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The Warden, by Daniel M. Ford, first in the likewise-named series. About a necromancer guardian type who is sent to what seems to be a quiet posting in the middle of nowhere on what seems to be a quiet, nothing posting but of course turns out not to be.


It's a funny one coz it sets up like a cozy fantasy- in fact the opening is nearly identical to Emily Wilde's Enyclopedia of Faeries- but (as the profession implies) proves to be much more of an adventure-fantasy of the swords-and-sorcery stripe (not that Emily Wilde is action free). With a sideline in recovering from post-war trauma, since the area is in the aftermath of one. But it still keeps those cozy-fantasy genes too- there's a lot about friendship, and earning trust, and all that kind of thing. Honestly, it's one of the most charming things I've read in ages. Only slightly put out that Ford felt the need to end it on a cliffhanger- but since the second book is already out and the third due in a month, it's not that big of a deal.


Really excellent, highly recommended.



In the last couple days while laid up sick I've also read Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is fine as you'd expect from him but not among his best for me, and Lord of the Empty Isles by Jules Arbeaux, a science-fantasy debut involving pirates, revolution, grief, and an unfortunate curse, which was good enough that I'll keep an eye out for more from the author without blowing my mind in its own right.

Adolescence, the new four-part miniseries on Netflix, is absolutely incredible, vital telivision. It's not an easy watch at all - about the murder of a 13 year old girl by a classmate- but it's a masterpiece on every level- writing, acting, and the technical side. Each episode is an unbroken oner (and they're all true oners at that, no hidden cuts), and each one uses that for a different purpose that supports the story.

Episode 3, particularly, is one of the best episodes of anything I've ever seen.

Read my last pickup from my trip to the comic shop the other day, Tom King's Strange Adventures, which is more-or-less the Adam Strange equivalent of what he's previously done with Wanda and Vision and Mr Terrific. I say more-or-less coz realistically it's darker than either of those.


It probably is his best work I've read so far, though. Of the three, it's got both the most going on under the hood and the cleanest A-to-B throughline bringing it all together. Also, while I had no great attachment to Adam Strange going in, I'm a fan of Mr Terrific, and... well, he is. Great depiction of him in this.



eta: actually scratch that, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is obviously his best, I keep forgetting that's by him since it's so unlike most of the rest of his stuff. Even if it has some of those undercurrents.

I haven't read Grayson, Batman, or Rorsarch though.

Read the first volume (the first five issues) of Kerian Gillen's The Power Fantasy. Really good. Basic premise is that there are six people with world-ending capabilities on the planet, and the knife-edge that places everyone including them on. So, superheroes as WMDs, not a new concept, but Gillen executes it brilliantly. The art by Caspar Wijngaard is excellent too, I've wanted to see more from him since his work on Limbo (the limited series by Dan Watters, which is also wicked).


I really should read The Wicked + The Divine finally. Got it sitting around in downloadable form since a humble bundle ages ago. Been a fan of Gillen since Phonogram.

 Abyss, on 18 February 2025 - 04:23 PM, said:

This reminds me a bit of the Lynch/Bear/Alexandra Rowland thing a few years ago (though Rowland never recanted their accusation so it's still open for people to decide if they were telling the truth- I don't for a few reasons but some might differ) where it seemed to become fairly clear that Lynch definitely behaved badly but on a level that was really just between himself, his wife and Rowland and the rest was things twisted or made up. King hasn't come out of this looking good, but unless there's further wild twists he doesn't seem to have abused anyone.