Babylon’s Ashes (2016) – James

It’s time to go back to the ‘verse of the Expanse, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I have missed these characters. Within a few pages, I was back into that world, recalling all that had happened before, and worrying about the new dangers and old enemies that the crew of…

Gemina: The Illuminae Files 02 (2016) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The second volume in the Illuminae Files, Gemina, is not only an excellent follow-up instalment in this vibrant and exciting Young Adult series, it is also highly entertaining science fiction and space opera. The first book, told through IM and audio transcripts, descriptions of video surveillance, was brilliant, fun, and probably a game-changer in the…

Maximum Ride (2016) -Jay Martin

James Patterson’s young adult novel series, Maximum Ride, takes flight cimematically this week from Paramount Pictures. I read the first book when it came out in 2005. It was fun, engaging. Patterson is a very entertaining and imaginative writer, and Max seemed perfectly suited for exploration in other media. The downside to this big screen…

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) – Gareth Edwards

  Rogue One is The Dirty Dozen of Star Wars films, it succeeds beyond all expectation, introducing new characters, fleshing out events we know had to happen, but had only imagined until now. Gareth Edwards directs a fantastic cast including Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker and Alan Tudyk…

Star Wars: Catalyst – A Rogue One Novel (2016) – James Luceno

This weekend, new names will be added to the Star Wars cinematic universe, those of Orson Krennic, Galen, Lyra and Jyn Orso. But Star Wars readers get to know these characters already, through James Luceno’s new canon novel Catalyst. Set during the closing years of the Clone Wars and those following it, as the Rebellion…

Star Wars: Ahsoka (2016) – E.K. Johnston

Back when I first started the blog, I wrote a post about the fate of Ahsoka Tano. Of course, at that time, Ahsoka was only a Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, there was lots for her to encounter and deal with before Clone Wars came to a close, and now, she’s a regular on Rebels – I…

Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve

First contact. The interpretation of words. How we communicate both person to person, and mass media. The very perception of our existence. These are all at work in Canadian director Villeneuve’s latest film. A hard science fiction tale that eschews lasers and space battles for deeper concepts like the way we interact and understand one…

Doctor Strange (2016) – Scott Derrickson

Benedict Cumberbatch settles rather nicely into the Marvel universe, as he dons the cloak and mantle of the MCU’s (Marvel Cinematic Universe) latest superhero. Doctor Strange. Easing into an American accent, as easily as he does Strange’s costume, Cumberbatch fits the role perfectly, bringing to life the doctor’s arrogance, ego, and eventually his humbled, giving…