Occasionally, I’ll find myself chatting with friends and colleagues about the latest books I’ve read, movies I’ve watched, or games I’ve played. Often, these conversations lead to the other person asking me for more details about the media I’ve consumed, however, I’ve found that I’m usually unable to articulate the plot. I remember little of the details, but rather the way it made me feel – I either enjoyed it, or I didn’t. Naturally, this doesn’t make for a very convincing recommendation.
My partner often watches me play video games and sometimes I will go back and replay them after a few years and it’s a whole new experience for me again whilst she will recognise places and remember story beats. It’s a double-edged sword since I get to enjoy the story again.
I was a voracious reader as a child, to the point where my parents and teachers demanded that I write a book report for each book I read – partially, in hopes of slowing me down from reading everything they had, but mainly for me to prove that I’d retained what I’d read. Back then, I do think I retained stories a lot better and I even wanted to write my own, inspired by the authors I’d read.
In order to try and remember some of the media I’ve consumed this year, I’m going to grab the list of games and books out of my various tracking apps and write a blurb of what I can remember of the story (without Googling!) and my “review” of it to see if anything still exists in there except the vibe.
Spoilers ahead. You have been warned
Games
Minit
Minit is a cute little indie game (black and white?) in which you have one minute to solve puzzles before you die. There are lots of save points so that you can respawn closer to your destination each time. I ended up using a guide to finish the game, but it was a super cool concept and a nice quick finish/play.
Evil West
I’ll be honest, I remember very little about Evil West. There were vampires and the main antagonist was a female vampire that took the form of a little girl. Super creepy. The graphics were stunning and I enjoyed the combat mechanics. The entire game was extremely linear and it reminded me of the style of games that were popular in the early 2010s – not that that’s a bad thing, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
Ghost of Tsushima
Of the 85 hours I poured into this game, only half belonged to me as this game was shared with my partner. She doesn’t play many console games due to having trouble coordinating the analog sticks, so the shared experience was special. Without Googling, I could not tell you the name of the main character however, I recall the main beats of the story being that the Mongols have invaded the island of Tsushima (set in feudal Japan), causing massive losses in the opening battle of the game.
Your character (later, The Ghost) barely survives this battle and is nursed back to health by Yuna (a peasant?) who is looking for her brother (a blacksmith). The Ghost then begins down a path that your uncle (head of your samurai clan) strongly disapproves of as you utilise deception and subterfuge tactics to gain the upper hand over the Mongols.
Toem
Toem was another cute little indie game and I remember this one was definitely black and white! I played the bulk of this game while my partner was attending a retro computing fair in June. In Toem, your grandmother sends you out with a camera to go forth and experience Toem. Traveling through several zones, you receive quests from various quirky characters to take photos of things around you. It’s a top-down style game but once you’re in camera mode, it turns to 3D, so I guess you’d call it 2.5D? I really enjoyed this game and only used a guide to get 100% once I’d exhausted my ideas.
Dave the Diver
Another fairly casual game. The plot of this one revolves around the Blue Hole which is a deep part of the ocean which is inhabited by all kinds of sea life – even ones that wouldn’t be native to the (unidentified) area.
Your job as Dave is to plumb the depths of the Blue Hole during the day to bring back the finest fresh fish for Bancho to cook up in his sushi restaurant at night. There’s just enough variance in the gameplay for it to stay interesting. Sometimes you will encounter cooking minigames in the restaurant or quests to assist the mysterious Sea People. The game also features a colourful cast of characters such as hypocritical ecowarriors, quirky scientists, neckbeard weapons specialists, and pettable cats. I sunk 33 hours into this game and would recommend it as one of those cozy games people play casually, it was extremely easy to jump in and out of.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
I played Kena over the course of about a year, I put it down for a long time but when I picked it up again, the focus was on completion. The story is kind of hard to explain because I don’t feel like I grasped it fully… but basically, you play as Kena, who is a spirit guide. From what I can tell, her job is to help spirits pass onto the other side by completing their unfinished business. She does this with the help of the Rot (which are super cute!) which can distract enemies, pick up objects, and fit through tight spaces. There are many different things to collect including hats for your Rot to wear and the combat is deceptively challenging for such a cute game. I enjoyed this game though, the puzzles were just the right difficulty for me and not too hidden for the most part (though I did use a guide to find all the collectibles) and the combat was responsive and fun with the Rot adding an extra layer of complexity.
