The Bard’s Tale (reboot)★★★☆☆While I liked the attitude and metatextual humor, it was annoyingly linear when compared to the original series.
The Bard’s Tale IV★★★★★This is the game Might and Magic IX wanted to be. A classic party-based quest in an immersively detailed world. Only, you know, playable. Plus amazing music!
Beauty and the Beast (2010 Tour)★★★☆☆
San Diego, 2012 The simpler staging & costumes work well enough, but the big numbers suffer from the smaller cast.
Beauty and the Beast (3D Theatricals)★★★★★
Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 2016 An elaborate production by a local company with great performances from the leads, and a surprise understudy.
Belle’s Dreams of AdventureI never thought Belle gave up her dreams of adventure. I figured she had one, and gained the opportunity to have more. That’s why I hate the song ‘A Change in Me.’
Beowulf (in 3D)Impressive monsters and realistic animation. Better than 300, a bit reminiscent of the recent Lord of the Rings films.
Chivalry★★★★★
Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran Beautifully drawn and illustrated, a charming tale of Arthurian legend brought into modern times.
The Daughter of Odren★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin A small, stand-alone tale set in Earthsea, reminiscent of the folk tales glimpsed throughout the series. Betrayal, revenge, kindness, and power - and just living.
Doctor Strange★★★★☆Surrealism is the best part. Creative use of Escher gravity, portals, astral projection, time manipulation, incredibly detailed alterations to reality, and effects that make it all look incredible.
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness★★★☆☆Not as bad as I expected, but the alternate realities weren’t as fun as the reality-bending in the first movie. And there was way too much reliance on the Idiot Ball.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones★★★★★
Seanan McGuire Creepy tale of twins transported to a world out of 1930s monster movies. Hangs together better than the first book.
A Dragon for William★★★★★
Julie Czerneda A welcome return to the world of A Turn of Light (though shorter!)
Dungeons & Dragons (2000 Movie)★☆☆☆☆So bad that the group of friends I was with started heckling the movie, and the rest of the audience joined in.
Edward Scissorhands★★★★☆The film still holds up: the fairy tale music, the contrast between ‘normal’ suburbia and Edward’s home, and the tension between appearances and heart.
Every Heart a Doorway★★★★☆
Seanan McGuire A fast read with an intriguing concept that reverses multiple YA fantasy tropes.
A Game of Thrones (Book)
George R.R. Martin I should have liked this book. I tend to enjoy big epic fantasy, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time Book 12)
Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson Events move rapidly toward the apocalypse foretold in book one, and Sanderson shows he was a good choice to finish Jordan’s series.
The High and Faraway (Trilogy)★★★☆☆
Greg Keyes Not Keyes’ best work. Interesting concept and characters, but poorly edited and creepy (in a bad way).
Illuminations★★★★★
T. Kingfisher Madcap magical damage control in a family of eccentric artist-magicians. Fun like A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive baking, but with a tighter story and better-defined characters.
The IllusionistFor the first hour I couldn’t get past lead characters being colossally stupid, but the ending totally made up for it.
The Last Unicorn★★★★★
Peter S. Beagle Whimsical and melancholy tale of the last unicorn’s quest to find others of her kind. Well drawn characters and story, very much a classic.
Might and Magic IXIt’s interesting and immersive, but some of the game and UI design choices make it really frustrating.
Minor Mage★★★★☆
T. Kingfisher By turns melancholy and creepy, with a dash of sarcastic armadillo.
New Spring (Comics): The Long Publishing SagaIt’s taken a long time (and three publishers) to complete this adaptation of the Wheel of Time prequel, even though it only covered eight standard-sized comic books
Night Watch (Discworld)★★★★★
Terry Pratchett Time travel, barricades and a mix of humor and darkness in a rebellion with good cops, bad cops and time monks.
Norse Mythology★★★★☆
Neil Gaiman Entertaining, sometimes gruesome, sometimes funny and sometimes sad collection of stories about Odin, Thor, Loki and the other gods of Asgard.
Pebble and Wren★★★★★
Chris Hallbeck Hilarious and heartwarming tale of a girl and the monster who lives under her bed.
People of the Crater★★★☆☆
Andre Norton Standard fantasy rescue-the-princess adventure with sci-fi trappings, nodding vaguely toward Hollow Earth tropes.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End★★★★☆A lot of fun, if hard to keep track of all the double-crosses. Doesn’t require intimate knowledge of the previous films, just knowing who the major players are.
Stardust (Movie)★★★★★Light-hearted fantasy adventure built around a love story, Stardust takes itself just a touch more seriously than The Princess Bride. Enjoyable on its own, and stays true to the heart of the book.
Summer in Orcus★★★★★
T. Kingfisher A portal fantasy that answers the questions: What kind of quest would Baba Yaga send an 11-year-old girl on, and how can she save a world anyway?
Tin Man★★★☆☆The Wizard of Oz meets The Dark Crystal by way of 1930s scifi was fascinating as a concept, but they managed to make it dull and tedious.
Tune in Tomorrow★★★★☆
Randee Dawn A fun romp through backstage theater, mystery, soap opera, mythology, fandom and screwball comedy romance tropes. (whew!)
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking★★★★★
T. Kingfisher A fun and original take on the teenage wizard genre. With an immortal carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob.
Xanadu (Stage Musical)★☆☆☆☆
Segerstrom Center, 2009 The stage musical of Xanadu is a silly, self-aware parody that revels in its camp. I really liked about 10% of it. The rest, not so much.
