It's the first day of the new year, and already I found a story that made me cry. It's "Not Lost (Never Lost)" by Premee Mohamed, and it can be found here at Psychopomp Magazine (which I also didn't know existed--it looks like an interesting magazine).
Novel
Future's Edge, Gareth L. Powell (4 of 5 stars, full review here). (This author does space opera writ large, and this is no exception: it's a standalone exploring a billion-year history with human-extinction stakes. At the same time, the relationships between the three main characters [two human, one AI] are given near equal time. This universe could be explored further, but I appreciated the way the main storyline was wrapped up.)
The Martian Contingency, Mary Robinette Kowal (5 of 5 stars, full review here). (This is the fourth book in the Lady Astronaut series, and its excellence continues. This alternate history, focusing on an asteroid strike in 1952 that accelerated Earth's efforts to settle the Moon and Mars, as the impact created an accelerated climate change potential extinction event, brings back the sensawunda of classic science fiction, while illuminating issues that continue to exist in our society today. The core protagonists, married couple Elma and Nathaniel York, are stellar examples of mature characters with an ongoing happy marriage, something that unfortunately isn't common.)
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (5 of 5 stars, full review here). (This western horror story, about the Native genocide with a vampiric twist, uses the vampire trope to comment on issues far beyond the undead.)
Overgrowth, Mira Grant (5 of 5 stars, full review here). (This is the author's version of a War of the Worlds/Invasion of the Body Snatchers/Little Shop of Horrors mashup, with a fascinating alien ecosystem and a narrative that comes down firmly on the side of the invaders. If you don't like to read books about humanity getting their asses handed to them, with no last-minute reprieve, skip this.)
Cold Eternity, S.A. Barnes (4 of 5 stars, full review here). (This author is carving out quite a niche for herself in sci-fi/horror. This story owes a lot to Alien, but it has its own unique parasitical-monster-on-a-creepy-old-spaceship twist.)
Young Adult
Among Serpents, Marc J. Gregson (5 of 5 stars, full review here). (This is the second book in the Above the Black fantasy trilogy--although it has more of an SF feel--and the author has definitely upped his game. In particular, the battle scenes in this book were breathtaking. The kaiju-like monster threatening the floating cities of this world has been defeated, but the protagonist's horrible uncle is now going to take center stage as possibly an even greater threat. I can't wait for the third book.)
Series
The Lady Astronaut series, Mary Robinette Kowal. (See review of the fourth book above.)
Sinners, written/directed by Ryan Coogler. (This is the best movie I have seen so far this year. It's ostensibly a vampire horror movie set in 1932 Mississippi, but as that setting implies, it's so much more than that. It's about music and racism and using the former to free oneself, even if ever so briefly, from the latter. It's gorgeously shot and features some stunning scenes, and you should absolutely go see it.)
Star Wars: Andor, Season 2, eps 8 and 9, "Who Are You?" and "Welcome to the Rebellion," Disney Plus. (Andor is the best of the Star Wars streaming series, a grim, gritty examination of the fascism of the Empire, and the nature of the people who resist. "Who Are You?" is the centerpiece of the entire season, the incredibly powerful portrayal of the Ghorman Massacre, and "Welcome to the Rebellion" shows the aftermath.)
"Goodbye Mrs. Selvig," , "Who Is Alive?" and "Cold Harbor," Severance Season 2 Ep 2, 3, and 10, Apple TV. (Severance season 2 is now finished, and as with Season 1, the finale, "Cold Harbor," is a powerful, unsettling episode, at 75 minutes like a short feature film. Just to see Adam Scott portraying both his innie and his outie talking to each other [via recordings on a video camera] was riveting. And the ending!! Thank goodness it's been renewed for Season 3. This story of four people working for an all-powerful corporation, Lumon, who "sever" their consciousness into "innies," the workers who never leave the office with its creepy white rooms and long hallways, and their counterpart "outies," the actual employees who have no idea what they're doing, is supremely weird and utterly gripping.)
Murderbot Season 1 Ep 4, "Escape Velocity Protocol." (If you're not watching Murderbot on Apple TV, you are missing out on a treat. Based on the novella by Martha Wells, this story of a chronically anxious, depressed cyborg, or SecUnit, is a great combination of comedy and drama, and star Alexander Skarsgard nails the title character.)
Doctor Who Season [Deity-knows-how-many with all the various Doctor incarnations, but with the current version of the Doctor it's Ncuti Gatwa's second season] episode 5, "The Story and the Engine." Disney Plus. (In many ways Doctor Who is over-the-top, but I think that has to do with Gatwa's interpretation of the character: bold and brassy and grinning, and apt to switch emotional states on a dime. This particular story, which has a welcome setting in Lagos, Nigeria, injects a very meta edge into this tale of stories told by prisoners in the beating heart/engine room of a story-engine-spider, creeping along a universal web which is supposed to lead to the destruction of the gods.)
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