Audiobook read by Travis Baldree.
Oh my goodness, how boring. I gave up at Chapter 8 after listening to what felt like hours and hours of a gamer’s handbook outlining points for this and powers like that. There might be a story, but if so it hadn’t started by the time I lost the will to live. The premise sounded interesting, but the writeup gave no indication that this was basically a game scenario. Sure, Silas has to save the world, but it’s basically a game. Travis Baldree did his usual good job but he might as well have been reading the phone book for all the interest it held for me. Maybe you’ll love this if the minutia of RPG games is your thing. Sadly, it’s not mine. Travis Baldree reads it as well as he can, but there are long tracts that amount to the gamer-equivalent of reading the phone book.

jacey

Audiobook narrated by Peter Kenny.

This introduces Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher with powers and training that enable him to kill monsters (for money). I can understand how this made a good TV series as it's very episodic in nature, which fits the TV format perfectly, but there are no continuing consequences. It’s first-this-happens-and-then-that-happens, but it’s not first-this-happens-and-because-this-happens-that-happens. In other words, this is a series of novellas, unrelated except for the main character. It's not a novel with a single storyline, and characterisation remains at a surface level throughout. Peter Kenny does a good job on the narration, but I won’t be reading any more of these. Watching the TV series is better

jacey

Audiobook read by Katie Villa.

Luke Taylor has been accepted by the mysterious Unholy Island and the islanders, and has become the keeper of the island’s only bookshop, a position he’s inherited. The bookshop itself seems sentient, not revealing all it’s secrets until it trusts Luke. He’s just setting in when a box of books arrives from a bookshop in York. It contains a curse which strikes at Luke, and he’s only saved by the intervention of one of the three (scary) witch sisters who love on the island. He discovers that the York bookshop has since burnt down, killing the owner. And then he finds another cursed book in an Edinburgh bookshop. Who is sending the cursed objects and why? Luke’s feelings for Esme, the island’s B&B host, are deepening, but a newcomer to the island is determined to muscle in. More magical goings-on. Expect peril, magic and a touch of romance. Katie Villa reads well.

jacey

Audiobook read by Katie Villa.

Luke Taylor has been looking for his missing twin brother for eighteen months with no success. A vague clue leads him to Unholy Island, a little further off the Northumbrian coast than Lindisfarne, and accessible only by a causeway at low tide. The locals, all with their own secrets, don’t like tourists and the island itself usually ensures that visitors spend no more than two nights there, but Luke is determined to stay longer and – surprise – the island lets him. He stays at Esme Gray’s B&B. Esme, who has run away from a troubled past with a controlling partner, is the island’s ward witch. She’s drawn to Luke, but still very wary of him. When Luke finds one of the villagers dead on the shore, suspicion falls on him, though Esme doesn’t believe he’s guilty. Gradually the truth is revealed, and Luke finds himself accepted by the suspicious islanders. This is set in the same world as Sarah Painter’s Crow Investigations books, which I very much enjoyed, but it’s a completely new sequence and can be read without having read the Crow books. Nicely read by Katie Villa

jacey

Audiobook read by Ray Porter

Halek Cain is the last survivor of the reaper programme. He’s an unstoppable cyborg killing machine, currently on death row. Offered a reprieve if he rescues a renowned scientist from a lawless penal colony (on an asteroid) he accepts the job, discovering that he hasn’t been given all the information he needs. Of course the job isn’t straightforward and he ends up fighting both the inmates and his own side. This is apparently set in the Renegade Star Universe, but not having any previous knowledge of this doesn’t hamper the enjoyment of this story. Ray Porter reads it reliably well.

jacey

Audiobook read by Kate Mulgrew. An interesting take on Janeway from childhood to post-Voyager, including some of the bits from Voyager that readers might be familiar with. Particularly interesting for me because I missed some of the Voyager episodes and haven’t caught up with all of them yet. I might not have tackled this, but Una McCormack is always a reliable writer and this was well written, and also well read by Kate Mulgrew – who is the only possible voice of Janeway.

hrj

(This is the promised separate review of my favorite book from 2025.)

Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer is not simply my favorite book of the year, but is my candidate for Best Book of the Year overall. This is not simply a book about history but is a book about the process of history. It demonstrates the fractal messiness of the people, places, and events that we try to tidily sort into specific eras, and especially how all those people, places, and events are braided together into a solid fabric. Palmer doesn’t shy away from pointing out how thoroughly our understanding of history is shaped by the prejudices and preoccupations of historians; she embraces this aspect noting at every turn how her own take is shaped by her love of the city of Florence and especially its most controversial son, Machiavelli.

