BOOK: Michael Strogoff – Courier to the Czar (1876)

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Michael Strogoff: Courier to the CzarYear: 1876Author: Jules VerneLength: 416 pages While we mostly know Jules Verne for his science fiction stories, it's hard to miss the fact that his books are also quite adventurous. Even though Michael Strogoff: Courier to the Czar isn't one of his famous works, it may be one of his best. This book was something my father wanted his children to appreciate, and now that I've read it a few more times, I truly understand how ahead of its time it was. Even if Michael Strogoff isn't explicitly a science fiction novel, Jules Verne still sneaks plenty of science into this race across Russia to save the life of the Czar's brother. Of course, since it is an adventure novel, Michael Strogoff certainly has a lot of adventure between Moscow and Irkutsk, with some scenes feeling like they were pulled out of a modern action film. The tension of sneaking behind enemy lines to deliver an important...
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MOVIE: Dungeons & Dragons – Honor Among Thieves (2023)

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ThievesYear: 2023Rating: PG-13Length: 134 minutes / 2.23 hours I have a lot of hobbies and interests that are considered “nerdy.” Partly because of this, I have avoided Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) so that I am not fully subsumed by the culture. Despite this evasion, I have still picked up enough lingo and understanding of D&D to not be completely lost when watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). I think, even without this loose knowledge of the tabletop role-playing game, this movie is a great heist film with a fantasy setting that should appeal to most people who have never encountered D&D before. What helps make this movie approachable is how it doesn’t seem to take itself seriously. You can almost imagine the individuals around the table making their decisions and dice rolls as the dungeon master throws ridiculous situations at them. Chris Pine’s performance anchors the humor. His bard character was easily riffed on by...
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VIDEO GAME: Hollow Knight (2017)

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Hollow Knight Year: 2017 Rating: E10+ Time Played: 2,712 minutes / 45.20 hours Every once in a while, I come across a game that hooks me right out of the gate. The music, ambiance, and gameplay mixed in a perfect combination that encouraged me to keep playing. Despite the sharp difficulty curve I encountered for the main bosses, the stakes made me continue the journey all the way to its conclusion (at least one of the few different endings, that is). There is nothing more rewarding than feeling so close to defeating a boss, only to mess up and need to try again and finally succeeding. For an affordable indie game, Hollow Knight is filled with content. Even if I found myself stuck at a particular junction, I could merely explore some other facet of the gigantic map until my skills improved to the point where I could defeat the roadblock in my way. All the while, I marveled at the unique visuals for each...
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VIDEO GAME: A Short Hike (2019)

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A Short Hike Year: 2019 Rating: E Time Played: ~2 hours I'm starting to like the open-world format of some video games. Sure, there's a broad goal the player is trying to accomplish, but sometimes the most fun comes from the little sidequests that you encounter along the way. Of course, the best sidequests help the player ultimately achieve the game's goal by rewarding a useful item or ability. A Short Hike is a prime example of how to do the open-world format. As an indie game, the big-name developers should take notes here. While the "low quality" visuals initially put me off, you eventually get used to them. This is basically my only gripe with the game, as it's clearly hiding some of the cut corners of its development. As someone who enjoys hiking to the top of mountains, I liked the gameplay with a somewhat loose motivation to get to the top of this island mountain. Sure, the plot is touching when you...
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VIDEO GAME: Moss (2018)

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MossYear: 2018Rating: ETime Played: ~4 hours As gaming advances into an era with an option for virtual reality, I'm glad to see some games embrace this technology in ways to bridge the gap between traditional gaming and VR gaming. For example, it's too easy to merely adapt a first-person shooter like SUPERHOT into the VR space since the platform is basically made for the first-person perspective. But what about platformers? Adventure games? Moss shows how games in these genres can still work in virtual reality while also making the interactivity of the medium part of the gameplay. I have to say there's a bit of a challenge in controlling the player character while also using these controllers to modify the environment. This multitasking takes some time to get used to but ultimately is interesting enough to not be completely frustrating. Sometimes, the next step in a particular room isn't readily apparent, which led me to look up the solution to advance the...
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VIDEO GAME: Hyper Light Drifter (2016)

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Hyper Light Drifter Year: 2016 Rating: T Time Played: 524 minutes / 8.73 hours As a gamer who grew up on the pixel art graphics of the 8- and 16- bit eras, I can appreciate when a game comes along to try and replicate that aesthetic. Granted, it can be challenging to pull off correctly while also adapting modern gameplay elements. However, there are definitely games that have successfully created an homage to these earlier times (like Shovel Knight). Then there are games that expand upon their predecessors to create something that the original gaming systems couldn't possibly handle. Hyper Light Drifter is beautiful in its aesthetic while never sacrificing its vision or its challenge. Early video games had the flaw of being difficult for the sake of drawing out how long you played them. As a result, some were unfairly hard—to the point where I never wanted to get good enough to beat them. Hyper Light Drifter certainly had a bit of a learning...
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MOVIE: The Goonies (1985)

