at getting me to read things. I have some graphic novels, some new recommendations and some sequels. I'm going to get it done.


A Book That Scares You: Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory.

Tony Chu is a detective with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunnit, and why. He's been brought on by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet, to investigate their strangest, sickest, and most bizarre cases.

It took me ages to work out how I was going to find a book that scared me (and before I'd read it as well.) I've read things that have creeped me out before, but I can't remember the last one that scared me (the last story with implications that unnerved me was the fabulous short story The Jaunt by Stephen King.) But Chew, a graphic novel based on a cop getting psychic impressions from things he eats (often dead, festering, grotesque things.) I wasn't sure I wanted to read that, not in graphic novel form. So I figured it was perfect.

I liked the art, it's simple but it has lots of character. Some of the things Tony has to put in his mouth to get impressions from, some of the evidence he has to eat is disturbing. In a 'please staple my mouth shut forever' sort of way. And the splash screens of those impressions are impressive. It's a good idea and it's both drawn and written well. Just enough detail to give you all the implications without an obvious and vivid picture of how gross what's going on actually is.

I didn't like it enough to pick up more in the series. I need a little bit more humour, fascination or compulsion to go along with my gross. But it was definitely unique and it had its own charm, and I liked all the little twists.

I'm trying to keep track of all the shows I'm watching at the moment. Since I think most of the stuff I watch is actually on right now.


Arrow - Good show, I like the team. It used to be fun to have on in the background but the episodes seem to have less filler than they used to, and I'm liking it a lot more. Though I'm really not happy with what they did at the beginning of season 3.
The Flash - This show is adorable, Barry is adorable, the Wests are adorable, Science team is entertaining. I just want Barry to superhero everything. I don't even care if it's just 'metahuman of the week' with him running around looking confused and apologetic. My knowledge of anything comic related in regards to him is nil, so I have no idea if anything is important. Don't even care.
Gotham - I mocked the idea of the show to start with. But I'll admit, I kind of want this show to be good now I'm watching it, almost anything involving the criminals and their origins is the most fun, everyone looks like they're having a great time there. But then everything else just feels like...a different and not very good show. Poor Jim Gordon just isn't that interesting.
Dominion - lol, it tries really hard, and I love its stupid face. Winged people flying around is the most entertaining thing ever. Everyone is moody and confused, but also earnest. It's my new guilty pleasure. Also, Gabriel's acting entertains the hell out of me.
The Strain - I've read the books, and I really liked the books so I'm enjoying the TV show. Though it did take me ages to realise the star was the 'bald guy who shows up in everything.' The wig threw me, it's like a disguise.
The Blacklist - I love James Spader in this, he's compelling and interesting, and the team are watchable enough, but the mysteries are equally frustrating and intriguing. Please let more stuff that isn't criminals of the week happen.
Sleepy Hollow - The show that wants to have absolutely everything in its mythology and doesn't give a single shit. But I love everyone and their earnest little faces, and Ichabod is the best, even when he's being hilariously the worst. Though, seriously, give Katrina something to do. She looks so bored.
Haven - It feels like I've been watching Haven forever, and they're way too fond of stuff just magically being fixed because it's the end of the episode, and everyone's run around enough. But I would miss it if I stopped watching it. I don't even know.
The Knick - Gross but compelling, so gross but so compelling. I spend the entire time torn between looking and not looking.
Doctor Who - Always Doctor Who. Peter Capaldi has absolutely worked for me this season, Clara I've never warmed to but she had better stuff to do with Peter than with Matt. Am intrigued to see what they do after her.
Constantine - I like this so far, only a few episodes and it has its minor problems, but the guy playing Constantine is working for me so I'm going to give it a chance to grab me.
Elementary - I like Elementary, it's undemanding and fun and I really like Lucy Liu as Watson.
Agents of Shield - I can never be bothered to make that an acronym. I still have a few problems with this show. To be honest, I only came back to it for season 2 because it was Marvel. But the team work has gotten a lot better, and season 2 is doing some good things. I still think Ward is completely pointless though.

I always worry that I'll forget to watch stuff when it comes back as well. We don't get hiatuses, so stuff just comes and then goes away, sometimes for ages (sometimes I don't even know stuff has been renewed until it appears again.) Also there is no proper sci-fi on my list at all right now and that pains me.

Sherlock will come back at some point, I shall watch that, though I found the third season to be mostly disappointing. Game of Thrones will appear as well - I'd already gotten to the stage where I had it on in the background so I could keep an eye on the very few people left I actually care about. But even that felt like a lot of effort, so I might just drop it. I'm behind on Person of Interest and way behind on Supernatural. Both of which I shall probably end up marathoning seasons of.

I did start watching Adventure Time to see what all the fuss was about. It's weird, it's the weirdest thing, and the episodes are only eleven minutes long. I think I like it...maybe?

It's been almost two months so I thought I should say something. So I shall share some gaming stuff.

I've just finished The Evil Within, after 18 hours and 128 deaths. Though I still have only the vaguest idea what the plot was all about, even though I found a ton of audio and little scraps of paper. Doing stuff to other people's brains without consent is bad, okay! It's not getting great reviews but I enjoyed it. It was trying really hard to be liked. In a 'let's cram in all the stuff people like about Resident Evil, and some Silent Hill stuff too because people love that too.' And the boss fights were fun...mostly.

I'm also playing Shadow of Mordor. But I'm having too much fun adventuring and brainwashing orcs to finish the main quest.

And I'm waiting very patiently for Dragon Age: Inquisition.