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We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
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- Book written by Sequoia Nagamatsu
- Published 18 January 2022
- Standalone
In this interconnected short story collection, generations progressively further into the future attempt to deal with the impact of a devastating global pandemic. As death becomes an everyday reality, how will society adapt? How will we deal with the loss of children, of parents, of friends? How will humanity recover? Focussing specifically on Japanese-American and Japanese perspectives, How High We Go in the Dark is both refreshing and at the same time deeply disturbing.
I listened to the audiobook with separate narrators per story – all of them a pleasure to listen to.
I wanted to escape from The Wheel of Time so I asked Robin to recommend me something different to listen to and… well, this is the other end of the spectrum.
How High We Go in the Dark is a very dark, thought-provoking, sometimes bizarre collection of interlinked science fiction stories (where have we seen that before!) with stories set progressively further into our future, beginning a decade from now and ranging towards the launch of a generation ship to colonise the stars, and beyond.
Even though the stories have different main characters, the protagonists are linked, often by blood but always by their Japanese heritage. The stories revolve around the impact of an incredibly deadly pandemic on global society. In particular, Nagamatsu explores the results of the proximity and omnipresence of death – an inevitable aspect of life that our society has largely sanitised and hidden away.
Nagamatsu takes a more literary approach than most science fiction writers and explores that societal impact largely through human interaction (as befits a professor of anthropology).
How High We Go in the Dark has almost no plot and no explicit worldbuilding, but drops the reader into social situations progressively further removed from our time. The changes in society that happened in the meantime are apparent only between the lines. Expect no laser guns or space battles, but rather personal and gripping accounts of what it means to be Asian-American, viewed through the lens of a possible dystopian future.
I thoroughly enjoyed How High We Go in the Dark, even as a reader that generally prefers more plot-heavy books. I loved how Nagamatsu built an interesting world with occasionally bizarre elements, that still feels very grounded – especially given his writing seems so minimal on explanation or background.
Robin might not write a review because she read the book a while back, but if you generally enjoy what she is into, I would definitely recommend this: straddling the divide between science fiction and literature, this book is both engaging and thought-provoking.
Even if you are not into the more literary side of the genre, especially the first two stories in the book are absolute gems, and both of them would well be worth reading separately of the rest of the novel.
Be aware, though, that How High We Go in the Dark is, well… very dark. You won’t be reading this book with a smile…
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- Novel written by Diana Gabaldon
- Published 01 June 1991
- Part one of the Outlander series
It is 1945 and Claire Randall, a former WWII nurse, is on a second honeymoon with her husband. During their idyllic trip through Scotland, Claire accidentally stumbles through a magical stone circle and ends up 200 years in the past. Here she finds herself lost amidst the war between the Scottish and the English, and she is pushed into a marriage with a young, hot, Scottish warrior.
I have to admit I’m not sure why I decided to read this book. I’d watched the first season of the TV-show, and I didn’t really care for it. I suppose I thought maybe the book would be better? I usually try to give popular things a chance because if lots of people like something there must be a reason why.
As far as the positives go, I would say the first 250 pages or so were quite enjoyable. It’s definitely a page-turner, and the mystery of the stone circle is intriguing.
Unfortunately, everything goes rapidly downhill as soon as Claire marries Jamie. From that point on, the only things that matter are (nonconsensual) sex and torture. You can’t get through 20 pages of the second half of the book without Claire and Jamie (but mostly Jamie) having to Get It On.
At the halfway point the plot loses any sense of direction it initially had. Don’t expect this book to have a beginning, middle and end. You’re only getting the beginning of the story. This series is meant to be TEN BOOKS LONG. Because you’re not getting a resolution (and if you are familiar with the TV-show knowing that there will not be a good resolution anytime soon) the second half of the book feels like a deeply thankless exercise.
I wouldn’t really recommend this book to anyone, but if you struggle with descriptions of sexual assault don’t read this book. It’s full of it. Just stay away from Outlander.
