#I also recommend dirk gently

[mephestopheles]

I realise that I'm old (same age as Elijah Wood in fact) so this might seem like old news to me, but isn't common to others. Like Elijah Wood wasn't some random first time actor for LOTR. He had a full resume by the time he got to LOTR, and he was well known for the dramatic roles as a child actor. Like Radio Flyer, The Good Son (opposite Macaulay Culkin who were the two top tier child actors their age). He even managed to grow up under the scrutiny very well with shifting movie choices with later picks like The Faculty and Deep Impact.

The biggest thing though is that he intentionally shifted his focus after LOTR to smaller more niche pieces, one so that he wouldn't be pigeon holed into the generic fantasy movie actor for the next 20 years, and two I think largely because he never really picked the same kind of movie twice. He did horror, and drama, and blockbuster, and then small indie flick, and always had that gravity to him.

Like yeah he's good, and the casting choice was excellent, but he put in the work to be considered, and if you go back and watch some of his earlier stuff you'll definitely see it.

I know I've said it before but every rewatch I do cements this thought further - elijah wood's performance in LOTR is absolutely insane, they really had a character whose name means "wise by experience", hired an 18-year-old to do it, and he delivered so much that not only is it a beautiful and moving role on its own, it's a performance equal to those of the absolute powerhouses he played side by side with like ian holm and ian mckellen. to name just a few

[detectivejay]

Detective/Mystery Media List

Open to more recommendations if I’m missing any favorites I should check out, let me know! Particularly any other good Sherlock adaptations, but also interested in finding more female, PoC and/or queer-led detective media.

Watched/read/played/etc:

Sherlock Holmes (ACD canon)

Sherlock - Basil Rathbone adaptation film series

Sherlock - Granada, Jeremy Brett adaptation TV series (some episodes, need to rewatch) - shoutout to @thegreatandlovablespacedorito for reminding me to revisit this one

BBC Sherlock TV series

Sherlock - Robert Downey Jr movies

Enola Holmes (movies)

Moriarty the Patriot/Yuumori (manga and anime)

Ron Kamanohashi: Deranged Detective/Forbidden Deductions aka RKDD (anime, need to read the manga)

Hercule Poirot novels (not all but a large portion) - need to watch more of the TV show Spenser novels by Robert B Parker (not all but a large portion)

Auguste C Dupin - The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe (short story)

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (book)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (book)

Case Closed / Detective Conan (anime, some episodes/seasons)

Knives Out movies

Psych TV series

Only Murders in the Building TV series (caught up to the current season)

The Dresden Files books

Brookyln 99 TV series

House MD TV series

True Detective TV series

Monk TV series (watched some episodes)

Murder She Wrote (a few scattered episodes)

Hannibal TV series

Bones TV series (some episodes, not all)

Fargo movie and TV series (watched some episodes)

White Collar TV series

Justified TV series

Miami Vice TV series

Nash Bridges TV series

Killing Eve TV series

The Clue movie

Anita Blake book series (up to book 10)

Some Nancy Drew books

Ace Attorney video games (AA1-AA6 plus Investigations 1)

Professor Layton video games (not all but I believe at least the first 3)

Sherlock Hound

The Great Mouse Detective

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century

Inspector Gadget cartoon

Scooby Doo cartoons

The Boxcar Children

Detective Pikachu movie

The Case Study of Vanitas (anime/manga)

The Millionaire Detective - Balance: Unlimited (anime) - @prapo237 got me into this one x3 so silly

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (read years ago, need to watch the show) - recommended by @holisticcomedian

Currently watching/reading/playing/etc:

Sherlock - Elementary TV series (on 2nd season, getting close to season 3)

The Invisible Library novel series by Genevieve Cogman recommended by a friend IRL - up to book 6 currently, The Secret Chapter

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (video game duology, includes Herlock Sholmes, almost finished with game 1)

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (video game)

Persona 5 (video game) recommended by friends on the JR Discord

Sherlock Holmes and Co - podcast (currently listening to The Dancing Men Part 3, thanks to suggestions from @wasabitheweirdo and @cuil-chan)

To watch/read/play/etc:

My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files manga suggested on the JR Discord

Detective L - Chinese Sherlock-inspired TV series on Youtube recommended by @meg-pond

Miss Sherlock - Japanese series also suggested by @meg-pond

Bodkin TV series on Netflix - Irish, female-led, recommended by @rubycountess

Columbo TV series

Remington Steele

More Auguste Dupin stories and other mysteries by Poe

Murder on the Orient Express movie

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes film

Bonnie MacBird Sherlock Holmes books recommended by @romanathree

Soviet made Sherlock Holmes film recommended by @imlostatau on Youtube

Famous Five books

Midsomer Murders TV series

Twin Peaks TV series

Mindhunter TV series

Murdoch Mysteries TV series

Death in Paradise TV series

Phryne Fisher's murder mysteries books and TV show recommended by @milenathebrave

Turner and Hooch TV series

Magnum PI TV series

Father Brown TV series

The Professionals movie

Homeland TV series

Cadfael TV series

Broadchurch TV series

Criminal Minds TV series

Shetland TV series

Police procedural shows like NCIS, CSI, etc.

