Reading/Playing/Watching 2024

A list of things I read, played, or watched in 2024 and some brief thoughts for each. I wouldn't consider these reviews but you can read them as such if you like.

Books

Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie

Local starship declares war on God, makes friends.

I had very high hopes for this book and was severely disappointed by the ending. I felt like a lot of interesting things were set up and then forgotten. I also think that the portrayal of “genderless” society had no real depth and the ship’s hive mind as a concept was severely underutilized. As a whole the book was alright, the writing kept me engaged through the very end, but I found the content lacking.

The Mercy of Gods, James S. A. Corey

First contact with one half of an intergalactic war.

I went into this one apprehensive, knowing that it’s probably going to be the first of a long series like The Expanse. I think it did suffer from obviously being a prologue with lots of setup, but I had a good time with it. The authors have developed their style over the years and it’s fun to be back in a huge world with plenty of room to explore. I’m particularly fond of the [spoiler] character. I’m excited for the TV adaptation as well, if that ever goes through.

Neuromancer, William Gibson

A washed-up hacker gets hired on for a mysterious string of heists in a cyberpunk world.

I felt this book had more style than substance, but it was good style nonetheless. I hope the upcoming TV adaptation takes lots of liberties to keep the feel of the book while giving us some fresh viewpoints in the world to get us out of Case’s head. I, unsurprisingly, preferred learning about the AI and the wider world.

The Northern Caves, nostalgebraist

A shockingly evocative horror story about a very normal fan convention.

This is my first time really enjoying a descent-into-madness story, and I think it was mainly due to the very relatable (to me) subject matter. Following a small fan group reading too far into weird stuff that probably doesn’t deserve it is something I’ve seen a dozen times. I got pulled along the entire thing and felt moved by the ending in a very realistic way. Unlike other evocative horror, it was able to “show” the eldritch and still not feel like a let-down.

Did Not Finish:

• Cryptonomicon
• Almost Nowhere

Games

Solar Ash

Run around and kill monsters to stop a black hole.

Fun little game, nothing particularly new to me. Movement felt smooth and fun, combat was annoying against some of the bosses. I was disappointed by the ending but fine overall.

Subnautica

Fish your way off an alien planet.

I was very frustrated by Subnautica, because I wanted to love it but it was just too frustrating. It felt like they spent more time on cutesy animations than actual gameplay. Navigation and inventory management were terrible, I turned off hunger to avoid that whole system, and finding the next objective past a certain point is just impossible on a map that large.

Alan Wake

What if your stories started to come alive? You’re a horror/thriller writer BTW.

I already played Control, so I already knew pretty much what to expect here. I still had a great time. Controls and gameplay are a bit lacking but it’s an older game and it gets a pass. You can tell they had an idea for the world early on and kept it weird.

Inscryption

Play the game to escape, escape to play the game.

Inscryption is extremely creative, and you can tell a ton of love was poured into it. I was enamored with about 40% of it, and the other 60% felt like a bit of a slog. I’m not a fan of the click-everything-to-escape-the-room style games, but it opens up pretty soon with a few other, more interesting game styles. If you like every style the game uses, you’ll probably love it.

Sable

Go through a literal rite of passage to come of age.

I think Sable is intentionally very understated. The surface-level plot is extremely cliche, but start engaging with the world or other characters and you’ll find a bit more than meets the eye. There are plenty of fun mysteries, side quests, and vistas to explore in the beautiful dunes.

Tactical Breach Wizards

Defenestration: this time with magic.

Extremely fun game from extremely fun game-maker Tom Francis. The core gameplay is a combination of tactical turn-based shooter and positional puzzler, but with the freedom to undo anything until you lock in. Those elements mesh well, but the true value is in the characters, world, and story. Definitely the funniest game in this list.

Factorio: Space Age

The factory must grow.

DLC wins game of the year, sorry. It ate my December. Very well-balanced, just waiting for a few more quality-of-life features.

Movies

Red, White & Royal Blue

But you’re a prince! And I’m the son of the president!

Watched this on bad movie night, not much to say. Cute and fun.

Hackers

Their only crime was curiosity! Hack the planet!

Also a bad movie night watch, but extremely fun. I like that they weren’t afraid to make the main characters look silly or cringe. Or maybe they didn’t realize. Cereal Killer is and forever will be an icon.

Labyrinth

David Bowie certainly had a great time.

Older movies, especially fantasy movies, can be pretty good at getting away with a non-traditional structure. This one truly felt like a fever dream and I think it was all the better for it.

Pride

The mostly-true story of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign.

I was caught by surprise with this movie. It’s shockingly earnest, doesn’t back down from showing the realities of LGBT acceptance in the 80s, and portrays many characters growing in different ways.

The Death of Stalin

The mostly-untrue story of Stalin’s death and the chaos around it.

Equal parts grave, awkward, funny, and depressing. I was lucky enough to watch it with someone much better informed about Russian history than I am, who was able to fill in my wide gaps of understanding and make the movie much funnier.

TV Series

Hazbin Hotel

Hell is real and it’s a musical.

This show was just not for me. I found a few of the characters interesting, but overall it felt aimless and immature.

