Incrypid by Seanan McGuire
- Discount Armageddon
- Midnight Blue-Light Special
- Half-Off Ragnarok
- Pocket Apocalypse
These books are a fun take on the “monsters live among us” trope, with secret societies and large extended families helping and hunting them. The world seems pretty big and interesting, and there are plenty of jokes. (Werewolf horses! Frogs with feathers! Talking religious mice!) The books (and short stories) rotate protagonists through members of an extended family, which lets the storylines mix and match and play off each other. Seanan McGuire is also a great twitter follow.
I liked the show, but the writing style of the books is a little dry and exposition heavy. So far I’ve read the two prequel books of short stories, which are mostly covered by the first season of the Netflix show, and the first novel. The show stream lined the short stories, and added Yennefer as a main character, which I thought were big improvements. The world is kind of interesting but the books are a little dry.
I wanted to like this more than I did, especially after reading Seth Dickinson’s Ask Me Anything on Reddit, but this took a long time and a lot of world building to get where it was going. I found the second half more engaging than the first, and while I am curious where the next book is going, I probably won’t pick it up immediately.
Great Pokémon-style magic in an industrial Asian-influenced world. Lots of fun.
TV
Cheers, first season
I was way too young to watch this while it was on, and the jokes hold up, aren’t particularly cringey, and the stakes couldn’t be lower, which is nice and refreshing. Shelley Long is a delight and possibly a national treasure. Plus, does anybody remember bars? Those were fun.
How I met your mother, first season
Loved this show while it was originally on (especially the first 4-5 seasons) and it’s still great.