Smorgasbord Fantasia

All things considered, I have had a great year when it comes to reading in 2021. Surpassed last year goals, have gone beyond 55 now. Trust to hit about 60 by this week end/year end. But unfortunately, I also realized that I was just catching up on my TBR lists of titles published in the previous years.  But the publishing industry and most SFF authors have had a phenomenal year and I have had the genuine pleasure of finishing a few of these gems which are part of my Top 2021 Science Fiction/Fantasy Books published in 2021. Here goes, in no particular order.  1. The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne The Shadow of the Gods is John Gwynne writing at the peak of his form! this book is the opening salvo into the Bloodsworn series and with this, John proves that he is a mature writer having wrapped his first two series and that he is finally stepping wholeheartedly into one of his favourite topics, wedding heroic fantasy with the legend of Vikings, giving us a speckled world of wonders, gr

I have been super excited with the promos and trailers for this movie, Minnal Murali (Lightning Murali) for over a year now. And yesterday after having watched the full movie, I can safely vouch for it and claim that yes, this indeed has been the Superhero movie of the year , made in India that we’ve been waiting for.  Kudos to Basil Joseph and Tovino Thomas and the entire team, for having created an indigenous superhero origins movie, that is true to its roots, well scripted and restrained, that doesn't just use CGI effects to create that hollow earth-shattering climax focused on the good vs evil fight, but gives us a firmly rooted believable backstory to the pathos of the antagonist ( here, played so well by Guru Somasundaram ) - this could very well be the template that Marvel needs to copy to make their villains more than just grunting cardboard cutouts with earth-shattering motives for no reason, other than power mongering and bloated egos.  The movie, like previous Basil Jo

The MCU version of the  Spiderman trilogy that began with the Spiderman; Homecoming introducing us to the boyish charms and effortlessly likeable Tom Holland version of the friendly neighborhood Spiderman, comes a full circle and ends on a high, with this new blockbuster Spiderman: No Way Home. Possibly coming the closest to inherit that hefty mantle left by Avengers: End Game ,  carrying the flames of the MCU torch over the finish line with a lot of aplomb and cheer.   It's everything that the trailer promised (I know, stratospheric!) and much more. Much, much more! It's so difficult not to step into spoiler territory with this one, without giving away the fun quotient, but I will try. The basic premise is the roadblocks and troubles in Peter Parker's life, after his 'secret' identity is revealed by a vengeful Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in his dying moments. And now it's not just the paparazzi and the news channels like Daily Bugle (Jonah Jameson, played by t