But what makes this book great is the humor poured into the cracks around the politics, violence, and art. (A recurring feature is little comic dialogues that summarize key events in a narrative style familiar to anyone on Twitter or Bluesky. I desperately want to see these presented in visual format, whether as live theater or animated shorts. It’s hard to pick a favorite line, but the top two are “Maria Visconti-Sforza: I’m standing right here!” and “King of France: You Italians are very strange.”)

The book concludes with what I can only describe as a stump speech for the importance to the contemporary world of studying and understanding history, embracing the necessary messiness of “progress,” and the hope that we can indeed continue the Renaissance project of reaching for a better world.

This is a very long book, though paced in manageable chapters. When I decided to read it and found that the audiobook was the same price as the hardcover, I went for audio (at over 30 hours!) and listened to it while taking the train home from the International Medieval Conference. The narration is top-notch, capturing the emotional range of the text perfectly. The side benefit is that the combination of material, voice, and length made it perfect to add to my “sleep-aid audiobooks” collection, which means I get to enjoy it over and over again (in the bits and pieces I consciously hear). But of course I bought the hardcover too, not only so I could get Palmer to autograph it, but because I needed to be able to track down my favorite bits and check out the footnotes.

james_davis_nicoll

Ekumen envoy Genly Ai's mission to entice Gethen to join the Ekumen is complicated by atypical biology and all too familiar local politics.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

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https://heleninwales.livejournal.com/1419093.html

52/52 for the group 2025 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: Z is for Zeta

Apparently the Greek letter zeta can also mean 7, so after being stuck for a subject all week, I finally remembered that I use Boots No 7 makeup!

When I say "makeup", all I use is a tinted moisturiser to tone down my red complexion. It also acts as a sunscreen. Then a light dusting of powder to reduce shine.

And due to the way the weeks are organised, running Sunday to Sunday, there was a week 53.

53/52 for the group 2025 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This final week's theme was: A and Z

Fortunately I still have the pocket sized London A to Z I used to use on trips to London, so I thought I'd use that to complete the final challenge for the year.

I keep track of the photos I've taken in a spreadsheet and this year was a good one regarding taking on-topic photos. There were only three weeks where I didn't take a photo for the topic and in those weeks I did include an off-topic photo in my album, though obviously I didn't share it with the group.

https://heleninwales.livejournal.com/1419093.html

heleninwales

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https://www.oglaf.com/tsa2025/

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Posted by irina

https://valdyas.org/irina/fo3/life/reading-notes-week-52-6/

https://valdyas.org/irina/fo3/?p=15700

It’s Yuletide! So lots of fanfic, which will probably get a post of its own but not until after the new year when I know who wrote it.

The Size of the Bog by Celia Lake. Rufus when he’s apprenticed. Makes me want to reread Outcrossing. Such a waste that his master died!

Power of Air by Jenett. The Fire Rose fic, three different takes on Rose using her Mastery of Air.

Point by Point by Celia Lake. So much interesting ritual! Plot and subterfuge! An exciting rescue! Only I was a bit confused that the protagonists are called Galen and Lydia when supporting characters in another book are Garin and Livia. Spoiler: Galen and Lydia are nice, Garin and Livia (especially Livia) are not.

Ancient Trust by Celia Lake. Reread, though I didn’t realise until halfway. Carillon coming into his own.

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. As one does, this time of year. I wanted to pace it to align with the time in the book (the reading schedule is on the Wikipedia page in the link) but got distracted by church services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, forgot about it on the 26th, and then finished it on the 27th. I’ve always been a little irked (and this time around it irked me majorly for some reason) by the fact that the author apparently can’t count to eleven: if your birthday is Midwinter Day, December 21, the day before that isn’t your tenth Midwinter’s Eve, it’s your eleventh! Because turning eleven means you’ve lived for eleven full years! Except if you’re Chinese and you’re counted one year old on the actual day of your birth, but that would make Will Stanton only ten in the book and he very clearly isn’t. I don’t know if I’ll read the other books again this time or indeed ever, because they do have Issues (like: isn’t the Light as cruel as the Dark, when they’re supposed to be the good guys?)

Index of reading notes is here.

https://valdyas.org/irina/fo3/life/reading-notes-week-52-6/

https://valdyas.org/irina/fo3/?p=15700

jreynoldsward

I’m one of the first out there to note that my writing processes have changed over time, and differ from book to book. While other people have an established process, mine varies over time and type of book. Some of that is due to the nature of the world I’m writing in—a book fitting into an established series will have already-formed characters who are facing new challenges in a world that’s already built and ready to roll.

