Booknotes: November 2024
In which I briefly comment on the books I read each month, so a few years from now when I’m trying to remember one of them, I’ll be able to find it here. I’m a media omnivore, too, so this immediately evolved into more than just books; I’m sticking with the book-first theme for now but will probably change it up next year.
Do we have similar tastes, or will you be questioning how we ever got connected? Let’s find out!
Book Notes
Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 2 by Naoya Matsumoto
- (4.0; print) Another fun read with some great world building; might be my next ongoing manga series, alongside current favorite, Witch Hat Atelier.
Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain de Botton
- (3.5; print) Thought-provoking and respectful, but fully aware of its limitations, de Botton offers great insights into important things organized religion does well, and how some of them can and should be replicated without needing a God to lean on. More of a survey than a guide, it left me wanting more, partly because de Botton’s approach was a little too aloof for me. (Random: Reading this in between watching the final two seasons of Evil was interesting!)
{STAR} Magos (Eisenhorn: The Omnibus) by Dan Abnett
- (4.0; print) Abnett introduces a brand-new character, Drusher, giving a different perspective on Eisenhorn’s relentless pursuit of Chaos that builds on the core trilogy to deliver his tightest story yet. As much as I’m curious about what’s next for the Inquisitor, I’m equally interested in a follow-up starting Drusher and Macks. Overall, the full Omnibus was a great read after loving Inquisitor — Martyr so much last year, and I may be getting hooked on the grimdark future! (more below)
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle
- (3.0; print) Solid short story, would have probably enjoyed a full novel more even though Lovecraft isn’t really my thing, but Lavalle’s Jazz Age Harlem take on it has potential.
Persona 3, Volume 1 & 2 by Atlus & Shuji Sogabe
- (2.5; ebook) The first volume was not great, not terrible, but I’m not sure it would have worked at all if I hadn’t played the game. The second volume actually got worse, though, and I’m glad I didn’t buy these in print. Despite having such strong source material to pull from, the main character is oddly unappealing, with even less personality than in the game where he’s a voiceless avatar. (Atlus, the game studio, is credited as the writer or co-writer, but it could also be a translation problem.) Even worse, Sogabe’s art pales in comparison to the game; the combat visuals are particularly messy, and the time hopping doesn’t help its narrative or visual pacing. Instead of what could be a deeper, more nuanced story, it’s more of a rushed compilation of key beats. Disappointing.
Media Notes
Persona 3 Reload (Xbox)
- MILD SPOILERS AHEAD: 150 hours later, I finally finished, and it mostly stuck the landing. I had a slight spoiler early on about the ending, but it lacked context, so I was still surprised and engaged by how it played out. I didn’t realize there were two possible endings and fortunately got the good one, which I guess is partly how an allegedly 90-hour game turned into 150 hours. I probably grinded Tartarus more than necessary the final month, but that ensured the final battle was an interactive narrative experience rather than a grueling final boss. I’m going to write a follow-up to my early impressions at some point, but it’s definitely up there with my all-time favorites, and I’m still looking forward to Metaphor ReFantazio, but I need a palette cleanser before jumping into another super-long RPG.
Space Marine 2 (Xbox)
- I can’t deal with the mild nausea from first-person shooters anymore and am ready to finally move on from Titanfall 2, the last one I could tolerate (and enjoyed the hell out of). Balatro, Dead Cells, and Slay the Spire have been my rotating go-tos for months, but I’ve been missing the narrative-light action of a good third-person shooter since I tired of The Division 2. Despite my recent rabbit holing of Warhammer 40k, I’d initially ignored Space Marine 2 because I thought it was just another FPS, but my son encouraged me to check it out and I’m glad I did because it’s so damn fun! I finished the main campaign in about 9 hours and haven’t had that much fun with any shooter since Titanfall 2! Tight mechanics, an entertaining story that doesn’t drag, plus full co-op so my son played 1/3rd of it with me on his Steam Deck (sitting next to me on the couch, streaming from his PC two floors up, because some things about the future are actually pretty damn cool). Operations mode is a great way to handle side quests in a linear game, also fully co-op, while bridging the gap to PvP, which I’m not ready for yet. It’s got me back on YouTube watching gaming tips and lore videos, trying to figure out which are my preferred Space Marine chapters and seeing if they have any good novels. (Tentatively, Salamanders; novels TBD.)
The Penguin (HBO)
- Way better than it had any right to be, Lauren LeFranc deserves all of the awards for delivering 8 of the tightest episodes “Prestige TV meets Corporate IP” has seen in years. The cast was amazing, with Cristin Milioti going toe-to-toe with Colin Farrell every step of the way, and a dark, heart-breaking ending we only got a hint of being possible in Matt Reeves’ solid (if slightly underwhelming) reboot, The Batman. Much like Gotham Central was one of my favorite Batman comics because it didn’t feature Batman, I hope DC and James Gunn let Reeves continue to develop his version of Gotham City.
Evil, S4 (Paramount+)
- Probably one of the dumbest shows I’ve ever enjoyed, largely thanks to its likeable trio and Sister Andrea. The “evil of the week” format was mostly fun, even though they consistently refused to give most of those stories a clear resolution, and it had some interesting ideas — but it felt like they were making the underlying plot up as they went along, and it sprawled completely out of their control. The two main “evil” characters were the worst thing about the show, and the attempt to redeem one of them fell flat because not even Jesus would forgive the shit they pulled. It definitely does NOT need another season and probably should have ended after its 3rd season.
Your Notes?
If you’ve engaged with any of these, let me know what you thought. And if you have any related recommendations, drop ’em in the comments or on the socials! Some of you prefer email, which is cool, too. You do you!
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I love Evil. I grew up as a PK (preacher’s kid) and I think it’s hilarious. I hope someone else adopts it now that Paramount has given it up. I think it’s on a par with Lucifer. And I’ll watch anything that Robert and Michelle King do.
I have had SO many people recommend The Penguin to me. I’ll have to take another whack at it (haha). I used to go to therapy in an old, now-abandoned hospital on Staten Island that also served as the set for Arkham Asylum in the show Gotham. Very wild to drive through that arch and go in for some hardcore brain-refactoring.
I was curious what Christians (and Catholics, in particular) thought of Evil because there was definitely a lot of fascinating ambivalence baked into it. I assume it’s a slightly different show for you/them than it was for me. Interesting that you’re on Team Season 5! I wonder if they’d go full Ghostbusters in Black with it or do a soft reset back in NY?
I also played Persona 3 this year — mostly in the late summer/fall. I’d previously played 4 and 5, and it took me by surprise how much more in-your-face dark this one is: everyone has a tragedy, everyone, but we somehow have to keep living anyway. Believe it or not, I started playing because one of the student speakers at my daughter’s high school graduation based his whole framing on lessons he learned from Persona 3. It was a very good speech.
But I’m the opposite of a grinder — I play on easy mode, get overleveled very fast, and then do the whole dungeon in one, maybe two nights if there are rescues to do. So when I went onto the DLC and discovered it was alllll dungeons and grinding… well… I’m almost to the end but just kinda stopped playing. It’s fine I guess, but it doesn’t quite live up to the standard of the rest of the game.
P3R was my first Persona experience, and grinding Tartarus was honestly as much about delaying the end of the game as it was leveling up, because part of me didn’t want to leave the setting or (some of) those characters behind. (I also wanted to beat the Reaper, and finally did!) I’m skipping the DLC as I’ve heard similarly underwhelming takes about it, while everyone’s raving about Metaphor.
I’d love to have to heard that graduation speech because I suspect these games hit teens differently than old people like me.