Baskerville play by Ken Ludwig suggested by @wolfyraged

Without a Clue suggested by @helloliriels

Young Sherlock suggested by @helloliriels

Vera Stanhope novels by Ann Cleeves suggested by @nightshadezombie

Charlotte Holmes books by Sherry Thomas suggested by @lej418

Sherlock Holmes stories by Anthony Horowitz ("House Of Silk" and "Moriarty") recommended by @bringerofworlds

Miss Marple novels by Agatha Christie

Any other Agatha Christie novels I haven’t read (Sad Cypress recommended by @romanathree )

AJ Raffles books by William Hornung recommended by @romanathree

Dead Boy Detectives on Netflix

The Hardy Boys books and TV series

Elemental Masters by Mercedes Lackey

Holmes, Marple and Poe by James Patterson - curious to see how this book treats these original characters inspired by the greats, the new characters are Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple (maybe related to Jane Marple?) and Auguste Poe (takes his first name from Poe’s detective, Auguste Dupin)

The rest of the Dupin stories

The rest of the Raymond Chandler books

More Arsene Lupin stories (including ones vs Herlock Sholmes)

Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout

Pet Shop of Horrors anime/manga recommended by @eden-falls

Otherside Picnic recommended by @eden-falls

Lonely Castle in the Mirror recommended by @eden-falls

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison, saw this one posted recently by @seeingteacupsindragons and I'm curious so added it to the list

Magnus Archives horror/thriller mystery podcast recommended by @writingandwritten

EDIT: Last updated 12/2/24

[birdfrenchforbird]

2025 book bingo tbr

i'm gonna be following the 2025 book bingo created by the magnanimous @batmanisagatewaydrug and i have just completed (to the extent i can today) my tbr! (this has also inspired me into making a list of 25 things i need to do 25 times throughout 2025... so if there's one thing i will be next year, it is occupied). i drew from books that i own/my roommate owns as much as possible.

Literary Fiction: Luster by Raven Leilani (which has been on my libby holds list since mackenzie last recommended it. abt 20 weeks to go).

2. Short Story Collection: Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (advanced reader's copy i got for free from my college's book club)

3. A Sequel: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

4. Childhood Favorite: The Sword of Darrow by Alex and Hal Malchow or Heidi by Johanna Spyri or something i find when i am home for the holidays that calls my soul more than these two

5. 20th Century Speculative Fiction: The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkein (because TECHNICALLY it counts)

6. Fantasy: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (one of the few remaining Book of the Month editions i still own)

7. Published Before 1950: Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, published in 1915

8. Independent Publisher: I Love Information by Courtney Bush, published by Milkweed Editions (will need to either get over my fear of going to the library in person to set up my online account and put a hold on this OR purchase a copy)

9. Graphic Novel/Comic Book/Manga: Fun Home by Allison Bechdel or Saga by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples, have not decided (both owned by my roommate)

10. Animal on the Cover: Diminished Capacity by Sherwood Kiraly (he was my playwriting/fiction professor and gave me my copy of the novel)

11. Set in a Country You Have Never Visited: Euphoria by Lily King, set in New Guinea (owned by my roommate)

12. Science Fiction: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

13. 2025 Debut Author: Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang, expected May 2025 (another physical hold or purchase situation)

14. Memoir: Reading With Patrick by Michelle Kuo (commencement speaker at my graduation!)

15. Read a Zine, Make a Zine: tbd! will probably be more than one!

16. Essay Collection: The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo

17. 2024 Award Winner: How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair, NBCC Award for Autobiography (will borrow from libby, audiobook is also available)

18. Nonfiction: Learn Something New: I was paying more attention to the nonfiction part than the learn something new part and i do need to find a new book for this because originally i was gonna go with one of Caitlin Doughty's novels which, while lovely, are not something New To Me. i know i have a biography of Anna Freud somewhere so maybe i will dig that up? otherwise it might be a scroll-through-libby adventure

19. Social Justice & Activism: The Theater of War by Bryan Doerries (read a few chapters first year of undergrad but never the whole thing so technically it counts as a new book for me)

20. Romance Novel: Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

21. Read and Make a Recipe: Jane Austen's Table by Robert Tuesley Anderson, specific recipe to be determined upon reading

22. Horror: Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews (owned and recommended by my roommate as a good option for me, because i do not do well with horror. respect the genre so much!! but my anxiety disorder)

23. Published in the Aughts: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik (just got my thrift books copy a couple weeks ago. i am making myself SAVOR this series)

24. Historical Fiction: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

25. Bookseller or Librarian Recommendation: tbd upon getting over my fears and actually visiting my library in person! it's a five minute walk from my apartment i do not know what my problem is

[evilphrog]

Me convincing my Wheel of Time mutuals to read He Who Fights With Monsters: It's like if Mat Cauthon was the Dragon, and after every battle he was forced into court-ordered therapy to stop him from going crazy and destroying the world.

Me convincing my Discworld mutuals to read He Who Fights With Monsters: Half the book is ridiculous puns that hinge on obscure references you won't be able to understand without an encyclopedia, the other half is the most profound quotes you have ever read that imprint themselves onto your very soul. And three weeks later you will realize they are also puns.

Me convincing my Dirk Gently mutuals to read He Who Fights With Monsters: A bunch of losers and disasters learn to love themselves by loving each other, and discover that embracing their weirdness can save the world. Also, everything is connected.

Me convincing my Stargate mutuals to read He Who Fights With Monsters: Keep the adventure and the found family, but imagine that it isn't sponsored by the US military, so the characters are allowed to be gay and talk about their feelings like regular people.

Me convincing my MCU mutuals to read He Who Fights With Monsters: It's like if Age of Ultron never happened, and instead we got the Avengers Tower sitcom of our 2012 dreams.

