Escape Velocity

A curated Collection of Fantasy and Science Fiction Media

More Posts By Lotte

Review: Legends & Lattes – Travis Baldree

Veteran adventurer and orc barbarian Viv decides to throw in the towel and live a peaceful life instead. She has an idea for a shop selling a dark exotic brew she once tasted on one of her adventures… called coffee. But how to convince people to buy a drink they don’t even know exists?

Review: Assassin’s Fate – Robin Hobb

Fitzchivalry Farseer’s daughter Bee has been kidnapped, and is presumed dead. Fortunately, Bee is very much alive, but unfortunately, she is being held captive by a group of white prophets, who intend to bring her back to their home in Clerres. Meanwhile, Fitz and his companions go on a journey to Clerres to kill all whites, to punish them for Bee’s alleged death.

Review: Fractal Noise – Christopher Paolini

After the traumatic death of his wife, xenobiologist Alex Crichton joins an expedition that brings him and his fellow crew to Talos VII. They detect an anomaly on the planet: a giant hole that seems to have been created by intelligent life. Alex and three of his fellow shipmates descend to the planet to discover what the hole is, who made it, and why.*

*As they journey closer to the giant pit, Alex is forced to confront not just the idea of there being other life in the universe, but also his own demons.

Review: Harrow the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir

After the events in Canaan House, Harrow is finally raised to Lyctorhood and takes her place among her fellow Lyctors. However, she finds herself struggling with her new position. Her transformation was imperfect, and she doesn’t have all the powers the other Lyctors have. Her memory is woozy, she doesn’t remember Gideon at all, and she has a set of envelopes she’s written before losing her memory, with instructions for several hypothetical scenarios. Meanwhile, the Lyctors prepare for the arrival of a Resurrection Beast hell-bent on killing the Emperor.

Review: The Boy and the Heron – Hayao Miyazaki

A boy called Mahito and his father move to the countryside while the Pacific war rages in Japan. Mahito’s mother has died in a hospital fire during the war, and his father is marrying his late wife’s sister, Natsuko. Mahito struggles to find his place in the peaceful countryside until a mysterious heron leads him to explore a mysterious tower.

Review: Burrow’s End – Dimension 20

Burrow’s End follows a small family of stoats who are driven out of their burrow by a mysterious storm. As they fight to find a new home, they soon realise that the real world is threatening in ways they could never have imagined. The season is DM’ed by Aabria Iyengar, and stars Brennan Lee Mulligan as single mom Tula, with her children Jaysohn, a hyperactive karate kid (played by Siobhan Thompson), and Lila, a clever know-it-all (played by Isabella Roland). Tula’s sister Viola (played by Rashawn Scott) is the enigmatic wife of cult leader Thorn (played by Jasper William Cartwright). Tula and Viola’s mother is a grizzled old stoat named Ava (played by Erika Ishii).

Yearly Wrap-up: 2023 in Review

Our curators look back at their 2023 resolutions, and their favourite fantasy and science fiction media of the past year. Which media on their to be read/watch/listen/play piles got their attention? And what else did the year bring?

Review: Fool’s Quest – Robin Hobb

After the events of Fool’s Assassin, Fitz finds himself back at Buckkeep Castle with his old friend, the Fool. The Fool warns him that the pale folk are looking for a child known as the Unexpected Son. Meanwhile, Fitz’s young daughter Bee is left at Fitz’s estate Withywoods, but she won’t be alone for long…

Review: The Last of Us – HBO Max

Global society collapsed after a fungus turning people into zombies spread like a wildfire. Joel is a world-weary smuggler used to a life out of sight of what remains of the authorities. Ellie, on the other hand, is a sassy teenager growing up in a dreary post-apocalyptic world, whose importance neither she nor Joel can grasp. When Joel is tasked to take Ellie on a dangerous trip across country, he is (understandably) less than thrilled.

Review: Axiom’s End – Lindsay Ellis

Cora Sabino is a recent college dropout who has returned to her family home. A leak shows that the US government has made first contact with an alien species, and Cora’s estranged father, in hiding somewhere in Europe, is the one driving the controversy against the government. The Sabino’s want nothing more to do with him, and while their home is kept under surveillance, Cora herself makes contact with a member of the alien species. They strike up an alliance that eventually blossoms into an unlikely friendship.