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The Goonies Year: 1985 Rating: PG Length: 114 minutes / 1.90 hours Cult classics are intriguing films. I feel there is a lot of nostalgia tied to a movie that hits a generation of individuals at just the right time for them to be memorable to these people. Sometimes, these cult classics are movies that I didn't get around to seeing—especially when they were relevant to my friends. For whatever reason, The Goonies (1985) has eluded me for 35 years. I can certainly see its appeal, but I mostly just watched it and wondered why people thought it was so great. I will say that this film is a trip down memory lane in the sense that I don't think I've ever seen a movie with either Sean Astin or Josh Brolin as young as they were in this one. The fact that many meme-able moments from this film have lasted in the popular culture zeitgeist for so long is a testament to its powerful...
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BOOK: Ember Falls (2016)

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Ember Falls Year: 2016 Author: S.D. Smith Length: 234 pages Being a fan of children’s series like The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as a lover of rabbits (owning two Flemish giants as pets), I was glad to get back into the Green Ember series with the second book, Ember Falls. Obviously, as this series is mainly geared toward children, there were a few points of the plot of this second book that I either predicted from the start or could see coming from a mile away. In any case, the world building that continued with this book was top notch, despite certainly feeling like a “linking” part of the series. While The Green Ember could stand on its own and laid the groundwork for the books that came after it, Ember Falls certainly needs its predecessor to make sense. It also seems to rely on the next book in the series to reach some conclusion. This is an issue that often arises in book...
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VIDEO GAME: Owlboy (2018)

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Owlboy Year: 2018 Rating: E10 Time Spent: 5+ hours I had seen a video of some Owlboy gameplay a while ago that made the game look interesting enough to buy. The retro 16-bit-style graphics were what drew me to this adventure platformer. Now that I’ve played through it, I found it to be somewhat…disappointing. Sure, the visuals are quite striking, and each location certainly has some elemental charm to it. Additionally, the story is relatively simple but also charming in its own way. In the end, though, I don’t think I’ll give this game an additional playthrough. This is mostly because—without trying—I collected almost everything in the game in my first go. First off, this was a fairly short game, which I should come to expect from independent game developers. After all, Cave Story and Undertale weren’t terribly long, but perhaps I’ve been spoiled by games like Hollow Knight. Secondly, even up until the last boss, I could never quite get the hang of the...
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MOVIE: The Princess Bride (1987)

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The Princess Bride Year: 1987 Rating: PG Length: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours The Princess Bride (1987) is a movie that defies genres. It’s an adventure film with swashbuckling pirates. It’s a fantasy film with giants and six-fingered men. It’s a comedy with numerous quotable lines. It’s a family film about storytelling. It’s all these things, and more, which is part of its appeal (even if it makes the whole movie difficult to classify or market). The real trick with The Princess Bride is that it is subtle with its self-awareness. While other films may go so far self-aware that they’d break the fourth wall (a la Deadpool (2016)), The Princess Bride manages to poke fun at these classic genres with a knowing wink to the audience. Of course, this is part of its appeal. Many self-aware films make overt references to other big-hitters in their genre, thus relying on the audience who has done their homework to understand the joke. In The Princess Bride, there are no references to The Lord of the...
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BOOK: Kidnapped (1886)

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Kidnapped Year: 1886 Author: Robert Louis Stevenson Length: 158 minutes / 2.63 hours Another one of those “short adventures” that I have finally gotten around to reading, Kidnapped doesn’t suffer from some of the attributes that I found irritating about Captains Courageous. Sure, some of my qualms with Captains Courageous came from the audiobook itself but Kidnapped managed to have an easy-to-understand narrator as well as some sound effects and music that added to the experience of the book. As for the book itself, Kidnapped is pretty basic despite its title being only a small fraction of its plot. Even despite its short length, a lot happens in Kidnapped. Aside from the obvious kidnapping, many events transpired because of it, including escaping and returning home. Of course, partly because of the short length of the book, the action moves at a pretty quick pace that was sometimes difficult to follow (which may also be an artifact of the time when it was written). The language...
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MOVIE: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Year: 2013 Rating: PG Length: 114 minutes / 1.9 hours Let me start by saying that I was skeptical to go see this film, mainly because it starred Ben Stiller. Given his track record of “comedies,” I found myself avoiding his films just because I knew that they’d be crude and not the type of comedy I would enjoy. Much in the same way I was surprised by Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) was a pleasant surprise. I don’t know if it’s because he also directed this film, but I truly enjoyed it on many levels, both as a lover of movies and a lover of photography. The strength of this film lies in its imagery and presentation. The beauty of our world and the way it’s captured in the travels of a man coming out of his shell is truly inspiring. I can honestly say I haven’t seen a...
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