Me convincing Tumblr at large to read He Who Fights With Monsters: The main characters are all wildly homoerotic and intensely shippable. There is canon representation from every part of the rainbow. Magic is structured in such a way that everyone is gorgeous, nobody poops, gay people can reproduce, furries are canon, and gender transition is virtually instantaneous. Imagine the fanfic potential!

If I have persuaded any of you, the first 13 chapters are free here:

The site has a fantastic interface, with font and formatting options. If you like what you read, you can get the amazingly narrated audiobooks on audible, the print copies on Amazon, or the e-reader on kindle. I highly recommend the audiobooks. The narrator brings a lot of depth to the characters, with the voices he uses and the level of emotion he puts in everything. I have never been able to pay attention to an audiobook before, but these ones are captivating.

[beautifulmakkaris]

If you're missing Lockwood and Co, don't despair! Here are some recommendations from fans of the show and books to help fill the void while we fight for season 2 - please share far and wide <3

All recs are from responses to this post, myself and things I've seen floating around the internet (ie, Goodreads suggestions/lists). Recs may be based on specific characters, ships, tropes, genres, worldbuilding or just general ~vibes.

Please make sure to check all content warnings before reading/watching any recommendations on this list.

Books (standalone)

Spellbound by F. T. Lukens

The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

This May End Badly by Samantha Markum

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood

The Hidden Dragon by Melissa Marr

Trouble by Lex Croucher

Books (series - *ongoing)

Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir*

Virals by Kathy Reichs

The Shades of London by Maureen Johnson

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Jackaby by William Ritter

Charlotte Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro

The Checquy Files by Daniel O'Malley

Alex Stern by Leigh Bardugo*

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerry Maniscalco

Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

The Diviners by Libba Bray

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Mokee Joe by Peter J. Murray

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens*

Letters of Enchantment by Rebecca Ross*

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

Dreadwood by Jennifer Killick

The Empyrean by Rebecca Yarros*

The Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud

Ankh-Morpork City Watch (Discworld) by Terry Pratchett

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Books (graphic novels)

Locke & Key by Joe Hill

Television series (*-ongoing)

School Spirits*

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Shadow & Bone

Wednesday*

Stranger Things*

CW's Nancy Drew

Shadowhunters

Locke & Key

The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself

Spooksville

The Midnight Club

Teen Wolf

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Grimm

Please feel free to keep sending recommendations my way and I'll update this list as often as I can! Also let me know if you enjoy anything you found from this list, I'd love to know if you found it helpful :)

[wizardinahole]

Upon meeting Dirk Gently for the first time, most people quickly form the same opinion, that he is impossible. The uncanny way in which people always find themselves in the right place at the right time around him, his eclectic set of knowledge and his unsettling intuition all seem, frankly, impossible. Of course, if you spend enough time around him you learn that the truth is the exact opposite. In fact, his whole thing, the way he works, the cases he solves, all centre around things being, well, possible. And while he often finds himself tangled up in the supernatural, the scientifically impossible, no sequence of events, is ever left unexplained.

Todd knew this. He also knew that Dirk had an affinity for lime milkshakes (something he would never understand) and music that was aimed at any demographic other than whatever Dirk could possibly be lumped into. The last thing Todd knew, that seemed relevant right now, was that Dirk was about to walk through the front door. What he was not expecting was the blood and dirt that he was covered in. “Well, that,” huffed Dirk “was a bureaucratic nightmare.” Todd took a second to process this.

“Only you could experience a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ and end up covered in blood. Wait no, whose blood is that?”

“It’s not mine, don’t worry” Dirk flopped face first onto the couch.

“Is it… human?”

“Todd, I need your advice. As my assistant, what would you recommend when someone is horribly tired and absolutely famished, should they, theoretically, eat or sleep.”

Todd sighed. “I think, in this purely hypothetical situation, this person should take a shower because *they’re covered in blood*!”.

“Well Todd, I think you’re making a very bold assumption that this hypothetical premise that I have presented you with is actually about me. However, I do think in this case you may be correct.” Todd stood there, looking at the bedraggled man on the couch. Who, notably, did not make any move to actually get up and have a shower. “I’ve encountered an issue with your plan Todd. I don’t really want to get up.”

Todd smiled and walked around the couch. “Well, I guess I’d better do something to help with that then” he said. Dirk turned his head to look up at him, a question forming on his lips, but he didn’t get to ask it before Todd attacked. He went right for Dirk’s stomach which was now facing upwards.

“Todd!” Dirk Squealed, as Todd tickled him and jumped out of the way of his kicking legs. “How could you attack someone while they’re this vulnerable, honestly! I thought better of you!” and he crossed his arms defiantly. Todd bent down and scooped Dirk up, grinning. Dirk finally gave in and gave a feeble smile. He wrapped his arms around Todd’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder. Todd carried him up the stairs, his hair was soft despite the filth, and he was warm, his breath tickling Todd’s neck.

Todd placed Dirk on the bed. “Have shower. I’ll make omelettes.” Todd was at the door when Dirk said his name. He turned and saw Dirk sitting cross-legged on the bed, smiling. Todd looked into his eyes, there was a warmth there, a gratefulness that Todd had never seen in anyone before without feeling a pang of guilt. Dirk looked at Todd as if all he ever needed was to have him by his side and he would be ok, no matter what.

“I’m really glad you know,” Dirk said, “that everything connected in a way that kept us together.”

Todd smiled “I owe the universe one this time, don’t I?”