(Well, sometimes that happens. And sometimes my characters leap into a world that is entirely new to them.)

Other times it’s simply due to the nature of evolving ways of doing things in the face of a lot of life stuff going on. I’ve created detailed scene-by-scene outlines when I needed to be able to pick up the thread of what I’m working on quickly because I’m only able to draft in stolen moments. Other times, I’ve somewhat pantsed what I’ve been writing, going by instinct and feel—that tends to be what I do with shorter work, because my shorter work is often driven more by discovery writing. And still other times I have drafted a chapter-by-chapter synopsis that evolves as I work with the story.

In other words, I’ve been all over the place when it comes to how I plan my story.

And…sometimes a plan doesn’t work.

The current work in progress, Vision of Alliance, started out as a strict alternating-viewpoints by chapters story, because the characters were on two different continents in a high fantasy story where communications and travel take time. However, the further I went into the book, the more I didn’t like the notion, especially since I started alternating POVs within chapters. So I went back and decided that the order needed to be linear rather than shaped by chapters—and doing that required doing a bit of cutting and pasting to fit things in properly.

I’m not normally one to do a lot of cutting and pasting in my work these days. However, I noticed that once I was doing that with larger sections of text, I started doing it with paragraphs. Sentences. Within sentences.

Which is…interesting.

Now as I start planning the next book in the series, Vision of Chaos, I’m finding that what I really want to do is write an extended narrative about each main character’s situation at the beginning of the book. Alliance has a somewhat cliffhanger resolution. I’ve been trying to decide where to start Chaos—immediately after or not? I also drafted a solstice story that was a newsletter exclusive (publishing newsletter, not Substack newsletter) that for a while I thought might be the beginning of Chaos—but it starts six months after the end of Alliance.

I’m still not sure where to go with it. On the other hand, in writing the extended narrative about one main character, I realized that I had an explanation for the delay put forth in the solstice story. Alliance ends with a call to action, but…the extended narrative explains the delay in implementing that call to action. Other things have to be dealt with, and what gets sworn to as a necessary happening in the heat of emotion and reaction often faces the reality that to make it happen requires preparation and planning. Which is the scenario here because there are other issues that have to be dealt with before responding to the situation at the end of Alliance.

On the other hand, I think I’m working out what needs to happen in the story by writing this extended narrative. I’m going to be very interested in seeing what happens by the time I’ve finished writing four of these narratives, because I suspect I’ll have a lot of good plotting material already laid out for me.

Additionally, what I’ve also learned is that it’s not always a good idea to rush story development. I’ve had better results from letting a story seed sit around and mature than when I force it—that’s one reason why I don’t write well to prompts, unless it’s just a casual tossoff of a short story.

It’s also interesting because I usually write these sorts of side stories/notes/narratives during the original drafting, not in preparation for plotting the next story. Other things that are happening—the growth of secondary characters, the development of more worldbuilding touches, all things I can lift from these narratives to insert into the main story.

I’m finding this to be a fascinating process, and look forward to seeing what happens next. Will I do this with the next book in the trilogy? Hard to say. We’ll see when I get there—the same for the next book that is simmering for 2027.

But meanwhile, I’m enjoying the journey. And that is what matters.

james_davis_nicoll

Hisako Ichiki is a perfectly normal Japanese school girl with perfectly normal social anxiety and depression and perfectly dreadful marks. Hisako also has a stalker.

Fears And Hates (Ultimate X‑Men, volume 1) by Peach Momoko

james_davis_nicoll

Seven works new to me: four fantasy, three science fiction, of which at least three are series.

Books Received, December 20 — December 26

Poll #34011 Books Received, December 20 — December 26

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

The King Must Die by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (November 2025)
10 (33.3%)

Mortedant’s Peril by R. J. Barker (May 2026)
8 (26.7%)

Cold Steel by Joyce Ch’Ng (March 2025)
7 (23.3%)

The Ganymedan by R. T. Ester (November 2025)
11 (36.7%)

Alchemy of Souls by Adriana Mather (August 2026)
4 (13.3%)

The Bird Tribe by Lucinda Roy (July 2026)
4 (13.3%)

Household by Riccardo Sirignano and Simone Formicola (2022)
8 (26.7%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
25 (83.3%)

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https://heleninwales.livejournal.com/1418908.html

We're now in that strange limbo period where no one is sure what day it is and you don't know whether shops are open or not. In reality, today counts as a perfectly ordinary Saturday, so shops were open as usual but town was quiet.

