It’s October! There’s a chill in the air, there are pumpkins in Animal Crossing, and I have a ghost emoji in my Twitter name.
I spent September decompressing from August’s art-a-thon, so I actually had time to play/read/watch stuff. Here are some good things that I enjoyed the past two months. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy some good things too. We definitely need good things in 2020.
TV
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
What starts as the story of a Black soldier in the 1950s, returning home to Chicago in search of his missing father, quickly morphs into a stellar blend of real and supernatural horrors. There are monsters, witches, aliens, and ghosts, but also gut-wrenching depictions of Black characters in Jim Crow America.
The acting and production design of Lovecraft Country are great and the show does this really cool thing where each episode is a different flavor of pulp horror/adventure story: haunted house, hidden tomb, and surreal space voyage, just to name a few. The downside to this structure is that while the weekly stories are gripping and interesting, the bigger, connecting narrative gets a little lost. I don’t think this is detrimental to the overall show, but I’ve occasionally gotten confused when the story circles back to the Big Picture and I can’t remember what anyone is talking about.
UPDATE: I was only about halfway through season 1 when I wrote this blog and as I got further into the show some storylines and character actions emerged that really bothered me. I have a few episodes left to watch and still plan to finish the season, but my overall feelings about the show aren’t as glowing as they were at the start. Lovecraft Country has a lot going for it and there is a lot about it I like, but it also has some frustrating problems.
GAMES
HADES
I recently watched a great series of documentaries on the YouTube channel NoClip, chronicling the development process of Supergiant Game’s Hades. Despite having zero experience with the “roguelike” genre, I was immediately intrigued. So when Hades came out on Switch in late September I picked it up and I loooooove it.
The story follows Zagreus, the charming beefcake son of Hades, who is determined to escape the underworld no matter how many tries it takes. Every escape attempt is different, thanks to shifting dungeons, different weapon choices, character interactions, and special boons from the olympian gods. Each time Zagreus dies, he is returned to the house of Hades, where he is able to make upgrades and choose different equipment for his next attempt to leave home. This is also a chance to talk with the wonderful NPCs. I love these characters so much that I often find myself hoping a dungeon run will be unsuccessful so I will have another chance to talk with Achilles, flirt with grim reaper Thanatos, or fluster the gorgon housekeeper Dusa. The characters, story, and art design are great, the gameplay is fast and fun, and the blending of story and roguelike dungeon crawler makes it feel like you are making progress even when you die. Hades is an unexpected contender for my game of the year.
BOOKS
Better than People by Roan Parrish
A really sweet, low angst romance about Jack, an illustrator who breaks his leg and turns to a pet sharing app to find someone to walk his many dogs while he recovers. Through this app he meets Simon, a graphic designer with crippling anxiety who is way more comfortable talking with animals than with people.
The Sugared Game by KJ Charles
Book two in KJ Charles’ stellar Will Darling Adventures series, The Sugared Game continues the complicated relationship between ex-soldier-turned-bookseller Will and aristocrat/spy/prolific liar Kim. This time they are embroiled in a conspiracy involving a nightclub, some smuggling, and a criminal mastermind. This series is definitely one of my 2020 favorites.
Fangs by Sarah Andersen
A love story about a vampire and a werewolf, told through beautifully illustrated vignettes. The Fangs book is a lovely object on the outside, with black edged pages and red fabric binding, and Sarah Andersen’s art and writing makes the inside just as nice.
Lord of the Last Heartbeat and The Immortal City by May Peterson
The setting of Lord of the Last Heartbeat is an Italy-ish fantasy world filled with magic, immortal creatures, and ghosts. The story is split between the point of view of Mio, a young mage whose powerful magic is expressed through singing, and Rhodry, an immortal “moon soul” (sort of a vampire who can shape-shift into a bear) who is dealing with some very problematic ghosts. When Mio defies his mafiosa mother and refuses to continue using his magic for nefarious means, Rhodry is the person he turns to for help. In doing so, Mio gets involved in a tragic cycle of death and curses that has haunted the immortal for many years.
I had a few minor issues with the language/writing style of the book sometimes making the action hard to follow, but I loved the strange ghosts, the unusual ways magic works, and the caring relationship between the main characters. I also appreciate that Mio is a non-binary character (preferring he/him pronouns) who is trying to find his place in a world very stuck in binary gender roles.
Set in the same universe, The Immortal City takes place in the crumbling mountain city of Serenity, which is ruled over by a god-like “crow soul” who can steal people’s memories. The story focuses on Ari, a “dove-soul” who had his memories erased and has lived the last two years in a directionless haze, working for various criminal elements as a healer. When a mysterious human named Hei literally falls into his arms, Ari feels a strange connection with the man that he can’t explain. As their bond grows, Ari begins to learn that there is a lot more darkness and treachery in Serenity than he imagined.
As with LofLH, Immortal City has a style of prose which made it hard for me to understand what was happening in a couple of scenes. But also like the previous book, I found the overall story engrossing and enjoyed spending time in this universe.
Drowned Country by Emily Tesh
The second half of Emily Tesh’s Greenhollow Duology, Drowned Country is told from the point of view of Henry Silver, now the Wild Man of Greenhollow, who is nursing a broken heart and trying to come to terms with his new immortality. His melancholy is interrupted when his monster-hunting mother arrives and requests his help with a new case involving a missing girl, a vampire, and the former Wild Man that broke Henry’s heart.
These two books are extremely efficient, managing to tell a wonderfully rich, interesting story with surprisingly few words (the total duology is under 300 pages). If you are interested in a story about forest guardians, magic, folklore, and love, definitely check these out.
Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
At one point while reading this book, I managed to get into this bizarre state where I was both crying and laughing at the same time. And I’m not talking about crying because I was laughing too hard. The content of the book was simultaneously so sad and so funny that it sort of broke my brain. It was a magical moment and it really confused my dog. If you haven’t read Allie Brosh’s first book, Hyperbole and a Half, go do that immediately. She is an amazing author and illustrator who manages to capture so much humor and expression in her deceivingly simple drawings. Solutions and Other Problems contains more of Brosh’s very funny stories, but also delves into some really tough subject matter involving death and depression. Hence the cry/laughing.
Common Goal by Rachel Reid
Rachel Reid writes spicy, escapist romances and Common Goal was 100% what I needed the last week of September. Like Reid’s other books in the Game Changers series, Common Goal is about sexy hockey player finding love. In this book, that sexy hockey player is Eric, a star goalie on the verge of retirement who can’t stop thinking about Kyle, the handsome, flirty bartender he met at a friend’s engagement party. Recently divorced and looking to explore his options as a single bisexual man, Eric turns to the younger and much more experienced Kyle for help getting back into the dating scene. And then feelings happen.
MUSIC
I don’t tend to like much country music, but I have always had a soft spot for The Chicks. They released their new album Gaslighter in late July and it was one of those well-timed situations where the music exactly fit my mood. I have probably listened to the song “Juliana Calm Down” 2-3 times every day for the past month. I also really enjoy “Sleep at Night” and the witchy video that goes along with it.
Here are all the new collages from the September group show at Gallery 9! I’m happy with how everything turned out and now that I’ve had some time to decompress, I’m hoping to start some new projects soon.