[frenchfriedgiraffe]

soo…. ive written a fic.

do you like weird, offbeat comedy with a side of “what the fuck did i just read?” check out the fic i wrote for the @dghdabigbang. featuring dirk and todd doing insane things, plus trees, and more trees. and even more trees

and also this fic has ART thank you to the wondeful @jules-al-c for illustrating a beautiful piece which i highly recommend you check out!!!

[txttletale]

you have any recommendations for mystery-type fiction? (I like fair-play whodunit kinda things, but I'm willing to branch out - god knows DE's mystery wasn't really "fair" as a murder mystery, but it was still a really good game regardless.)

for games, i'd recommend the return of the obra dinn and paradise killer as two (mostly) fair-play mystery games. paradise killer i especially like because the game has a lot to say about truth and justice--as the person investigating the murder, you can present trumped-up evidence and accuse the obvious patsy and have him executed ten minutes into the game if you want. if you want to find the truth, you have to go looking for it.

in terms of other mediums, uh... i think the city and the city by china mieville is pretty good. a lot of my friends will swear by columbo, which i've never watched. american vandal is a very fun and fresh take on the genre. knives out, despite its achingly lame liberal politics, is a very fun and competent genre homage piece. gideon the ninth, funnily enough, despite being advertised mostly as a science fantasy romance, is v. v. much a murder mystery structurally and in my personal opinion is extraordinarily fair (i guessed several of the twists before they happened because the clues were excellently laid into the narrative).

douglas adams' dirk gently's holistic agency is not very fair, in that all sorts of outlandish and ridiculous shit happens, but it's a wonderfully put together bit of chekhov's-everything--a finely tuned rube goldberg machine of a plot where dozens of disparate elements seem to come together into one cohesive story by magic at the end. the bbc america show is very different tonally (at once more grounded, more light-hearted, and more focused on character drama than comedy) but it pulls off the exact same trick marvelously.

if you want to experience the direct opposite of a mystery, i'd also recommend daniel handler's the basic eight, which starts off with the narrator telling you she killed somebody without explaining why and builds up to that moment over the course of several months of her life. the secret history does the same thing and is also quite good--basic eight plays it more for dark comedy while the secret history is mostly po-faced, though.

[potato-lord-but-not]

hello newly acquired mutual (I had an aneurysm when I saw you followed me) first off just wanna say I absolutely adore your art it’s so silly scrumptious

secondly, i think herbert west and/or dan cain from reanimator would look incredible in your style, if you haven’t seen it I definitely recommend it, very campy and ridiculous 80s horror movie (fair warning for gore, nudity, and a very questionable SA scene tho so apologies)

and last thing, I’ve never seen anyone else online who knows/likes dirk gently so I appreciate you greatly for that, ok that’s all byeee

honestly seems like something I’d enjoy, so I’ll definitely be adding it to the ever growing list of movies I need to watch lmao. Also thank you!! glad to see another dirk gently fan in the wild <3

[alpydk]

Get to Know You Tag Game!

Thanks @kareluna8 for the tag. Been missing these things for a while now ^^

Last song I listened to.... Popstar - Schoof (mid 2000's electro disco pop)

Favourite colour: Red

Currently watching: House and Dirk Gently (seriously recommend the latter if you've not watched it.) Fiona Dourif is also amazing, just like her father.

Favourite flavour: Ummmm.... I like spices. Honestly, not sure about this one.

Currently obsession: Baldur's Gate, Gale - It's healthy though, I could quit at any time.

Last thing I googled: What's a group of monkeys called - A troop, if you're curious.

Skill I'd like to learn - Probably how to draw but I don't have the patience. I'd like to get better at writing I guess, but again, no patience. Probably need to learn some DBT if anything...

Last thing. Best advice: Just fucking do it. Write, draw, sing, doesn't matter, just do it and try it and regret that you tried rather than regret not trying. There's an audience for everything and for every asshole there are ten people out there who do give a fuck. Just look at the Galemancer community, for instance. I want to see your fics, and your poems, and your artwork, and your hilariously bad looking stick men of possibly gale but could be any wizard, really. Just fucking do it.

Ok, tagging time... @auroraesmeraldarose @emmy-dekarios-bg3 (im still reading your fic but early morning me is a little dead.) and @weaveandwood (Ora ok?)

[rollercoasterwords]

hi rae! any shows to recommend?

sure lol more of a movie person than a show person but here r some of my faves that i watched in the past year or so:

succession

the bear

the boys

sweet home (season 1…season 2 goes downhill)

1899

dirk gently’s holistic detective agency

over the garden wall (of course)

also here r some of my fave zombie shows bc i do keep a list of all the zombie media i watch:

santa clarita diet

in the flesh

zomboat

kingdom

and of course there is always supern—[gunshots]

[ive-heard-it-b0th-ways]

Hey guys! If you’re also a fan of Dirk Gently, I’m writing a crossover fic!

And if you’re not also a fan of dirk gently, you absolutely would be. I highly recommend the show.

[thebookofm]

Recommended Reading

Here is a list of books, both prose and graphic, that I think are worth checking out. All of these books are speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, alternate reality, et cetera), since that’s essentially the only genre I read. Entries followed by a ♥ are my extra-special favorites. The ones marked with an H won at least one Hugo Award. Those marked with a Q contain prominent LGBTQ+ characters or issues.

