Best fantasy novels by year
Here’s my list of best fantasy novels, updated for ones I read in 2014. Winner Runner Ups Year Author Title Author Title 2012 Will McIntosh Hitchers Joanne Bertin Bard’s Oath 2011 Carrie Vaughn After the Golden Age 2010 2009 2008 2007 Sarah Zettel Sword of the Deceiver 2006 Daniel Quinn After Dachau 2005 Elizabeth Kostova […]
Best fantasy & science fiction movies by year
Here’s my list of best fantasy and science fiction movies, updated with movies I watched in 2014. The last 6 years have given us an amazing number of great movies. Year Winner Runner Ups 2014 Edge of Tomorrow Captain America: The Winter Soldier The Lego Movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Guardians of […]
Author discovery of the year
I read a fair number of books by authors I’d read before in 2014, but I managed to squeeze in a few new ones. The winner of the big prize is Douglas Preston, for his wonderful book Blasphemy. Runner ups are Peter F. Hamilton for The Reality Dysfunction, Carrie Vaughn for After the Golden Age, […]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
{4/5} “I know that dwarves can be obstinate and pigheaded and difficult. They’re suspicious and secretive, with the worst manners you can possibly imagine. But they are also brave and kind, and loyal to a fault. I’ve grown very fond of them, and I would save them if I can.” The Hobbit: The Battle of […]
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
{4/5} “I did not come to steal from you, O Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy. I merely wanted to gaze upon your magnificence, to see if you really were as great as the old tales say. I did not believe them.” The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, released in 2013 Gandalf heads off on his own […]
The Muppet Christmas Carol
{4/5} “Mother always taught me: ‘Never eat singing food.’” The Muppet Christmas Carol, released in 1992 Ebeneezer Scrooge gets visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future and he vows to change his miserly ways. I’ve seen several versions of this story and if this were another straight adaptation I wouldn’t be that interested. […]
In Your Eyes
{4.5/5} “‘Wait, you’re real. You’re a real person!’ ‘Oh, that’s the sweetest thing anybody’s said to me all day.’” In Your Eyes, released in 2014 Dylan works at a car wash in New Mexico. Rebecca is the wife of a doctor in New Hampshire. They share a unique connection. They can sometimes see through each […]
Snow White and the Huntsman
{4.5/5} “If he starts whistling, I’ll smash his face in.” Snow White and the Huntsman, released in 2012 After Snow White’s mother dies, her father marries a mysterious woman named Ravenna. Ravenna kills the king and imprisons Snow White. When she finds out that Snow White can defeat her, she orders her to be brought […]
Only Lovers Left Alive
{3.5/5} “How can you’ve lived for so long and still not get it? This self obsession is a waste of living. It could be spent in surviving things, appreciating nature, nurturing kindness and friendship, and dancing. You have been pretty lucky in love, though, if I may say so.” Only Lovers Left Alive, released in […]
The Queen of the Damned
{5/5} “It’s an awful truth that suffering can deepen us, give a greater lustre to our colours, a richer resonance to our words. That is, if it doesn’t destroy us, if it doesn’t burn away the optimism and the spirit, the capacity for visions, and the respect for simple yet indispensable things.” The Queen of […]