It's much colder here today, not quite freezing but not much above either and with a bitter east wind. However, I have ventured out to the Co-op for a few things and popped into the hardware store for rubber gloves. Then I'm staying indoors for the rest of the day where it's warm.

https://heleninwales.livejournal.com/1418908.html

heleninwales

hrj

Actually the one book I finished in May is going to get its own separate entry (Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer) because I've decided it's my favorite book of the entire year.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman -- (audio) The entire Invisible Library series came up on sale as a set on Chirp, and since I'd heard interesting things about it I picked it up. I've only listened to this first volume. Although I find it interesting and imaginative, I kept not getting back to listening to it (hence it took me an entire month to finish). That's made me less interested in trying the next book in the series. I didn't dislike it--it just didn't grab me.

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod -- (text) I actually bought this one in both text and audiobook, but since I was already listening to a book of similar genre and setting (see next entry) I went for the text version to keep psychological separation. This is a sapphic Jane Austen-inspired story (as one might guess from the title). I've always felt that Mary Bennet got short shrift in the original book. This story begins well after the end of Pride and Prejudice and has paired her with the now-widowed Charlotte Collins (née Lucas). Mary has the advantage of having acquired a mentor in London who runs a not-very-covertly queer household, which eases the way for Mary and Charlotte to be able to share their attraction and provides a short-cut around the economic challenges for a female couple. I found the story cute and emotionally satisfying although Charlotte occasionally shocked me in blowing off the expected social isolation of recent widowhood.

A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell -- (audio) Another Regency-era sapphic romance, involving an amateur archaeologist and the love/hate relationship with her neighbor. Enjoyable, though a bit over-packed with subplots similarly to the previous book of hers that I've read (A Shore Thing). Lots of occasionally improbable hijinks on the quest for Viking-era artifacts and recognition. There were a few places where my historic sensibilities were trampled on. (You do not just "park" a horse and carriage overnight while you're off canoodling. I mean, maybe a groom was summoned to take care of them? But something it didn't get mentioned.) The conclusion seemed a bit contrived but overall I liked it.

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott -- (text) I have no idea how Elliott managed to pack so much plot and worldbuilding into one tiny novella! Secondary-world quest fantasy with a very relatable protagonist and lots of peril. There are unexpected and satisfying twists. I really hope this is a set-up for more fiction in this world.

The Tapestry of Time by Kate Heartfield -- (audio) Historic fantasy set during World War II focused around the war efforts of a family with various psychic powers who are connected in some way to the Bayeux Tapestry. Told through multiple viewpoints, the novel gradually builds up a fragmentary picture of how all the parts relate until it all comes together. There’s a fair amount of violence and peril, as one might expect in a wartime espionage story, but the ending is satisfying. A strongly woman-centered story with positive queer rep (and resolution). Heartfield writes dense, twisty books that can take some concentration but I’ve enjoyed every one that I’ve tackled.

Murder by Post by Rachel Ford -- (text) This fairly short story introduces the continuing detective couple, Meredith and Alec Thatch, set in the wake of World War I in England. Alec is passing as a man in order for them to marry, but is not presented as transgender as far as I can tell. This adds an extra element of risk and danger when the resident of a neighboring flat is found dead with signs of poison. This is a classic cozy-style mystery, with lots of clues and red herrings, allowing the reader to think just one step ahead of the characters. This initial story—really just a novelette—is free on the author’s website. I hope that some day she’ll decide to release the rest of the series more widely than just Kindle Unlimited. It deserves a wider audience. It's really testing my resolve not to buy Amazon-only books unless I'm committed to doing a review.

In August I started two long-term reading projects. Having enjoyed the tv adaptation of the first Murderbot book, I decided to give the series another try (after having bounced off one of the middle books). And I've been enjoying Rachel Fraimow and Emily Tesh's podcast, The Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones so much I decided to do a (possibly non-exhaustive) reading project of Jones's books. I have twelve of her books on my shelves, though I'm not entirely certain I've read all of them, and I hadn't quite connected up which ones were in series and what order they came in. Having very belatedly acquired a local library card, I've been taking advantage of Libby audiobooks to tackle these two projects, which spaces them out nicely, given wait times.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Artificial Condition by Martha Wells -- (audio) It's hard to evaluate the first book separate from having seen the tv series first. It was interesting both how closely the series followed the plot and the places it diverged. Having more details on all the characters (and there are a lot of them for a novella), the story began to grow on my seriously by the second book. It helped that it didn't feel like it was wall-to-wall combat scenes like my first (out of order) encounter with the series. Artificial Condition had a more mystery-like plot, which I enjoyed.

