Welcome to June! I can’t believe we are almost halfway through the year. In recognition of that, this post contains some things that I’ve been reading, playing, or watching recently, or just generally some things I’ve found neat in the last little period. If you like this sort of thing, let me know and I can do it more frequently!

Books – The Way of Kings and Boy Swallows Universe

I have two recommendations from what I have finished recently. The first is Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. This is a fantasy epic, and it is epic, being so large the publisher had to split it across two paperbacks of approximately 500 pages each. This makes it almost the length of the entirety of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and this is just the first entry into this saga. When described to me, or reading about it online, people would talk about the world-building, which is that it’s set on a planet where storms come through frequently. This is true, but does the novel a disservice. The Way of Kings, in my opinion, is about values and beliefs. Characters are haunted and flawed, and constantly asking themselves if what they are doing is ‘right’ – and it can be hard to know in some of their situations! There are some really powerful scenes towards the end of the book that have still stuck with me. If I wasn’t about to go travelling for two months, I would have launched into the next book already (and I’m considering getting on Kindle just so I can). If you’re not into fantasy, though, I would recommend starting with a different Sanderson book. I started with Mistborn which I think is thematically kind of close to Star Wars, so that is a nice accessible option. Then you can come to these books if you like that.

The other recommendation I have is Boy Swallows Universe by Australian author Trent Dalton. It’s about an adolescent boy growing up in Brisbane who becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld as a result of his drug-dealing stepdad. The prose feels very real, and I was shocked afterward to discover that it is semi-autobiographical. The foundation of the novel is based on Dalton’s upbringing, but then it becomes a fantasy of what he wishes he was able to do as the child. Sometimes, I find Australian literature can be too cringy; relying too much on tropes and slang. Not so here. Because the novel is based in this authentic life experience, it feels very grounded, while also being very Australian. The references to the Paramatta Eels NRL team, however, don’t feel shoehorned in to get an NRL team in there – it feels deliberately placed. I found it a bit slow to get moving, but this is just to set the scene. What I loved about this novel was that it was never afraid to pull the rug away from you and change your perspective on everything happening within it. Brilliant book.

Film – Alien

I had never seen Alien before going to the 45th anniversary re-release in cinemas. This shocked many of my friends, as it is such an essential piece of science fiction. How could I not have seen it? Watching it, especially on the big screen, it was easy to see why they were so shocked. This film feels very influenced by another favourite of mine, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is slow and lumbering at the start, and is nothing like what I expected (that being more in the vein of a jump scare horror film). Many of the effects still hold up and, having not engaged much with the franchise, I found the twists to be well-executed. Having said all that, I was having to keep myself awake in the early parts of the film, when it was taking a long time to get to the suspenseful parts.

Game – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I started this game back in February and I don’t think I am even close to halfway finished with it. This could very well be the only game I finish this year (if I even do). This is a sequel to Breath of the Wild, which released back in 2017. Whereas that game I found, honestly, quite frustrating in how open it was, this one fixes all of my complaints and provides a huge amount of stuff to do. While I often found myself not being sure where to go next, here I had the experience of always having the next spot in mind. It is mind-bogglingly massive in scope! If you have a Nintendo Switch, these two games are, I think, the best you can get on the system. This game, in particular, feels like something that will have an influence beyond video games.

TV Show – Doctor Who

Doctor Who has returned triumphantly, now on Disney+. I’m a huge fan of the show, but even I stopped watching at one point during Jodie Whitaker’s time, and it took a group watch at my college to get through it. This new season is being penned by Russel T Davies who returns since he was last show-runner back in 2010. The show is still the same at its core – The mysterious doctor and their companion investigate whacky aliens on Earth or in space and try to save people. But every episode this season has tried something new and I appreciate that, though I do think they got the order messed around (the first episode, for instance, is far too silly to promote the show for new fans, but the most recent 3 episodes have all been very good). There are still a few episodes to go, but so far it looks like quality has once again returned to this BBC stalwart.

That’s everything from me this week. Are you engaging with anything you are really enjoying currently? Let me know in the comments below.