More Posts By Robin
Curator Question: 2025 Resolutions
Our Curators discuss their 2024 New Year’s Resolutions – what is on their to be read/watch/listen/play list for the coming year?
Yearly Wrap-up: 2024 in Review
Our curators look back at their 2024 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: The War of the Rohirrim – Kenji Kamiyama
200 years before the War of the Rings and the other events of the Lord of the Rings, Helm, king of Rohan, slew a Dunlending lord who sought a marriage between his son Wulf and Helm’s daughter Hera. In the ensuing war between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings, not just Helm but also his daughter Hera will make a name for themselves that will go down in history.
Review: Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
From the cover:
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.
Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When first her husband and then her eldest son vanish, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society.
How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?
Curator Question: Will you watch The Rings of Power season 2?
Another question for our curators: How do they feel about the second season of Amazon’s The Rings of Power? They watched season one together, to generally mediocre reviews…
Review: The End We Start From – Mahalia Belo
When an environmental crisis sees London submerged by flood waters, a young family is torn apart in the chaos. As a woman and her newborn try and find their way home, the profound novelty of motherhood is brought into sharp focus in this intimate and poetic portrayal of family survival. (Rotten Tomatoes movie description)
Review: The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
In a near future where artificial intelligence reigns supreme, human emotions have become a threat. To get rid of them, Gabrielle must purify her DNA by going back into her past lives. There, she reunites with Louis, her great love. But she’s overcome by fear, a premonition that catastrophe is on the way. (Official cinema blurb)
Review: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi – S.A. Chakraborty
Part one in the Amina al-Sirafi Trilogy – Retired pirate captain Amina al-Sirafi is called back to the sea when she is recruited to investigate the kidnapping of the daughter of a wealthy merchant from the city of Aden. While she struggles to leave behind her daughter, she gathers her old crew around her and sets out to find the cruel Frank mercenary Falco Palamenestra. The quest takes a dark turn, however, when rumours reach Amina that the Frank is an occult sorcerer with dangerous magic…
Review: Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
In this thought-provoking twist on Frankenstein, the drowned body of a young woman is brought back to life with the brain of her unborn infant. The result of this scientific experiment is Bella Baxter (portrayed by Emma Stone). Unbound by the societal norms of her era, Bella becomes resolute in her mission to advocate for equality and freedom.
Review: Poor Things – Alasdair Grey
In Alasdair Gray’s thought-provoking twist on Frankenstein, the drowned body of a young woman is brought back to life with the brain of her unborn infant. Through humor and satire, Gray pokes fun at the classic Victorian novel while offering a profound commentary on politics and gender dynamics.
Curator Question: Do you prefer books or films?
Another question for our curators: would they rather read or listen to a book, or have the story told through a television screen?
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?