More Posts By Robin
Review: Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution – R.F. Kuang
Robin Swift is taken from his native Kanton to Oxford to study translation: the art of producing magic from the difference in meaning between translated words in different languages. He is torn by the contradiction between his love for Oxford’s translation institute Babel and the study of languages on the one hand, and his growing unease at Britain’s role in the world and Babel’s role in Britain.
Review: The Rings of Power – Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime’s long-expected take on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings based on the Appendices to the Return of the King chronicles the lives of several younger versions of characters we know from the Lord of the Rings and their attempts to prevent Sauron’s rise to power.
Review: Stone Blind – Natalie Haynes
Medusa, a mortal girl, is brought up by her two immortal sisters. They live a quiet life removed from others, until Medusa catches the eye of Poseidon. Powerless to stop the events that this sets in motion, the consequences for Medusa will be terrible.
Review: The Sandman – Netflix
When the King of Dreams returns to his realm after decades of imprisonment in the human world, he finds that his realm has crumbled and his power has diminished. Soon he must return to the waking world to recover his possessions and restore his power over his subjects.
Curator Question: What did you think of the first episode of The Rings of Power?
Our curators watched Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings show The Rings of Power, and share their first impressions!
Curator Question: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi Author is most well-represented on your bookshelves, and how do you feel about that?
Our curators count the books on their shelves, and reflect on the results. What Fantasy/Sci-Fi author is most well-represented?
Review: All Systems Red – Martha Wells
Part one of the Murderbot Diaries – All Systems Red is the the story of a robot-human hybrid indentured security unit that hacked its governor module so it could watch the future equivalent of Netflix instead of paying attention to its assigned duties – until mysterious equipment failures threaten the safety of the planetary exploration mission it is attached to and force it to take its job (at least a bit more) seriously.
Review: Coraline – Henry Selick
After moving to a new home, Coraline discovers a secret door. On the other side of it she finds a world that seems to mirror her own world, only stranger and more exciting. In this other world she meets her other parents, who are willing to do everything to make her happy. But once she is in their power, will they ever let her leave?
Review: Station Eleven – HBO Max
On the night a deadly flu pandemic hits the city of Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander suffers a heart attack and dies on-stage during a performance of King Lear. Twenty years later Kirsten, one of the child actors who witnessed Arthur’s death, travels between settlements in the post-pandemic world together with a company of actors and musicians.
Review: District 9 – Neill Blomkamp
A mothership full of aliens in desperate plight arrives on earth, and society responds as it always has to the arrival of outsiders: the aliens end up in a slum on the edges of Johannesburg..
Curator Question: What is the last piece of media you didn’t finish, and why?
Our curators discuss the latest pieces of media they didn’t finish, as well as the reason they didn’t.
Review: Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
On the night a deadly flu pandemic hits the city of Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander suffers a heart attack and dies on-stage during a performance of King Lear. Twenty years later Kirsten, one of the child actors who witnessed Arthur’s death, travels between settlements in the post-pandemic world together with a company of actors and musicians.