REVIEW: Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

51izuxor7hlWelcome to Night Vale: A Novel is the first novel in the Night Vale series (based off the popular podcast of the same name) written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel expands the universe of the podcast as we follow two women, Diane Crayton and Jackie Fierro, whose (already weird) lives get turned upside down when a man in a tan suit with a deerskin briefcase gives them both a piece of paper with the words “KING CITY” written on it. Their individual quests for answers will lead them on a journey that will change how they look at themselves, and at their families. Continue reading

REVIEW: Welcome to Night Vale (season 4) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Standing and Breathing

Fan art I made using the poster for “Ghost Stories”

As script books have only been released for the first two seasons of Welcome to Night Vale, all further reviews of the podcast itself will be based solely on the content of the podcast and the plots therein. In season four of Welcome to Night Vale, Night Vale faces a threat so terrifying that there seems to be nothing they can do to defeat it: a terribly cute beagle puppy and his army of tall, faceless strangers who only stand and breathe. Hiram McDaniels faces trials for his crimes against Mayor Cardinal, Desert Bluffs and Night Vale become one city, and all of Night Vale is under threat from one cute puppy who may not be all that he seems.

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REVIEW: Welcome to Night Vale (Season 3) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

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      A cover for the season I made using fanart

As script books have only been released for the first two seasons of Welcome to Night Vale, all further reviews of the podcast itself will be based solely on the content of the podcast and the plots therein. In season three of Welcome to Night Vale, Cecil deals with the stress put on his relationship with Carlos by Carlos being trapped in a desert otherworld and the fear and anger that comes from being used against his will to repeatedly save Mayor Dana Cardinal. Who bought Lot 37 and is controlling Cecil? Who keeps attacking the mayor? When will Carlos come home?  Continue reading

REVIEW: American Gods S01E01 – “The Bone Orchard”

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Shadow Moon (Whittle) in The Bone Orchard

After years spent in development hell, a television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods, has finally premiered on STARZ. American Gods tells the story of the battle between the Old Gods of classic mythology and the New Gods of modern America (Media, Technology, etc) for the ultimate control of America’s faith. In this first episode, The Bone Orchard, Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is released from prison after the death of his wife, Laura (Emily Browning). He meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) and is recruited to be his bodyguard. As Shadow is drawn into this mysterious world, he discovers this may be more than he bargained for. Note: as the episode is already available on the STARZ website, there will be spoilers in this review!  Continue reading

REVIEW: Doctor Who S10E03 – “Thin Ice” (spoilers)

thin-ice-promo-pics-1Welcome back to another review of the tenth series of Doctor Who! This week’s episode, entitled Thin Ice, was written by Sarah Dollard and directed by Bill Anderson. In the episode, the Doctor and Bill arrive in London, 1814. The entire city has turned out for the biggest Frost Fair in decades. But beneath the frozen Thames, revellers are disappearing, snatched through the ice and pulled into the depths where a terrifying monster lurks. Will the Doctor and Bill stop the slaughter before they too are dragged into the icy waters? Like all previous reviews, this one will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t yet watched the episode, now is your chance to turn back and avoid being spoiled. Continue reading

REVIEW: The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe (Welcome to Night Vale, Episodes #2) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

51pbspam99lThe Great Glowing Coils of the Universe is the second volume featuring scripts from the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe contains the scripts from the podcast’s second season, as well as the live show The Debate, along with an introduction by Maureen Johnson, illustrations by Jessica Hayworth, and introductions to each episode by various members of the cast and crew. In The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe, Night Vale faces a takeover by a totalitarian corporation that threatens to forever change the town and everyone in it. Like the previous review, this review will be in two parts; the first part will discuss the book itself while the second part discusses the content of the season.
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REVIEW: “Young and Menace” by Fall Out Boy

Today, Fall Out Boy dropped “Young and Menace”, the first single off their upcoming album M A N I A, released on September 15. I have a whole lot of mixed feelings about this song and its accompanying video. I wanted to like it, I really did. I have always had a soft spot for Fall Out Boy, especially their 2008 album Folie à Deux. But this song is just… weird. And not in a good way.
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REVIEW: Mostly Void, Partially Stars (Welcome to Night Vale, Episodes Volume 1) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

414sdbffdalMostly Void, Partially Stars is a collection of the first year’s worth of scripts (and the script of the first live show Condos) from the podcast Welcome to Night Vale written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. In addition to the scripts, Mostly Void, Partially Stars contains introductions to every episode featuring behind the scenes tidbits such as the inspiration for the episode or how it was put together. In Mostly Void, Partially Stars, readers are introduced to the town of Night Vale and Cecil Palmer, the host of the local community radio station’s news show. As the story begins, a new scientist, named Carlos, arrives into town, sparking interest from Cecil. Coinciding with this event is the discovery of a civilization underneath one of the lanes in the bowling alley. As the year goes on, these plot threads will collide in a major way. This review will be in two parts; the first reviewing the book itself, the second reviewing the content of the scripts and the first year of the podcast as a whole. Continue reading

REVIEW: Kingdom Hearts – Chain of Memories (the Novel) by Tomoco Kanemaki

51xkt7qmjhlKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (the Novel) is an adaptation of the video game of the same name, written by Tomoco Kanemaki with illustrations by Shiro Amano. In Chain of Memories, Sora and the gang must make their way through Castle Oblivion, a mysterious castle under the control of Organization XIII, in order to find those he’s looking for and recover the memories he’s lost.

Like the previous Kingdom Hearts novel, Chain of Memories condenses much of the game into a format that works better as a novel. The video game itself was always a bit weak; its story was good, but much of it felt like a rehash of the first Kingdom Hearts game. This adaptation suffers a bit from that, especially in the first part of Sora’s story. But once the second part of Sora’s story starts, and all throughout Riku’s story, Chain of Memories starts to find its own story and ends up being more of an engaging story than the first game’s adaptation was. Especially in the department of character development. Continue reading

REVIEW: Doctor Who S10E02 – “Smile” (spoilers)

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       The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Bill (Pearl Mackie)

We’re back for another review of Doctor Who! As always, this review will not be spoiler free, so if you’ve yet to see Smile, then you should probably watch the episode first. This week’s Doctor Who is called Smile and was written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and directed by Lawrence Gogh. Smile takes the Doctor and Bill into the distant future as they land on a planet inhabited by microbots whose sole job is to make sure the humans who will soon be living there are happy. However, something has gone wrong, and these microbots have killed the entirety of the skeleton crew (the group of humans sent to prepare the planet for colonization). It’s up to the Doctor and Bill to find out what’s happened and why before the colonists arrive and suffer the same fate as the skeleton crew.  Continue reading