A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones -- (audio) Young adult. This seems to be a very typical Jones set-up: a disfunctional family with the least-regarded kid as the protagonist. (That's all my notes say. I confess that some of her books have now run into each other in my memory.)

Oops, almost forgot one of my August books!

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie -- (audio) A short fiction collection, with some stories tying in to her Imperial Radch universe and others feeling like they're part of some other connected setting. Leckie writes the most vivid and believable truly alien characters I've encountered since back when I was reading a lot of C.J. Cherryh in the '90s. The title story is a great example.

On Audiobooks

One of the things I cut back on in preparation for my retirement was my Audible subscription. (I had the three-books-a-month level.) That's changed my audiobook consumption somewhat. What I borrow from Libby is a bit random, not simply because I tend to only put one book at a time on my wait list, rather than having several lined up in Audible, but because the types of books available are different. As I've previously mentioned, I've also been buying audiobooks from Chirp, but primarily using it for random discovery within their sale books. When I decide to outright buy a audiobook these days, I'll try Apple Books first (because: Amazon). Very much like my approach to ebooks, I dislike having books on multiple platforms because I lose track of what's where. But I can't really escape that, alas.

Why do I do so much of my reading in audio? Mostly because I do so much print and e-text reading for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project. Also, between bicycling a couple hours a day and yard work, I have a lot of contexts when I can multi-task audio. Another factor is my aging eyes. When I'm focusing on something close up for an extended period of time--whether it's my LHMP reading, or needlework, or whatever, my eyes take up to an hour to recover and be able to focus at other distances properly. It's annoying. And I can't avoid it for the LHMP work. Audio avoids adding annoyance. (Unintentional alliteration.)

Anyway, enough for now. Tomorrow I'll do my Inventing the Renaissance review, which I plan to post widely. When I first started doing this catch-up book posts, I also disseminated them to several review sites, but that got a bit exhausting and awkward. (I discovered that there's a limit to how many book reviews you can post to Amazon on a single day. A good thing, probably, but hard to keep track of when I'm doing catch-up reviews.)

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http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2025/12/webtoons-revisited.html

It's been years and years since I last went trawling for webcomics worth reading, so it's time for an update: obviously online search is pretty much useless, but we ought to be able to crowdsource something here.

I keep a separate browser window for webcomics; here's a selection of my currently-open tabs, excluding syndicated stuff that shows up in newspapers. (So no "This Modern World" or "The Far Side".) What am I ignoring? Preferably new in the past decade, which rules out old-timers like "Digger" or "Girl Genius" (arguably I should have ommitted QC and xkcd too, but they're favourites of mine).

Questionable Content has been first on my daily reading list for a long time ... almost 20 years? It's Jeff Jacques' "internet comic strip about friendship, romance, and robots ... set in the present day and pretty much the same as our own except there are robots all over the place and giant space stations." And more plot threads than I can possibly summarize, given that it's a sprawling soap opera unfolding at roughly 250 strips per year.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal which, despite the name, comes out almost every day, is the antithesis of QC: every daily strip is a standalone, and it has an alarming tendency to lob philosophical hand grenades at entire fields of scientific endeavour. By Zack Weinersmith, who's also written some good books.

xkcd is the third classic, by sometime NASA robot guy Randal Munroe; like SMBC it tends to focus on the sciences, with a distinctly whimsical take on things. Should need no introduction, but if you don't already know, it's where those stick figure science comics come from ...

Kill Six Billion Demons Less of a single strip at a time webcomic and more of an episodic graphic novel, KSBD is distinctly Japanese/Hindu/Chinese/Hellish in tone: it seems to follow the travails of an American female student called Alison who winds up in hell, befriends demons, gets caught up in a holy war to end the universe, and ascends towards godhood, but that's kind of selling it short. Come for the amazing artwork, stay for the batshit theology. By Abbadon.

Pepper & Carrot by David Revoy is thematically the exact antithesis of KSBD: P&C is set in a very kitsch, cozy, D&D style generic fantasy world. Pepper is a young and less-than-competent student of witchcraft, and Carrot is her one-brain-cell ginger cat (and hapless familiar): they get in trouble a lot. (Spin-offs: if you want to dip in to a one-shot rather than a serial, there's Mini-Fantasy Theatre--same character but every story is self-contained.)

Runaway to the Stars is an extremely crunchy hard SF slice-of-life serial by Jay Eaton, following Talita (an alien centaur-oid alien fostered by humans) and her friends. Did I say "crunchy"? The world-building is extreme. (And you'll never think catgirls are sexy again!)