Lighter Science Fiction

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy and its first two sequels, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything. The Hitchhiker’s Guide is a landmark work in SF comedy and is a must-read. If you are an audio listener, then I suggest starting with the 1978 BBC radio play, which was the original version of this story. (If you like THHGTTG, then check out Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel.) ♥

John Scalzi: Any of his SF, especially the Old Man's War series and the Interdependency series (The Collapsing Empire and its sequels). Scalzi’s work, with few exceptions, is not only very funny, but also includes some good science-fiction-y “big ideas.” If you are a fan of Star Trek, then his novel Redshirts, which won a Hugo, will be of particular interest. Interestingly in some of Scalzi’s recent work, such as Kaiju Preservation Society and the Lock In series, he never revels the gender of the main character. Almost all of Scalzi’s audiobooks are read by Wil Wheaton. Wheaton does a great job, but his voice does tend to make the listener imagine the main character as a man, even when there’s no textual evidence to support that imagining. ♥H

Martha Wells: The Murderbot Diaries (All Systems Red and sequels), winner of the 2021 Hugo Award for best series. Despite the name, this series of five novellas and one novel follows a human-bot hybrid (not a robot) security unit (SecUnit) as it struggles to protect its stupid humans while coping with social anxiety and finding time to watch soap operas. Plus, it doesn’t really murder all that often. The series is very funny, but it is also a surprisingly serious and insightful examination of sentience, autonomy, and living with neuroses. Wells, who identifies as neurodivergent, will write three more Muderbot books, beginning in November 2023, as part of her six-volume deal with Tor. I particularly enjoy Kevin R. Free’s narration of the audiobooks. I’m counting these books for LGBTQ+ representation because Murderbot is nonbinary and asexual, but since it isn’t human (and doesn’t want to be), nonbinary and/or ace readers (whom I assume to be human) may not find themselves reflected in Murderbot’s experience. ♥HQ

Scott Meyer: The Authorities series (The Authorities and Destructive Reasoning), Master of Formalities, and Grand Theft Astro. Meyer’s books are all hilarious, fun adventures. The Authorities books follow a privately funded taskforce created to investigate crimes that the police cannot solve. Megan Sloan is one of my favorite detectives in fiction. Master of Formalities follows a protocol expert in a far-future monarchy. My favorite gag in this book occurs when someone becomes his own uncle. Grand Theft Astro is a heist story with Meyer’s trademark humor. If you enjoy these books, check out his Magic 2.0 series, which is described in the Lighter Fantasy/SF Mashups section. Luke Daniels, who narrates all of Meyer’s audiobooks, does an excellent job with these stories. ♥

Ernest Cline: Ready Player One. This book is great fun, especially for those that remember the ‘80s or enjoy the popular culture of that era. The audiobook is narrated, very appropriately, by nerd icon Wil Wheaton.

Andy Weir: The Martian and Project Hail Mary. The Martian is the basis of the very faithful film adaption (which I also recommend), and it is super-realistic science fiction with a lot of jokes. Project Hail Mary feels much like The Martian (though far more speculative) at first, but a third of the way in, a major plot development shakes up the story for the better. ♥

Dennis E. Taylor: We are Legion (We are Bob) and sequels (the Bobiverse series). This series begins with the dark premise of the protagonist being uploaded into a von Neumann probe and launched into deep space, but it’s actually very funny. Ray Porter does a great job narrating the audiobooks.

More Serious Science Fiction

David Brin: Startide Rising and The Uplift War. In this universe, sentient species modify or “uplift” presentients to help them bridge the gap to sentence, after which the “client” species is indentured to its “patron” for 100,000 years. Humans, once discovered by the Five Galaxies civilization, only escape indenture because they have already uplifted chimpanzees and dolphins, making humans the lowest-ranking and most hated patron species in the known universe. These books have great worldbuilding and aliens that are very well developed in terms of both biology and culture. The other Uplift books are also good, but these two, which each won a Hugo, are my favorites. ♥H

David Brin: Glory Season. This novel is an amazing extrapolation of an agrarian society built on parthenogenesis. The main character is a rare “variant,” a person who wasn’t cloned but was instead conceived sexually via one of the tiny number of men on the planet. She and her twin must find roles in society without the benefit of membership in a clan of genetically identical women occupying an established niche. Plus, there are fun puzzles and Conway’s Game of Life. ♥

Vernor Venge: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. In this universe, the laws of physics vary with the average density in the galactic “neighborhood.” Thus, while the Earth lies at a point where only sublight speeds and human-level intelligence are possible, farther out in the plane of the galaxy and especially off the plane, superluminal speeds and superhuman intelligence can be achieved. Also, on one planet in the “Slow Zone,” there is a race of wolf-like beings who are not individually sentient but who achieve sentience (via ultrasonic communication) in groups of four to six. These books have spectacular worldbuilding, well conceived aliens, and some very compelling science-fictional “big ideas.” Can be read in either order, but publishing order (as listed above) is likely best. Each novel won a Hugo. ♥H

Vernor Venge: Across Realtime. This volume is a compilation of the novels The Peace War and Marooned in Realtime as well as the novella The Ungoverned. These stories revolve around an interesting technology for altering how time passes.

