In my mid-20s, I smoked a helluva lot of weed. One night, my buddy Mike and I were six or seven bong rips deep on my couch, and we threw on Netflix’s Altered Carbon. I had neither seen nor heard anything about the show. And when I tell you that I recall exactly zero percent…
You guys will never guess where Stephen King is taking us next, folks. That’s right, Maine! Specifically, in the deep woods of our only single-syllable state, there’s a mysterious compound where children with special powers are imprisoned and used for their talents in nefarious ways. The Institute is a dark subversion of the magic school…
If you passed through Iowa City in the mid-2010s, you might encounter a lanky, baseball-hatted kid in a tie-dye Hawkeyes sweatshirt (me) loping alongside his giant afroed friend Ryan, yapping about fantasy books and other nerdy potpourri. To be fair, that is a likely sighting on any liberal arts college campus, but it’s where today’s…
Back, back, back again! Here's a fresh puzzle for the sci-fi fans! QTL Crossword: Some Books Need More?! For more puzzles, subscribe to my newsletter, The New Dork Times. It's now completely free, with three weekly puzzles.
QTL readers, welcome back to the grid! I'm publishing crosswords on a highly irregular basis now, and I've had this one in the queue for months. Get to solving, or don't. I'm not your dad! QTL Crossword: Grayscale Need More?! For more puzzles, subscribe to my newsletter, The New Dork Times. It's now completely free, with three…
Here’s a multiple choice question for ya: What does “Woof!” mean? A. It’s what my toddler calls all doggies. B. It’s the only exclamation that can capture my feelings of returning from a stressful holiday season to write a review! C. It’s how I feel about Stephen King’s Cujo. D. All of the above. Ding…
Welcome to hell, beckons R.F. Kuang in Katabasis. It’s basically academia! When I thought back to my agitation at being graded on how well I presented my opinions, I started to agree with Kuang’s ideas. Then, the book dragged on further and further into the depths of hell, and I lost touch with my relationship…
The Stephen King bell ringeth once more, this time for Billy Summers. It’s a more grounded tale for King, putting a hitman front and center without any direct supernatural interference. And, by jove, it works quite well! Billy Summers is a former Iraq War sniper who now works as a hitman. But he’s a good…
Howdy, folks! Today, I've got a hodgepodge of a puzzle for ya! QTL Crossword: Grab Bag Need More?! For more puzzles, subscribe to my newsletter, The New Dork Times. It's now completely free, with three weekly puzzles.
Another day, another review from my local bookstore’s summer reading challenge! The category was “A Cozy Fantasy,” and the book was Rebecca Thorne’s Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea. I’ve read and reviewed my fair share of zeitgeisty cozy fantasies. This one didn’t particularly break the mold, but it was pleasant enough. Reyna, a former Queen’s…
Continue reading ➞ Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea – Bland Brew