Phobos and Deimos A differently-crunchy solarpunk story about a girl from Mars who, exiled by an invasion, ends up as a refugee on Earth, where she has to make a new life for herself and grapple with the culture shock of attending high school in Antarctica as a 'fugee.

RuriDragon an online manga set in a Japanese high school, following student Ruri Aoki, who wakes up one day and notices horns have started growing from her head. When she asks her mother about it, mum confesses that her father was a dragon ... RuriDragon was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in 2022; this is an unofficial fan translation. (It follows Japanese formatting conventions, so read it from the top down and right-to-left or the dialog won't make much sense.)

SideQuested by AlePresser & K.B. Spangler is a web serial/graphic novel in progress set in a slightly less generic fantasy realm than Pepper & Carrot (this one shows some signs of Xianxia/cultivation influences). It focusses on the adventures of an extremely sensible level-headed librarian-in-training girl named Charlie, who clearly has absolutely no magical abilities whatsoever--until one day her absentee father turns up with some unexpected news: he's the King's Champion, her mother is a foreign princess, and she's needed at Court because the King's head-in-the-clouds son Prince Leopold is being a problem and her father needs her to sort him out in a hurry ...

Eldritch Darling Nothing to see here, just your usual webcomic about an eldritch horror from beyond spacetime who falls in love with a lesbian. H. P. Lovecraft would not approve!

Unspeakable Vault of Doom is an irregular series of extremely goofy web strips that H. P. Lovecraft would definitely disapprove of, not least because he occasionally features in it, along with his more notorious creations!

Finally, two from the cheesecake dimension:

Oglaf is almost invariably NSFW, rude, and very, very funny. Weekly, started out 20 years ago as an attempt to do bad D&D porn then kind of wandered off topic, and these days there's only about an 80% probability that any given weekly strip will include explicit sex scenes, stabbings, or jokes.

Grrl Power (Caution: author has a severe male gaze problem) As the "about" page says: A comic about super heroines. Well there are guys too but mostly it's about the girls. Doing the things that super powered girls do. Fighting crime, saving the world, dating, shopping, etc. There are also explosions, cheesecake, beefcake, heroes and villains, angels and demons, cyborgs, probably ninjas, and definitely aliens. Lots and lots of aliens. Some of whom are only visiting Earth as sex tourists ...

And that's my round-up!

Your turn. What web comics do you frequent new webcomics that aren't on this list?

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2025/12/webtoons-revisited.html

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https://oliveoctopus.ink/videogames.htm

Video Games

December 26th, 2025

A square, white PC enclosure with windows on the front and side with colorful RGB fans and cpu cooling unit, and a Steam Deck portable game console.

I reside in both digital and analog worlds. I've been glued to a computer since the 90s but have always taken notes, made lists, etc. on paper. My cell phone has a built-in stylus that I use to jot down handwritten notes on the screen when I'm not connecting with online communities via Discord, Twitch, YouTube, or social media. My day job is building things for the web and I genuinely love using HTML and CSS, but in my free time I write for this site about using analog tools while using analog tools (at least for first drafts). I love card and board games, but finding people and time to play those can be a challenge so I've spent more time playing video games.

Growing up I had brief access to my cousins' original Nintendo NES console and then later my family got the N64, but I've mostly played games on the PC—and I still have a box of game discs from the 90s into the early 2010s. Three games I remember playing in my teens that stick out as favorites are Myst, The Journeyman Project Trilogy, and Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" (did I invent achievements when I put a gold star on the case of this one after finishing it?). I definitely had a notebook to take puzzle-related notes while playing the Myst series.

Boxes and jewel cases with discs for various old computer games featuring The Journeyman Project Trilogy, Star Trek The Next Generation 'A Final Unity', and Myst in the foreground, with Riven, Myst III, King's Quest, The X Files, Witcher 2, and three World of Warcraft expansions in the background.

I'll play a range of games but the ones that stand out for me are likely to be very strong in at least one of these areas: good puzzles (or a unique game mechanic), artistic style, and story. I think being drawn to stories is a pretty universal human trait, but I'm particularly fascinated with the art of storytelling—how information and story elements are relayed and emotional, intellectual, even physical responses are created in the audience (in this case, the player).

Video games are complex, multi-media experiences with so many layers—the visual design of the world, characters, and user interface; the use of color, lighting, music, ambient sound, and sound effects to set a mood; the writing and delivery of story elements via text on screen or vocal performances; the game mechanics, puzzles, and interactions—that (should) all come together to tell a cohesive story, but unlike with movies, tv, etc. the player also becomes an active participant in the telling of the story.

