Blog

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. Since I’m a media omnivore, it also includes games, movies, and any other media of note that I engaged with.

Do we have similar tastes, or will you be questioning how we ever got connected? Let’s find out!

Books

Ephrael Stern: Heretic Saint (Saints and Martyrs Omnibus) by David Annandale

Daemonifuge by Jim Campbell, Kev Walker, et al

Move over Eisenhorn, I have a new favorite Warhammer 40k character! One of the more interesting 40k rabbit holes I’ve found myself exploring is the Adepta Sororitas — aka Sisters of Battle, aka Nuns with Guns. This all-female faction of the grimdark future is a bunch of fanatics powered by faith (maybe?), and Ephrael Stern takes things to a whole other level.

Annandale delivers what I thought was an exciting origin story in his novella, featuring Stern and Inquisitor Dagover — representing my other favorite faction, the Inquisition — only to realize it’s actually a follow-up to her first appearance in a series of comics from the 90s. I tracked down a collected edition on eBay, and the first chapter holds up pretty well 25 years later, delving into Stern’s actual origin (kind of) and making Annandale’s story much clearer and stronger. The other two chapters are more a series of loosely connected vignettes and set pieces (with some distracting changes in art styles), all suggesting a larger story that Annadale only hints at while moving Stern’s story forward.

As far as I can tell, that story hasn’t been told anywhere else yet, but I’m ready for more Stern in any medium, and would especially play the hell out of a Heretic Saint ARPG!

PS: The WH40k Book Club episode on Ephrael Stern added some additional context to both stories, while also giving me yet another 40k rabbit hole to explore!

The Triumph of Saint Katherine (Saints and Martyrs Omnibus) by Danie Ware

The biggest challenge with any Sororitas story is humanizing them enough to make their fanaticism believable, and Ware delivers competent fluff on steroids with this novella that’s basically telling the story of one of 40k’s more impressive miniatures. The Dread Pirate Roberts angle for Saints has potential (and solid logic), but she spends too much time explaining the Sisters’ humanity rather than showing it, so the overarching story lacks any real emotional weight. This was the weakest of the three novellas in the Omnibus by far, but there were moments that made me curious enough to want to check out Ware’s actual novel, The Rose in Darkness, which sounds like she gets to dig into her characters a bit more.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin—Lost Years 1-5 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, et al

A rare case of me reading the actual floppies (borrowed from my son), this was a solid prequel to the unexpectedly great The Last Ronin, which was the first time I’d read any TMNT in literal decades. Michelangelo’s journey is surprisingly intense, balanced by a more light-hearted tone in the tale of his pre-teen successors, making it feel like a weird combo of old school and Nickelodeon TMNT. I’m curious to see which direction they take with the newcomers, but I’m also tempted to read the original stories, the first collected volume of which my son left on my desk after I returned these floppies.

Games

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Steam)

This was the game that originally sparked my interest in the Warhammer 40k universe back in 2023, but knowing CRPGs always launch with bugs and are best played 3-6 months later, I ended up playing Inquisitor — Martyr instead and have been hooked ever since. I wasn’t sure my currently 5.5-year-old ThinkPad could handle it, and it turned out I was right. Fortunately, my son upgraded his gaming PC last year, so I’ve now inherited his old one and have been on Cloud Nine ever since, fully immersed in the grimdark, tactical CRPG of the future!

I’ve finished the first chapter, and it was everything I hoped the game would be: a compelling story; deep lore; tactical combat; consequential decisions. My character is a Voidborn Noble Officer, and I’m mostly going the Iconoclast route with the occasional Dogmatic decision. More on this one next month.

Warhammer Combat Cards (Android)

I figured I’d burn out on this game after a few weeks as the gatcha progression mechanics became intolerable, but it’s actually settled into a solid twice-daily routine that I’m still enjoying. Unlike Marvel Snap, where I had a couple of favorite decks and got bored having to constantly tweak them as more powerful cards were added to the game (or metas evolved), Combat Cards‘ different modes encourage and reward (and occasionally require) experimenting with its full range of factions, decks, and builds. Poison and psychic are my favorite skills, but I’ve had good runs with almost every approach, and at least one good deck for every faction. My only disappointment is I haven’t found a viable Sororitas + Inquisition combo yet, and I haven’t unlocked Ephrael Stern.

Metaphor: Refantazio (Xbox)

100 hours in, and I almost bailed after the penultimate battle because I didn’t want to do another game-month of dungeons to get to the finale. I’m really enjoying the story, more than Persona 3 Reload at this point, but I’m also very much ready for it to end. Instead of quitting and just watching the ending on YouTube, I decided to focus on maxing out all social connections and have been enjoying the twists and turns of most of those stories. I ended up doing one of the dungeons I was going to skip anyway and have one more I’m going to do before pushing through to the finale. I doubt I’ll have leveled up enough to beat it, though, so I’m going to switch to Story Mode at that point and finish it up that way. Unfortunately, now that I’ve started playing Rogue Trader, I’m not sure when that’s going to happen.

Movies & TV

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 1 (Paramount Plus)

Old school TV seasons were always a mixed bag, and if I didn’t know that DS9 takes a couple of seasons to find its legs, I’m not sure if I’d have made it through this one. It’s dated and goofy as hell at times, and frequently heavy-handed with its allegories, but there’s also an earnestness to it all that’s appealing. I officially have a soft spot for Odo and Quark, too, who got some of the better storylines in the first season.

Babes (Streaming)

This wasn’t the LOL raunchy comedy the trailers made it out to be. Instead, it’s a funny and emotional dramedy about friendship, found family, and parenting that completely caught me off guard. Ilana Glazer is perfect, partly because Michelle Buteau nails the straight man role and makes the connection between them believable. Oliver Platt, who is delightful in The Bear, makes a surprising cameo that I absolutely loved, too.

Caddo Lake (Streaming)

Ignore the Shyamalan connection, and the assumptions that come with it, and settle in for something that can best be described as, “If you loved Dark but would never want to see an American adaptation.” I couldn’t find anything with Celine Held or Logan George crediting Dark as an inspiration, but I loved that show and enjoyed this lower-stakes take on a similar premise, which the trailers pretty clear hint at if you’re paying attention. It’s not a great movie, but it’s entertaining.

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!