- Video game developed by Daniel Mullins Games
- Directed by Daniel Mullins
- Published by Devolver Digital
- Published 19 October 2021
- Roguelike Deck Builder, Trading Card Game, Point-and-Click game
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox series X/S, Nintendo Switch
- Playing time: about 15-20 hours to beat the game
Inscryption is a such a gem of a game. It manages to communicate what it is all about before you have even made your first move: when opening the game, the only option available on the start screen is ‘continue game’ with ‘new game’ greyed out. The eyebrow-raising never stops from there.
Inscryption is, at its core, a card game not dissimilar to, for example, Magic: the Gathering or Hearthstone. It has a deck-building mechanic that may be familiar to players of Dominion or Slay the Spire.
The game’s first section will take a while to beat, resetting your progress and deck every time you lose. In between runs, however, it is possible to leave the table where you are playing cards and subject the little cabin you are playing in to a thorough inspection, allowing you to complete puzzles to improve your deck, and, ultimately, progress beyond the first stage.
Once you do, you will find that Inscryption is not just one card game, but an unholy amalgamation of no less than four different deck-building card games glued together by a story told through found footage videos. I will not describe more, because I don’t want to spoil all the twists and surprises.
Inscryption has fun gameplay that, in itself, would merit a positive review. But what makes the game really interesting, is that it plays with the concept of a ‘video game’ in a way that reminded me of The Stanley Parable. It tries to – and succeeds at – reaching beyond the screen and grabbing the player itself, with bizarre elements such as cards talking to you to evaluate your plays as you make them and an army of flying bears beating you to death if you do too well.
Inscryption is a mad vision of a game, but one that constantly pulled me in and that made me want to go home from work early to figure it out. I would 100% recommend it to anyone familiar with Magic-style card games or lovers of the subversive type of game that fucks with your mind.
My only gripes with Inscryption are that at times it does a poor job of explaining game mechanics and that the user interface is often a bit janky. But then, given the amount of different games, interfaces and mechanics in the game, we really shouldn’t judge it too harshly for that.
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- Artificial Intelligence, Atmospheric, Card Game, Deck Builder, Exploration, Fantasy, Found Footage, Grimdark, High Replayability, Horror, Humor, Indie, Investigation, Linux, MacOS, Male Author, Microsoft Windows, Mockumentary, Mystery, Nintendo Switch, Occult, Paranormal, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Point-and-Click, Rogue-Like, Science Fiction, Single-player, Stand Alone, Surrealistic, Trading Card Game, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
- Video game developed by Nintendo
- Directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi
- Released March 03 2017
- Action-adventure
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch
- Playing time: 50 to 260 hours
After awakening from a one hundred-year long sleep, Link finds the kingdom of Hyrule in a post-apocalyptic state. The evil entity Ganon, sealed away by Princess Zelda’s magic, is on the verge of escaping, ready to finish his path of destruction. Only Link can stop him…
I finished the main story line, as well as all the side quests, after what I estimate to be a few hundred hours of playing. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, I believe there is much of this game I could still explore, many more possible hours of entertainment.
I’m not a very skillful gamer, I believe. When given the chance, I’ll seldom engage in melee combat. However, Breath of the Wild gave me plenty of room to develop skills and confidence so even I could fight my way through the more challenging encounters.
Luckily, there is much more to this game than combat. I particularly enjoyed the many puzzles scattered around the world, as well as the exploration aspect that went with them. For the diehard gamers and explorers, there are also countless little challenges I have yet to try my hands on.
Mind you, those who are looking for a complex story will not find it here. The plot is a very straightforward good versus evil narrative, with a ‘chosen one’ performing quests to gather allies and power. However, despite its simplicity, the story is well-executed. This, combined with light-hearted humor, makes this game a very comfortable option for casual escapism.