James S. A. Corey: The Expanse series (Leviathan's Wake, eight sequel novels and several shorter works). Fairly hard science fiction based on a politically strained three-way balance of power in a solar system that is confronted with terrifying alien technology. This series is the basis for The Expanse TV/web series, which I also recommend. The Expanse won the 2020 Hugo for best series. ♥H

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice and sequels (The Imperial Radch series). A far-future story in which a sentient ship formerly controlling and inhabiting many human bodies is now confined to a single human body (and with its ship self destroyed). These books attracted a lot of attention because the Radchaai language only uses female pronouns, and thus the gender of many of the characters is never revealed, but there's a lot more to this story than that. Ancillary Justice won basically all the awards offered in 2013. Leckie’s novel Provenance and her upcoming Translation State take place in the same universe but follow new characters. ♥HQ

Arkady Martine: A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace. A new ambassador (with the old ambassador’s memories shoved into her brain) is appointed to represent a “barbarian” space station to the “civilized” Teixcalaanli Empire, where she becomes embroiled in a succession crisis and meets people with names like Three Seagrass (my favorite character) and Eight Antidote. Eventually, she must also negotiate first contact with sentient aliens. These books are an interesting examination of imperialism and language. Both novels won the Hugo Award. HQ

Becky Chambers: The Wayfarers series (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and sequels). This anthology series explores different cultures and locations in a well developed galactic civilization. Wayfarers won the 2019 Hugo Award for best series. HQ

Lighter Fantasy/SF Mashups

Scott Meyer: Off to Be the Wizard and its sequels (the Magic 2.0 series). These books are science fiction disguised as fantasy. An amateur hacker discovers a computer file that can be edited to change the real world. Within 24 hours, everything goes wrong, and he flees from the FBI to medieval England, planning to set himself up as a wizard using his new capabilities. That plan doesn’t go well, either. These books are laugh-out-loud funny and may be of particular interest to computer scientists. The audiobooks’ narrator, Luke Daniels hilariously brings the text to life. ♥

More Serious Fantasy/SF Mashups

Tamsyn Muir: The Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth, and Alecto the Ninth [not yet published]). Charles Stross described the first novel as “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” Honestly, I’m not sure whether to put this series under the “Lighter” or “More Serious” heading. There is a lot of humor, especially in the first book, but there is also quite a lot of horror and sadness. The second novel will absolutely gaslight you, forcing you to question your own sanity, but you’ll be glad you trusted Muir before you reach the end of the book. I can’t imagine anyone other than the excellent Moira Quirk narrating these books. ♥Q

John Scalzi: The God Engines. This novella, in which humans use enslaved gods (defeated enemies of their own god) to power their starships, is almost the only Scalzi work without a large dose of humor. It’s very good, though.

Anne McCaffrey: The first six Dragonriders of Pern books. (I've only read the first six.) These are science fiction disguised as fantasy and are classics in the genre. Far in the future, on an agrarian planet that has forgotten its history, humans ride sentient, telepathic dragons into battle against deadly spores that fall from the sky when another planet in an extremely eccentric orbit comes close.

Lighter Fantasy

Nicholas Eames: The Band series (Kings of the Wyld, Bloody Rose, and Outlaw Empire [not yet published]). Mercenary bands are the rock stars of the fantasy world in which these novels take place, attracting rabid fans and touring huge arenas. These books certainly have strong elements of humor, much of which is focused on the central conceit, but there is also a lot of action and pathos to be had. Both published books a great fun to read, and I’m looking forward to reading the third.

Tamsyn Muir: Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower. This novella subverts fairytale tropes and comments on gender roles while delivering an outsized dose of Muir’s trademark dry humor. Moira Quirk is hilarious as the audiobook narrator. I’m counting this book for LGBTQ+ because one of the characters doesn’t identify with any gender and because the story examines gender roles. ♥Q

Travis Baldree: Legends and Lattes. A female orc warrior retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop. "What's coffee?" everyone asks. This novel is well crafted, full of interesting characters, and very cute. My friend @novelconcepts aptly described it as “a beautiful warm hug of a book.” There's even a tiny touch of WLW romance, if you’re into that. Baldree is writing a prequel. Q

Django Wexler: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. For a thousand years, Davi has failed to fulfill her destiny of defeating the Dark Lord, reviving each time she dies only to try again. Now she’s tired of losing and had decided to become the Dark Lord instead. Q

More Serious Fantasy

Brandon Sanderson: All of the series and standalone books that are set in the Cosmere (rather than on some alternate Earth). Mistborn: The Final Empire is probably a good place to start. The Stormlight Archive (The Way of Kings and sequels) is my favorite series of Sanderson’s, but each of those books is >1300 pages or >45 hours in audio form, so it may not be the best place to start. Era 2 of the Mistborn series (set 300 years after the Era 1) is probably the most fun. Sanderson also has many books not set in the Cosmere that are more than worth reading. His method of taking a break from writing is to write on a different series, so, every year, he puts out ~400,000 words worth of material (3-4 normal novels or a single Stormlight book). If you listen to the audiobooks of the Stormlight Archive, I recommend getting the hardcopy as well, since the art included really helps bring the world of Roshar to life. ♥

Scott Lynch: The Lies of Locke Lamora and sequels (The Gentleman Bastard series). Great worldbuilding of an original fantasy world with dark humor. Lynch finally completed his first draft of Book 4 (of 7 planned) in May 2019 after a 4-year delay, so I’m hoping it will be available eventually. I’m starting to give up hope, though.

Daniel M. Ford: The Warden and sequels. This series follows Aelis de Lenti, a newly graduated wizard assigned to be Warden of a small town in the middle of nowhere. That means she’s a combination sheriff, magister, surgeon, and general-purpose magical authority figure. The story is compelling, the characters are interesting, and Ford’s writing style and word choice absolutely shine. I’m very excited that the third book is to be published in April. ♥Q

China Miéville: Perdido Street Station. Very rich worldbuilding. Very, very dark. Don’t read this book if you aren’t interested in depressing storylines. Miéville’s other work is just as inventive and, in his word, “weird” as this one.