This year I've barely played games, but every time discussions of games come up I remember those that have stuck with me years later and I long to experience the next game that will join that list. These are games on that list, in no particular order, that went beyond being a way to pass the time. Here's my challenge though—one common thread in why I love these games is how important the journey of discovery and surprise as the games reveal what they are was to my experience, so I have to walk a thin line to share a bit of what made the game special without ruining that first-play-through experience. These are games I would erase from my memory just to experience for the first time again if I could.

Puzzle
The Witness

You find yourself alone on a strange, colorful island presented with increasingly complex puzzles to solve. You learn the “language” of the game and puzzle mechanics entirely by doing—wandering around, observing and interacting with the world. There's not much in the way of story or plot, the goal is to discover and solve all the puzzles. Unlocking each new layer of complexity gets increasingly difficult but when you get it, when you see it—it's very satisfying.

Screenshot of a video game showing a lush garden of trees and plants with screens and cables for puzzles.

I still have not 100%-ed this game, but I keep going back year after year to get a little closer.

Puzzle Platformer
Portal

In Portal you are given a tool that feels like a cheat to simply bypass traditional platformer puzzles, but then must use this "cheat" to do what would otherwise be impossible as you work your way through a series of test chambers as a human lab rat. This game challenges you to rethink "platformers" and leverage physics, with a generous helping of snarky humor.

Screenshot of a video game showing an experiment test chamber and a gun that can make oval portals in the walls.

My first experience of this game was sitting on the couch watching another person play it, and to minimize spoilers let's just say the story took a turn and we both stayed up late to finish the game in one sitting. The sequel to this game, Portal 2, is a more elaborate two-player co-op game that we played together. I had a moment when I realized that Portal was released nearly two decades ago, but I think both of these games hold up.

If you like the vibes of Portal, also check out The Stanley Parable which is set in an office environment and has less platforming and more story.

A round two-layer cake covered in chocolate frosting and decorated with a circle of cherries on circles of white frosting with a lit candle in the middle.

My 40th birthday, IYKYK.

RPG (Role-Playing Game)
Disco Elysium

This game is gritty and grim, but the aesthetics, writing, and interesting mechanic of including dice checks in conversation and actions drew me in. The role playing elements and skill tree are unlike anything I've ever seen. It's not a game for everyone, but those in for a dark, twisted, philosophical journey from writers who relish a playful use of language, internal monologue, and storytelling might enjoy it too.

Screenshot of a video game showing two characters standing on a snowy street in front of a building.

Adventure Puzzle
Journey

This game is aptly named—designed to only take a few hours with relatively simple controls so the entire story arc can be experienced in one sitting. A completely unexpected surprise detail in this game turned my playthrough into a uniquely memorable experience. I won't say any more, if you're intrigued the game is worth a few hours of time to go on the journey and hopefully experience the magic of it like I did. This was a Playstation exclusive for a long time, but I finally got the chance to play once it was available on Windows (it's also on iOS).

Screenshot of a video game showing a character in a robe standing in the desert with a stone structure off in the distance and several short thin items sticking out of the sand.

Action-Adventure Puzzle
Tunic

This game feels nostalgic, often compared to Zelda, yet not quite like games I've played before. It's challenging, but rewarding, and I couldn't put it down.

Screenshot of a video game showing a small humanoid fox wearing a tunic and scarf next to a series of stairs and ramps leading up the edge of a hill.

Roguelike Deckbuilder
Inscryption

A horror card game? Yes, but that's just the beginning. The horror themes are certainly a reason to pass on this one, but this is one of the most unique games I've ever played, and I don't want to say any more than that.

Screenshot of a video game showing hand of cards with animals on them, a metal scale and bell, spots to place cards outlined on the table, and an ominous pair of eyes in the darkness on the far side of the table.

This game made me realize that I should try the Slay the Spire, a more straightforward roguelike deckbuilder. Balatro is another excellent game in this genre that I've spent many hours playing, especially once it was also released on mobile.

Puzzle Platformer
Animal Well

I fell down the well for many hours until I completed the primary narrative (and some of the extras) of this game. This game is beautifully designed and draws you in to explore with interesting puzzles and platforming mechanics.

Screenshot of a video game showing a dark, underground 2D world with steps and ladders on areas of ground surrounded by water and a small round character jumping up the stairs.

Story-Rich Walking Simulator
What Remains of Edith Finch

The "walking simulator" genre is where games become an interactive story and your actions may not affect the outcome of the story, but the experience of a story is much more visceral as you step into the shoes of the character(s). In this game you flow through the tragic stories of each member of a "cursed" family with some of the most artistic storytelling I've ever experienced.