On a final note, I would like to applaud the worldbuilding within Breath of the Wild, and the way in which it is strongly supported by environmental storytelling. Many locations have a visible history that is told by the scenery, if you care to look for it. I happily spent entire gaming sessions exploring (and nothing else) because of this.
At times, I am a gamer girl. And when I have the opportunity to immerse myself in an open-world game that has a map with seemingly endless exploration, I don’t want to put my controller down anymore.
Even though there is a clear path you could follow (solve the riddles, battle the big bad Ganon and save Zelda), the game doesn’t force you to take this route. Which is perfect for my playing style, since I can get frustrated when I’m being railroaded. I love to wander across the lands, sometimes with a clear goal, sometimes just to marvel at the new environments thrown at me. The puzzles can be quite challenging at times and it is interesting to see how Jop solves some of them in a completely different way. You will need some skill to fight and complete the main quests. However you get ample chance to gradually build this skill when encountering the goblin-like creatures on your way.
The controls are very intuitive, whether you are battling foes or cataloguing fauna. You can play this game in many ways: be a casual traveller across the lands or kill anything that crosses your path, make sure you finish every side quest or complete the main storyline as quickly as possible, it is all up to you.
The feeling of freedom is what makes this a beautiful game that I happily pick up anytime I have some free time.
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- Board game designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek
- Artwork by Tomasz Bentkowski and others
- Published by Portal Games
- Released in 2012
- 1-4 players
- Playing time: 60-120 minutes
In this cooperative board game, the players each take the role of a survivor stranded on an unexplored island. As you explore your surroundings, build up shelter, gather food and craft tools, hunger starts to set in and the weather turns bad. Will you achieve the scenario’s end goals, be they signalling a rescue ship or capturing a giant ape, or will the plucky survivors starve or be killed by the beasts of the jungle?
I love cooperative board games because playing them often feels like an even more social experience than when you’re playing against each other. The focus shifts from the game mechanics to the story and your collective imagination (in a way, what I’m saying is that I like table top roleplaying games :p). I think Robinson Crusoë does a great job of finding that middle ground between board game and storytelling, which means that there is something to like for everyone.
In Robinson Crusoë, the players are faced with a variety of threats, from gnawing hunger and fickle weather to various random events generated by drawing from a deck full of menaces. Playing safe is a guaranteed way to lose the game, so you are forced to take painful risks. But you know that few poor rolls can set you back a long way, so you’re constantly agonising (and discussing with each other) over whether or not to take those chances.
A chance-based game can sometimes feel random or unfair, but I’ve never felt that way playing Robinson Crusoë. That is not to say that the game does not get you to the edge of your seat – by some miracle of game design, every time I’ve played, winning or losing has come down to the final roll of the final turn of the game. That’s tension at its finest!
I’m treading the line of the speculative genre by reviewing Robinson Crusoë, because especially some of the simpler scenarios in the game are based in the titular, more or less grounded survival situation. But part of what makes this game great is that there is a variety scenarios: from simple shipwreck survival to Indiana Jones and King Kong spoofs – some even going as far as introducing time travel!
I haven’t played them all, but so far each scenario has been great, and the fact that there is constantly something new feels like a great excuse to meet up again and get in another game!
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- Album musical composed by Jeff Wayne
- Released in 1978
- Starring Richard Burton, Justin Hayward, David Essex, Chris Thompson, Phil Lynott and Julie Covington
Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the War of the Worlds is an atmospheric musical retelling of the classic tale. It is the end of the 19th century, and green flashes have been seen coming from the surface of Mars. Ogilvy, the astronomer, has assured our protagonist, a Journalist, that no life could exist on the red planet. However, the next day they find a glowing cylinder that has crashed near town. A creature from Mars emerges from the cylinder and uses a heat ray to incinerate the spectating crowd. We follow the Journalist as he recounts the way the Martian invaders tear their way through the English landscape.
