Dracula★★★★★
Bram Stoker The original Dracula is a great read, not just for the way it codified modern vampire lore, but the way it’s built as a collection of letters, diary entries, and so on.
The Farthest Shore★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin Magic is failing, and a young prince sails with the Archmage of Earthsea to seek out the cause and resolve the crisis. It’s my least favorite of the original trilogy, but that’s not a euphemism. It’s still quite good, and there’s so much in it worth reading.
Final Crisis (Audio and Graphic Novel)It actually flows better than the comic book, especially toward the end, when the comic starts fragmenting the narrative.
Final Crisis: Revisiting the Tie-InsSuperman Beyond is essential. Submit and Reqiuem show the street-level perspective. Rogues Revenge is not a good as I remember.
FlashForward (Novel)★★★★★
Robert J. Sawyer A fascinating exploration of time, destiny and free will after everyone on Earth gets a glimpse of the same moment 20 years in the future.
iZombie (graphic novels)★★★★★
Chris Roberson, Mike & Laura Allred, Todd Klein A horror/comedy that ranges from Scooby Doo to Lovecraft by way of Moorcock, featuring thinking zombies, vampires who run paintball, ghosts, secret societies, and a were-terrier. Off the wall concepts and a clean, sharp art style that contrasts with the monsters and gore. The TV series was loosely based on these comics.
Les Misérables (Adaptations)Reviews of several Les Misérables movies, parodies, comic books, the 25th Anniversary production of the musical, a children’s book, a radio play and more.
Tales From The Bully Pulpit★★★★★
Benito Cereno and Graeme MacDonald A sci-fi comedy graphic novel featuring a time-traveling Teddy Roosevelt and the ghost of Thomas Edison, battling a descendant of Adolf Hitler. On Mars. Wearing mecha armor.
Time Breakers★★★★☆
Rachel Pollack and Chris Weston This comic book from the 1990s flips the familiar time-cop trope on its head: Instead of protecting time from paradoxes, the protagonists are trying to create more paradoxes, convinced that the very existence of life depends on it.
The Tombs of Atuan★★★★★
Ursula K. Le Guin Still my favorite of the Earthsea books. There’s something fascinating about a labyrinth that you must traverse in total darkness, keeping a map and counting turns in your head.
A Wizard of Earthsea★★★★★
Ursula K. Le Guin The Earthsea series is one of my regular re-reads. It starts here, with the tale of how a goatherd grew into a wizard in a world where magic is woven through everything from the poorest village to the greatest palace. How he released a terrifying evil in his youth, and how he sailed the world seeking how to make up for his mistake.