N. K. Jemison: The Broken Earth trilogy (The Fifth Season and its sequels). These books have an intriguing premise, extensive worldbuilding, and an interesting writing style. These novels won the best-novel Hugo for three consecutive years, which no author had done before. HQ

Alternate Reality (Including Alternate History and Steampunk)

Elizabeth Bear: Karen Memory. This novel follows a lesbian prostitute as she teams up with a lawman in a steampunk version of a Seattle-like city in the Pacific Northwest. I also enjoyed Bear’s space opera series, White Space (Night and Machine). Q

Cherie Priest: Boneshaker and its sequels (The Clockwork Century series). Steampunk + zombies = fun. This story begins with a plague of zombification erupting out of Seattle, and it finally provides a reason for Steampunks to wear goggles. ♥

Ian Tregillis: The Mechanical and its sequels (The Alchemy Wars series). Alchemy + steampunk robots + a little philosophy.

China Miéville: The City and the City. See the Detective Stories section of this document. ♥

Felix Gilman: The Half-Made World. Steampunk mixed with fantasy. Also, sentient, demon-possessed firearms.

Mary Robinette Kowal; The Lady Astronaut series (The Calculating Stars and sequels). This universe is an extremely hard-science-fiction alternate history in which a catastrophic event dramatically accelerates the space program. The Lady Astronaut of Mars, a short story, is chronologically last but was written first. There’s also a short story called “We Interrupt this Broadcast” that comes chronologically first but isn’t closely connected to the rest. Kowal’s second job is audiobook narrator—she narrates Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, for example—and she narrates all these books herself. Interestingly, Kowal’s third job is puppeteer, so she’s pretty busy.

Scott Westerfeld: The Leviathan series, as described in the young-adult section of this list. ♥

Detective Stories in Speculative-Fictional Settings

Scott Meyer: The Authorities and Destructive Reasoning. See the Lighter Science Fiction section. ♥

John Scalzi: Lock In and its sequel, Head On. This series of detective stories takes place in a world where a disease has left millions of people “locked into” paralyzed bodies and forced to use remotely operated mecha to interact with the world. Scalzi never reveals the gender of the main character, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination.

John Scalzi: The Dispatcher series. As of a few years ago, if someone is intentionally killed, they stand a 99.9% chance of recovering with their body reset to a few hours earlier, which makes murder more difficult, but not impossible. Dispatchers are licensed to kill—I mean dispatch—people before they can die from injuries or illnesses, thus giving them a second chance. One such service provider gets caught up in illegal dispatches and a series of mysteries.  

Brandon Sanderson: Snapshot. Two detectives are sent into a snapshot, a detailed simulation of an entire city and its millions of inhabitants on a specific day, to investigate a crime.

China Miéville: The City and the City. This book is amazingly thorough exploration of a ridiculous premise: two cities occupying the same space. This novel is probably my favorite of Miéville’s books. ♥

Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon. A murder mystery with an SF “big idea” at its core. The basis for a Netflix series that I haven’t seen.

Superheroes and Supervillains in Prose

Brandon Sanderson: Steelheart and sequels (The Reckoners series). This is a young-adult series in which all super-powered people, called Epics, eventually turn evil.

Seanan McGuire: The Velveteen series. This series is McGuire’s funniest work and is available for free here, but I recommend buying the books to support the author. McGuire also has a number of other fantasy series under her own name as well as some SF/horror series under the pen name Mira Grant.

Comics and Graphic Novels

Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, and Matt Wilson: Paper Girls. This 30-issue comic follows four newspaper-delivery girls who get swept up in a temporal war on Hell Day, 1988. They travel to the ancient past and the far future, meet their adult selves, and learn a lot about themselves in the process. The comic was adapted into an excellent Amazon Prime series, which is a bit more character-focused than the plot-driven comic. Both comic and show are recommended. ♥Q

Ryan North: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. This comic was my favorite ongoing superhero series until its recent ending. Firstly, it’s hilarious. Secondly, since Doreen Green (Squirrel Girl’s alter ego) is a computer-science student, there are a number of gags about coding and math. Thirdly, the heroine usually solves her problem not by beating up the villains, but by empathizing with them, understanding their problems, and helping them find nonviolent solutions. Since the series ended with Issue 50, it’s quite possible to read it all. ♥

N. D. Stevenson: Nimona. This mash-up of fantasy and science fiction is not only filled with humor but also includes a surprising amount of sweetness. Q

Various authors: Lumberjanes. This young-adult comic series follows a group of cabin-mates at a summer camp for girls—excuse me, “hard-core lady-types”—as they encounter a surprisingly high frequency of supernatural phenomena over one time-dilated summer. This comic wrapped up its run after 75 issues. Q

Alan Moore: Watchman. There’s a reason many people point to this graphic novel as an exceptional example of the genre. Honestly the way the story is told is more interesting than the story itself, but the storytelling is well worth the price of admission.

Short Stories in Speculative-Fiction Settings

Various authors: Metatropolis and its sequels. This series of anthologies is a near-future look at how cities (and green spaces) might evolve.

John Scalzi: Shadow War of the Night Dragons, Book One: The Dead City: Prologue. Trust me, read this hilarious fantasy parody for free here.

John Scalzi: Miniatures. A collection of very short science-fiction stories.