As far as I am concerned, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds is an absolute classic. I was ten years old when my dad woke me up by sneaking into my room and playing this record (I’m not that old lol – I just happened to have my mum’s old record player in my room). I didn’t understand English that well yet, but the music truly spoke for itself.
I happen to love musicals, but this isn’t quite that. It’s a sort of mix between a concept album and an audio play. The narrative is important, and the songs are great, but it’s the overarching musical themes that really shine. I could listen to an instrumental version of this record and it would still evoke the same emotions in me as it does with the narration and lyrics.
Every so often, they take the show on tour. The live show features a big orchestra and live performers, as well as some sick props, like a huge Martian Fighting machine that towers over the audience and shoots fire at you. If you ever get the chance to attend one of these, I heartily recommend it. A long time ago, an internet friend of mine went to see the live performance and I’ve rarely been more jealous. I did not have the money to spend on the show. The tickets were 70 euros, and I was very much 12 years old. It wasn’t until 2014 that I actually got the chance to see the show live. I convinced both my parents to come, and I managed to score 4th-row tickets. I’ve never been so incredibly surrounded by dads. Honestly, the arena was 90% men over 50.
I later told a colleague that it was kind of a bittersweet experience. You know – great show, just a shame I’d experienced the highlight of my life at age 20. Suffice it to say I’ve been trying to spread the word about this show among young people as much as I can. I was supposed to see the show again with Key, but unfortunately it was cancelled because of covid.
A couple of years ago, Wayne released a “New Generation” of the album – a newly recorded version. They made a couple of changes for this. Some of them are just musical updates that I quite enjoy. As with anything, there are a couple of things that were changed that I don’t love. There’s a short “cutscene” on the screen during the live show where the journalist and his fiancée Carrie talk to each other (except they’re not together really, so they just talk to… the moon? idk) and I find it deeply unnecessary and it pulls me out of the flow of the show. I don’t know why but it makes me go absolutely feral.
One of the more interesting things that they changed is that they really played into the popularity of Steampunk and gave the entire marketing of the show a Steampunk makeover. I have a complicated relationship with Steampunk – I find that it’s often a little tacky – but it really works for this story.
All in all, I would say there is nothing stopping you from checking out this album. It’s literally on Spotify. Next time you go to put on a podcast, play Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds instead.
If you’re wondering if you should put on the original album or the New Generation, I would personally recommend the latter. It just goes a little harder. The original still slaps, though!
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Review: How High We Go in the Dark – Sequoia Nagamatsu
In this interconnected short story collection, generations progressively further into the future attempt to deal with the impact of a devastating global pandemic and the countless dead on our society, focussing specifically on Japanese-American and Japanese perspectives.
Review: Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
It is 1945 and Claire Randall, a former WWII nurse, is on a second honeymoon with her husband. During their idyllic trip through Scotland, Claire accidentally stumbles through a magical stone circle and ends up 200 years in the past.
Review: Inscryption – Devolver Digital
In this subversive rogue-like deck building point-and-click puzzle horror game (yes, all those descriptors apply!), you battle your way past various bosses, worlds, game mechanics, games interfaces, horror videos, puzzles, and your own sanity in an attempt to get to the other side of whatever it is you are trying to get to the other side of. Please don’t ask me to describe this game.
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo
Review of the video game Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After awakening from a one hundred-year long sleep, Link finds the kingdom of Hyrule in a post-apocalyptic state.
Review: Robinson Crusoë: Adventures on the Cursed Island – Portal Games
In this cooperative board game, the players each take the role of a survivor stranded on an unexplored island. As you build up shelter, gather food and craft tools, hunger starts to set in and the weather turns bad. Will you make it to the end of the game, or will the plucky survivors starve or be killed by the beasts of the jungle?
Review: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds – Jeff Wayne
It is the end of the 19th century, and Martians have come to take over planet Earth. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds is an atmospheric retelling of the novel of H. G. Wells.