Culprits

The crew of a heist goes their separate ways to live a happily-ever after, until…

I think this show did a lot of things well: setting up the main character’s new happy life, showing the threat approaching, and letting them collide in interesting ways with some neat side characters. Overall I think it did everything right, but the result just didn't move me in the end.

Fallout

Welcome to the post-apocalypse, everything’s fine!

I was not impressed by the beginning of the season, but by the end I was invested. I think it did a good job with the Fallout lore at the end of the day, even if it leaned a bit on the silly side for my tastes.

The Boys

What if superheroes were jerks, and we had to be bigger jerks to stop them?

In a sub-genre that’s already got good competition (Invincible), The Boys takes itself seriously while still being fun at times. There are a lot of references to current events which can make some scenes feel dated, but each season does its best to end on a solid conclusion without big cliffhangers. Lots of sex and gore, but didn't overly rely on it.

The Legend of Vox Machina

Killing dungeons, delving dragons.

The third season of Vox Machina came out this year, which I thought continued the upward trend of the show. Each season had some good moments but this one was the most consistent and kept the stakes high.

The Franchise

Making light of the death of cinema.

If you enjoyed Veep and Avenue 5, you’ll probably also enjoy this one. Himesh Patel gives a great performance as the permanently-tired but always-ready first assistant director to a generic Marvel-esque movie. The jokes keep coming as everything falls apart around them.

Black Monday

A fictional lead up to the real Black Monday and its chaos.

I started this show a while ago and finally finished season 1, which ends a complete story. Full of extremely fast jokes, great characters, and a good ending. I’m not planning to watch the later seasons right away, though I do plan to see them at some point.

The Apothecary Diaries

The Tang Dynasty catgirl House M.D. anime.

I don’t typically like crime/hospital procedurals, but this is only like 30% procedural. The rest is romance and palace intrigue, which comes together in a very charming way.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Local teenagers declare war on God, make friends.

If you haven’t seen Fullmetal Alchemist by now, you’ve at least heard of it. I thought it was a solid show and a good example of what you can do with a 64-episode run. Lots of characters had room onscreen to grow and be impactful in the story without feeling overly meandering. I also love the magic-industrial aesthetic.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Fake married, real spies.

I haven’t seen the original movie, but this show worked very well on its own. The characters never know what’s expected of them, from each other or their agency, and the actors play that tension realistically. I thought the pacing was fast, almost too fast, and I’m very interested in seeing more.

Scavengers Reign

A beautiful race to get off a deadly alien planet.

Fortiche has gotten a lot of (well-deserved) press this year about phenomenal animation, but Titmouse deserves some praise for Scavengers Reign. You can tell the amount of work and love put into every frame of this series and the beautiful, deadly planet it’s on. The story was compelling, the action is gripping, and while I would have loved a second season I’m okay where it ended.

Kaos

Every Greek myth, all at once.

A lot of bold choices were made in the production of Kaos, and I respect that. Not all of them were good, but the overall product was good in the same way as Romeo + Juliet. It felt at times that there were too many myths, like some had been shoehorned in, but it kept the show moving and fairly unpredictable. The show ended up dealing with uniquely human problems and conflicts, which makes a lot of the myths feel lopsided when the god figures aren’t godly.

Andor

Real life in the Empire, or how a rebellion is born.

Andor is something I’ve wanted from Star Wars for a long time: what does it look like for normal people to live normal lives in the Empire? Why would they start a revolution against an all-powerful, ever-present force? Life sucks, that’s why. It’s an interesting examination of how an empire decides to use force, where it can and can’t act unilaterally, and how normal people are caught in the middle.

Arcane

Everything could have been fine, but it wasn’t.

Arcane is a visual masterpiece, which is why I'm able to excuse some of the story choices in season 2. It's not a perfect show, but it is solid on basically every count. The production quality is off the charts in one of the most visually impressive works I've ever seen. The characters are deep, flawed, and compelling. The best kind of tragedy.

Delicious in Dungeon

We have food at home! The food at home: 🐲

A funny gimmick in a stock setting that leads you down a rabbit hole of thorough worldbuilding and interesting developments. I'm enjoying these modern anime that are leaving out some of the childish or immature aspects of the genre and instead just delivering an interesting story without undercutting itself.

Mushi-Shi

The magic bugs don’t want to hurt you, they just don’t know any better.

Probably the only truly episodic thing on this list, but a phenomenal example of hitting the perfect tone every time. A slow, contemplative series of stories in a world where humans can coexist with nature, if they take the time to listen. Again: not typically my jam, but it was executed so well that I wish I could capture it in my own worldbuilding.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Local elf begins to understand the length of a human lifetime.

Frieren came out of the gate swinging - go watch episode 1 and tell me if you don’t cry. The first cour is just a series of beautiful gut-punches. It’ll lure you in, get you invested and then wreck you with one line. Probably the best examples of mid-fight flashbacks that reframe everything. There has been a lot of competition recently for “taking the stock fantasy world seriously” but Frieren just obviously wins. The second cour didn’t live up to the first in my opinion but it was still excellent. Highly recommend overall.