Smorgasbord Fantasia

So, doing my bit to alleviate some amount of boredom out there. I know, some folks have been coming back to me and saying, how much can I watch Desperate Housewives or Friends or Big Bang Theory re-runs on TV/ Netflix. So, here's another one of those lists ( I know! there are so many floating around!) which will hopefully make your life easier, as you aimlessly surf through the truckloads of content on your Netflix subscription. I am not okay with this ( Teenage Drama ) - Bite-sized episodes at less than 30 minutes, this one follows the life of a self-proclaimed introverted 'loser' teenage white girl who suddenly discovers strange new things happening in her life, including changes to her body. And it isn't just hormones. It's such a refreshing reversal on the teenage drama tropes, I absolutely loved it. Kingdom ( Zombie/ Korean / Period) - Koreans make the best zombie movies/series ever. Period. [ Pun, coz this is set in the historical Kingdom at p...

So I know we are all in for the long haul, biting our nails, scratching our heads, wondering how to kill so much of extra time we have on our hands, now that we are "working" from home. Well, if you love movies/ series or are enthralled by the Malayalam movie industry (as you should be!), then here are a few current "trending" ones, definitely worth your time across various OTT platforms. Ayyapannum Koshiyum (2020, Language - Malayalam, Genre: Drama/Thriller, Platform - Prime) Why watch : Powerhouse performances by both the lead actors, Prithviraj (his role selections have been a hit and miss usually, but this time!) and veteran Biju Menon. Taut little story about how a minor mishap snowballs into a vengeance drama fuelled by inflated male egos between a senior SI and a retired havildar. Ebbs and flows till it finally hits the flashpoint. Set in the backlands of remote villages on the border of Kerala/Tamilnadu, the folk songs and the rustic setting add a d...

While the whole world is locked indoors to help contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, I think the publishing industry is marching on resolutely, giving us some fabulous new titles to binge-read on, in the coming months of March April. Here is what I am excited about: Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohammed :  Described as a whimsical coming-of-age story of two children who have awakened an ancient evil, this promises a globe-trotting adventure of cosmic horror and an overall romp of a sci-fantasy story. ( March 3, Rebellion/Solaris) Cyber Shogun Revolution by Peter Tieryas :  Peter's been slowing build out his alt-historical world where Japan has taken over the US, and there are giant robots baying for blood, Nazis still at large, secret police are the trail of allied sympathizers and revolution is brewing just around the corner. Cracker of a setting. I need in on this and will bump this up on TBR list. [ March 3, Berkeley Publishing ] War of t...

This week on our regular Waiting on Wednesday, we are featuring Paul McAuley 's latest one, from Gollancz - War of the Maps . A very intriguing sci-fi set up of an artificial world, orbiting a set of artificial suns where a retired law keeper has broken his previous promises and has come to the forefronts of a war in search of a criminal. Exciting premise! Frankly, I haven't heard enough about this book or have tried out Paul's books before. But the premise and early reads look insanely addictive! On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the frontlines of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice. Separat...

Otaku in Japanese refers to the anime/manga/video-game obsessed fans and the underground culture, who put their games ahead of real social interactions. In Chris Kluwe 's debut cyberpunk sci-fi thriller Otaku , he opts to have a young black girl named Ashley Akachi as the protagonist in a future techno-influenced post-apocalyptic world where online/VR games have become a cultural obsession among the youth, to the point of the game superstars being offered brand commissions/ fandoms treating them as demi-idols in real life. Ashley is a certified star, top of the leaderboards in this set of games called the Infinite Games, leading an all-star cast called Sun Jewel warriors. Ashley herself is the celebrated "Ashura The Terrible" who sets the tone for the book in this opening chapter that pits her against a dragon - no big deal this , just another encounter -  she proceeds to solo-decimate the dragon by throwing herself down it's gullet and slicing it up from insid...

Following the explosive conclusion to the events at the Babel Tower - at the end of LIFEL1K3, DEV1AT3 continues to explore the meaning of being human, following the footsteps of now the broken up trio of Eve, Lemon-Fresh and Ezekiel, along with the logika-now-turned-warbot Cricket. I would never tire of reading Jay Kristoff . Period. Despite the overly-purple-prose and the tendency to invent his own 'colourful phrases in place of curses - and even cringe-worthy romance or sex scenes. He is a born storyteller. His action scenes are second to none. His twists are mind-fucking-blowing. And he does it again and again, with so much panache and style, that I've come to depend on his tales for escaping reality. L1FELIK3 is set in the nuclear wastes of an erstwhile USA, drudge lands and desert warrens crowd the face of the ravaged earth. In Book-I, we encounter Eve/Anna, the girl who is the youngest of Minrova family. Nicholas Minrova, her father and one of the greatest scien...

Bite , the first book in the Wastelanders saga by KS Merbeth is a fun read, set in the post-apocalyptic barren earth ravaged by nuclear war. Unlike my first impressions about the book when I saw that chilling cover, the book subverted all my standard expectations - of this possibly being a romp in the dirty deserts with some flesh-craving zombies. Instead what we get, is an engrossing and highly immersive story of this young girl, nicknamed 'Kid' - an intimately personal story of her adventures and how she survives these brutal wastelands. It is also a well written tale about family (the pseudo one that she "stumbles" onto and decides to stick up for), friendships and relationships (borne out of necessity or need) and even questions the concept of humanity in these harsh, ruthless post-apocalyptic deserts. Kid has lost her father recently and is left to wandering the hot, brutal deserts of the wastelands - in search of food and water. That's when she comes ...