Screenshot of a video game showing a large, strange house with a tall tower on one side and text hovering above the roof that says 'The house was exactly like I remembered it. The way I'd been dreaming about it.'

Firewatch is another popular "walking simulator" interactive story game worth checking out.

Honorable Mentions

In the interest of actually getting this post published sometime this century, I can't include every game I've ever enjoyed—but here are a few more that stood out as I scrolled through my Steam library.

Sagrada - a digital version of my favorite board game, also available on mobile, which includes a daily challenge mode.
Dorfromantic - a simple but surprisingly engaging puzzle game with cozy vibes.
Stray - be a stray cat exploring a city of robots.
Control - I don't go for a lot of "shooty" games but this adds supernatural powers within an interesting world that I really enjoyed.
Dredge - chill fishing game... until the sun goes down and things start getting weird.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure - I love the PlayStation exclusive Little Big Planet series of platformers featuring the adorable Sackboy (and excellent music), but this spinoff is also available on PC.
The Room (series) - solve elaborate puzzle boxes and escape-room-like environments (originally released on mobile platforms).
Gorogoa, Maquette, and The Bridge - interesting, artsy puzzle games.

On Deck
The "To Be Played" Queue

What's on deck (in this case, a Steam Deck) for me as I hope to spend a little time gaming during time off for the holidays at the end of the year? There are dozens of unplayed or unfinished games in my Steam library, but these three games are at the top of the list.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Sometimes I start hearing about a game in a certain way that catches my attention as potentially something special—so I'll get the game and go in with as little knowledge as possible to let the game show me what it is. This is one of those games.
Ōkami HD
This is an older game (first released in 2006, the HD version in 2017) that missed my radar but was recommended to me recently by a co-worker. Again I've purposefully avoided learning too much about it beyond it's an action-adventure game with a beautiful Sumi-e ink art style.
Blue Prince
I've started this game (released earlier this year), but haven't gotten too deep into it yet. This is another game that I went into knowing very little other than it was a puzzle game, I hope it's one that will end up on my list of memorable games. I am using a notebook and multi-pen with this one.

https://oliveoctopus.ink/videogames.htm

Jules Jones

Yog's Law: Money flows towards the author

Booklog 97/2025: Sean Oswald: Induction - Welcome to the Multiverse #1 – Audiobook

Booklog 96/2025: Andrzej Sapkowski: The Last Wish – Witcher #1 – Audiobook

Booklog 95/2025: Sarah Painter: The Book Keeper – Unholy Island #2 – Audiobook

Booklog 94/2025: Sarah Painter: The Ward Witch – Unholy Island #1 – Audiobook

Booklog 93/2025: J N Chaney & Scott Moon: The Last Reaper – Last Reaper #1

Booklog 92/2025: Una McCormack: The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway – Audiobook

Books I've Read: Book of the Year

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Final photos for the weekly alphabet challenge

Final photos for the weekly alphabet challenge

TSA2025

Reading notes, week 52

A Change of Process

Fears And Hates (Ultimate X‑Men, volume 1) by Peach Momoko

Books Received, December 20 — December 26

Between Christmas and New Year

Between Christmas and New Year

Books I've Read: May, June, July, August 2025

Webtoons revisited

Video Games

Video Games

Puzzle
The Witness

Puzzle Platformer
Portal

RPG (Role-Playing Game)
Disco Elysium

Adventure Puzzle
Journey

Action-Adventure Puzzle
Tunic

Roguelike Deckbuilder
Inscryption

Puzzle Platformer
Animal Well

Story-Rich Walking Simulator
What Remains of Edith Finch

Honorable Mentions

On Deck
The "To Be Played" Queue

Profile

December 2025

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Yog's Law: Money flows *towards* the author

Video Games

Puzzle The Witness

Puzzle Platformer Portal

RPG (Role-Playing Game) Disco Elysium

Adventure Puzzle Journey

Action-Adventure Puzzle Tunic

Roguelike Deckbuilder Inscryption

Puzzle Platformer Animal Well

Story-Rich Walking Simulator What Remains of Edith Finch

Honorable Mentions

On Deck The "To Be Played" Queue

Links

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

Yog's Law: Money flows towards the author

Puzzle
The Witness

Puzzle Platformer
Portal

RPG (Role-Playing Game)
Disco Elysium

Adventure Puzzle
Journey

Action-Adventure Puzzle
Tunic

Roguelike Deckbuilder
Inscryption

Puzzle Platformer
Animal Well

Story-Rich Walking Simulator
What Remains of Edith Finch

On Deck
The "To Be Played" Queue