Daredevil (Season 2)

Matt Murdock is back to protect Hell’s Kitchen and this time around it’s the Hand that’s come to pay the town a visit, along with a guy known as the Punisher.  Ultra-violent and very much in the same dark style as the first season of this Marvel property, I was very much pleased.  Elektra also appears as Murdocks’ ex-girlfriend and tension between Foggy Nelson and Murdock hits a boiling point.   Before getting a season 3 through it appears I’m going to get to see this crime fighter join up with the Defenders sometime next year.  Bring it.  Grade: A

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The second to last volume to the collusion of the Wheel of Time takes us through a series of events we’ve been waiting to see for some time.  Rand and Egwene reunite, now at the height of their powers.   Perrin accepts his role as a leader of an army and a man connected to wolves.  Mat Cauthon goes on a mission that will challenge his luck.   Sanderson is bringing it all together and the characters seem to have reached the apex of their growth.   They’re all grown up as it were.   Now we get to the BIG battle and I can’t help but feel like it’s going to be spectacular.   I do still miss Jordan’s sense of deliver but Sanderson is very skilled.  There’s no question that the story is in good hands.   What’s especially nice is there are moments (like the battle to undermine Mazrim Taim at the Black Tower) that feel like its his own addition and it all works.   I can’t believe I’m actually going to finish this series after so many years.  Is Rand going to really break the remaining Seals?   Will the Daughter of Nine Moons join the fight or thwart Mat?   It’s all very exciting.  Grade: A

House of Cards (Season 3)

The chronicles of Frank Underwood continues and it’s Clare Underwood that really shines in this season.    Their relationship is the heart and soul of this show and whether they’re fighting or working together to manipulate and stay in power its addictive entertainment.   I’m not sure how long the writers can sustain the drama, especially with nowhere else for Frank to go but down, but the complexities of staying in power is very exciting.  Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are electric together as always.  Michael Kelly shines with Doug going to places that are truly riveting.  Grade: A-

Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez

I haven’t read a book this funny and kooky in a long time.  What a wacky adventure.  I can’t recommend it enough.  The main character is basically the smartest super villain of all time that just so happens to be a mollusk in a exoskeleton suit and he’s suddenly challenged by a new villain that believes it's even more smart-- a Brain.   A character as egotistical as Mollusk would usually drive me crazy but Martinez finds a way to make him enduring as well as hilarious.  Comedy is hard to do and in the genre of science fiction, in my opinion, even more challenging.  Martinez succeeds in every way.   Grade: A

The Walking Dead (Season 5)

How do you follow up one of the better seasons of this Zombie epic?  Oh, I don’t know, but part of me wishes they had done better than this.  It’s not a great season.  The first half ends with a death that rocked me and not in a good way.  I don’t want to spoil the character they kill off but it felt like such a waste and I have to admit I almost considered not watching the show.  But I believe that good characters do have to die sometimes (even if in a completely dumb way) and kept on.  The second half is a major improvement but there’s still a sense that they’re going back to the well a little bit.  I have hope for the next season; especially with a hinted at an upcoming villain, but you never know with this show.   It’s high anxiety storytelling because I can’t trust the writers completely.  Obviously they have to kill a bunch of characters off, that’s the nature of this animal, but sometimes they do it well and other times they don’t.    It’s just not a consistently well-crafted program.   The one thing that keeps me coming back is certain characters.   The day they die is the day I stop watching.   It’s as simple as that.  Grade: B

New Spring by Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan took a break in writing the ending of the Wheel of Time to write this prequel about how Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche began their clandestine search to find the Dragon Reborn and how Lan Mandragoran became Moiraine’s Warder.   I wonder if Mr. Jordan would have taken the time to write this book if he would have known he’d get sick two years after publishing it and would die a year after that.   I’m not saying it’s a bad book, in fact I loved it.  But it did keep him from moving forward completing his epic story and as a result someone else has had to do that.   While I loved it, I will say it doesn’t really add to the overall story of the Wheel of Time.  It’s mostly stuff we already know.  That’s another reason why I almost wish he had not started it.  But it is a good read and I love the characters so much I can’t condemn it.  If you like the Wheel of Time you should add it to your reading list.  If you’ve never read a book from this series, don’t start here.  Grade: B+