Young-Adult Speculative Fiction

Brandon Sanderson: The Rithmatist. In an alternate United States (so not in the Cosmere), geometric drawings are used to defend the world against an onslaught of 2D creatures. If you listen to the audiobook, I strongly suggest buying the hardcopy as well, since the drawings included play such as strong role in the story. I also suggest the Reckoners series, listed above, but The Rithmatist is my favorite non-adult story from Sanderson. ♥

Scott Westerfeld: Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath. This series takes place in an alternate-history WWI, where one side uses steampunk mecha, and the other relies on genetically engineered animals. There’s a bonus epilogue online, for those how can’t get enough. The hardcopy contains some very nice illustrations. The companion Manual of Aeronautics provides much additional (full-color) artwork, though the character descriptions in the last few pages contain major spoilers. ♥

Mark Lawrence: The Book of the Ancestor trilogy (Red Sister, Grey Sister, and Holy Sister). On a world being buried under ice, an orphan with magical powers joins others like her training to become warrior nuns. Q

Myke Cole: The Sacred Throne series (The Armored Saint and sequels). In a land ruled by a religious tyrant who claims to have defeated devils from another plane, a teenage girl must fight to protect those she loves when the emperor’s vicious zealots arrive at her tiny village. Plus, there’s a steampunk mecha suit. The age of the protagonist points toward a young-adult audience, but this book has far more violence than is typical of YA novels. Q

T. Kingfisher: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. “T. Kingfisher” is a pseudonym used by Ursula Vernon for young-adult and adult titles. This book follows a very minor wizard whose magic only works on dough. The story is full of humor and heart, and there’s more than a little (bread-based) action as well.

Anne McCaffrey: The Harper Hall Trilogy: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums. These books are a subset of McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which is discussed eleshere.

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games series. These books are the basis for the kids-killing-kids battle royale film series.

Children’s and Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. Very well done, but also very dark. The Netflix series based on the books is also quite good.

Ursula Vernon: Castle Hangnail. This adorable story follows a would-be wicked witch who applies to fill a vacancy at the titular castle.

Brandon Sanderson: The Alcatraz series (beginning with Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians). These books take place on an alternate Earth (thus not in the Cosmere) where most of the world is run by a cabal of evil librarians. There’s a ton of fun adventure and silly humor, which my son loved when I read them to him as an 8- to 9-year-old. Be sure to get the later printings with art by Hayley Lazo; her work is great.

Kazu Kibuishi: The Amulet series (beginning with The Stonekeeper). A portal-fantasy graphic novel with beautiful art and an interesting, magical setting.

[stupidphototricks]

If you read Good Omens and enjoyed it and are looking for another book with a similar "dry British humour" sort of feel, might I recommend The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams*? It's a sequel, but I don't think that it's completely necessary to read the original, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency**, first. Tea-Time is a bit more accessible and easier to get into. There's a murder mystery of sorts, there are bizarre happenings, there are ridiculous characters, there are laugh-out-loud funny bits, and there's really not any romance at all.

*Whom you might recognize as the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, which are also fantastic, but the Dirk Gently books are a level above that imo. To me Hitchhiker's feels a bit disjointed, whereas both Dirk Gently books*** are so well-crafted that you pretty much have to read them twice, the second time just to appreciate how well everything fits together.

**The first Dirk Gently book is a little slower to pull you in I think, but it's excellent too. It's actually an adaptation of a multi-episode adventure ("Shada") that Douglas wrote for Doctor Who, and you can definitely see a Doctor-type character in it. "Shada" wasn't completed for the show as intended, but the story was later released in other formats, so if you're a Classic Who fan you might already be familiar with the plot.

***There's a third Dirk Gently book, The Salmon of Doubt, which was released in an unfinished state. I won't talk about that one.

[consumeronionbulletin]

A Killer Paradox (2024)

The premise for this show is wild! It's like Dexter crossed with (the TV version) of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and it feels like it's in conversation with Taxi Driver 1. Also, it's got Choi Woo-shik and Son Suk-ku chewing gum and kicking butt for the entire series.

Once I got past the first few episodes, and things quieted down a little, the show felt very similar to other noir type thrillers, though better done than most. The characters were familiar, without being boring or cliché, and the ending was overall very good.

TL; DR: Would recommend to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of the old ultra-violence on their screen. Show is fun and thought-provoking, which is a rare mix.

[georgiaswarr]

9, 10 and 34 for the book asks :)

9. A book that was better than you expected it to be

maybe ‘plain bad heroines’ by emily m. danforth? i didn’t really have any expectations going into it and i listened to the audiobook but now i’m very down to reread it in physical form as well

10. A book that didn’t live up to your expectations

probably ‘the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle’ by stuart turton. i thought it would be a gripping knives out-esque murder mystery and while it did have some intriguing bits and i liked the concept, overall it just fell flat. also there was a whole part where every second sentence was gratuitous fatphobia and i do not stand for it.

also, ‘dirk gently’s holistic detective agency’ by douglas adams was kinda mid imo, but maybe that’s just because i love the tv show so much so my expectations were high.

34. What’s a book you’ve recommended the most this year?

i’m trying to think of books that i outright recommended instead of books i highly do recommend, so. i know i told a couple of people about the short story ‘anxiety is the dizziness of freedom’ by ted chiang (SO GOOD) and i recently recommended ‘the poppy war’ by r.f. kuang to some (with trigger warnings attached to the latter), so i’m gonna go with those :)

ask me about the books i read this year!