July 18, 2023 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

(courtesy Goodreads) In a field as venerable and well-established as science fiction, with tropes plenty and cliches to burn, it can be challenging, though clearly not impossible as an impressive number of recent new books in the genre attest, to come up with something truly, mesmerisingly new. And even if Continue Reading

Graphic novel review: William of Newbury by Michael Avon Oeming

(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Fascinating though it may be for past events junkies like this reviewer, history doesn’t come alive for everyone. It’s a real pity because not only is delving into the annals of history brilliantly interesting but it ensures, as the adage reminds us, that we are familiar Continue Reading

Book review: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (Mossa & Pleiti book #2) by Malka Older

(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) It’s such a delight to come across a sci-fi tale that completely delights and engrosses you with its originality, thoughtfulness, wit & verve and rich characterisation, that when you do stumble across it, it feels like all your reading Christmases have come at once. Such was Continue Reading

Star Trek: Strange Worlds review: “Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” (S3, E1-2)

(courtesy IMP awards) One of the things, of many, which I have loved about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW) from the very start is its embrace of genre-hopping, a willingness to be darkly serious one week and goofily quirky the next. The Original Series (TOS) and Next Generation (NG), Continue Reading

Book review: The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) All of us, to some extent or another, come to appreciate through the course of our lives just how the present owes to the past. It’s not simply that one leads to the other though that is very much a part of what takes place Continue Reading

Movie review: A Nice Indian Boy

(courtesy IMP Awards) If you’ve been paying attention, you will have noticed a decidedly welcome tilt towards queer themes in romantic comedies that aren’t simply of the tokenistically inclusive kind. While good old-fashioned heteronormative rom-coms are a joy and delight and good for this gay reviewer’s heart, there’s something soul Continue Reading

Growing up too fast: Thoughts on Hal & Harper

(courtesy IMDb) Hal & Harper is one of the most rewarding series I’ve seen in quite some, full of an indie authenticity, a nuanced pace and a characters who make so much sense if you’re prepared to be honest about how exhaustingly painful life can be and yet how possible Continue Reading

It’s just like Avatar! Or is it? Check out the bouncily fun teaser trailer for Pixar’s Hoppers

(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTWhat if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying? In Disney / Pixar’s all-new feature film Hoppers, scientists have discovered how to “hop” human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover Continue Reading

Christmas in July book review: Snowed in for Christmas by Claire Sandy

(courtesy Pan Macmillan) Every year I read a lot of Christmas rom-coms and every year I’m mostly glad I did. There’s something comforting about reading about people’s lives taking a definitive turn for the better, especially when everything says there is no real hope of any kind of meaningful redemption, Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs #125: Classic festive songs to bring joy to Christmas in July

(via Shutterstock) I love music with unreserved devotion but especially at Christmas, and of course, given the timing of the post, Christmas in July which in Australia offers up the chilly accompaniment to the season that December manifestly does not. There’s something about the warmth and cosiness of the characteristically Continue Reading

Festive book read: A Special Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley

(Harper Collins Publishers Australia) If ever there’s a time for redemption, it has to be Christmas, right? Not simply because the entire festival is centred around that idea in its Biblical roots; beyond that, it’s developed into a time of year when the world is not as moored to its Continue Reading

Sci-fi review double: Foundation (S2, E1) and Strange New Worlds (S2, E4 & 5)

Book review: Frontier by Grace Curtis