Spider-Man 2
This one is your typical Marvel fare. There’s a reason I’m not including TV and movies in this post and that’s because I watched the Deadpool vs Wolverine movie at the start of the month and despite enjoying it immensely, I remember very little of substance (also, I don’t track my TV and movies so I’ve probably watched a whole bunch of stuff that I don’t remember the name of, let alone the plot).
But anyway, Peter Parker and Miles Morales are back and the story seems to be focused on balance – balance between the characters you control for the main story quests and balance between life as Spider-Man and civilian life. They do an excellent job of not making it feel too much like one character’s game over the other. The gameplay is typical of the last two games but with the addition of extra powers for both Spider-Men (and no, having more than one does not get less confusing).
The main antagonists in the game are Kraven and Venom. I’ll be honest, up until Venom appeared, I thought for sure that Kraven was going to be the big bad final boss in the game. I played the game twice through – once on normal mode taking my time and once on New Game+ speedrunning through for the final trophy.
The collectibles were a lot more closely tied into the story than some of the previous games with main quests unlocking additional collectibles, so for me, most of those story quests were interleaved with completing all of the collectibles before moving on. There is only one trial-style collectible in this game and thankfully they were not as hard as some of the ones in previous games, though one or two did make me briefly consider throwing my controller.
I loved the new traversal mechanics in this game because they’ve added a wingsuit that makes it trivial to get around New York City. The combat mechanics are much the same as the other two games without too much innovation to be found here. The story was interesting enough and it ended on a note that I feel like the next game might be Miles only.
Books
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
This one was my second-ever audiobook! I have never really gone in for audiobooks since they need most of my attention to follow the story. My sister got me onto them when I drove to Dubbo (6 hours) for a holiday last year and ever since they’ve been my company on my work commute because the driving is just mindless enough for me to follow.
Mythos is exactly what it says in the title – a collection of Greek Myths retold by Stephen Fry. Unfortunately, this book is a prime example of my inability to recall media. I could not tell you of a single myth from this book that I remember, just that Stephen Fry’s witticisms are sprinkled throughout, and holy crap, Sisyphus is a dick who totally deserved his punishment.
I felt that this book did fill a lot of gaps for other media I’d consumed and I started seeing a lot of references to Greek mythology elsewhere. This may be one of those things where I can’t actively recall the knowledge until something specifically triggers the neural pathway for it – this often seems to be the way of things when I’m learning. Either way, I enjoyed this book – the short chapters made it perfect for commuting and Stephen Fry is a delight to listen to.
On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
My partner owns a whole bunch of 80s and 90s fantasy novels and I decided I wanted to read one, so this was the one she helped me pick out. On A Pale Horse is a story about a down-on-his-luck man named Zane. If I recall correctly, he’s a photographer, a compulsive gambler, and assisted his mother in suicide (a sin in this universe). Near the start of the book, he attempts suicide and has his finger on the trigger when Death appears – through sheer power of will, he turns the gun and shoots Death, thus managing to appoint himself to the office.
The remainder of the book focuses on Zane atoning for what he’s done so that he can correct the balance of his soul – though during his probation period as Death, his soul is in perfect balance, meaning if he dies, he goes to purgatory. This is a concept that holds throughout the book as he encounters a magician’s daughter, whose name escapes me, and the Devil tries repeatedly to kill her.
This was one of those books that benefited from reading Mythos beforehand since Greek mythology is heavily referenced and the Fates in their Greek forms appear. The plot of this story was fairly compelling and it was a concept I hadn’t seen before, but the way that Piers Anthony talks about women did give me the ick. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would like to read the next in the series at some point.
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett
I’ve been slowly working through the Discworld novels for some years now. I’m a bit of a seasonal reader, tending to consume more books in winter and not reading for long periods but this is book 10 in the series, so at least I’ve broken double digits!
I cannot recall the names of the main characters in this book. Anyway, the story begins in Ankh-Morpork (as many of these novels do), where traveling alchemists are exhibiting their latest invention – Moving Pictures. A budding wizard from the Unseen University who has been purposely putting off passing his apprenticeship for years is entranced by the concept and it’s off to Holy Wood he goes.
The book is full of references to the movies and Holy Wood is a pretty obvious pun. The ex-wizard makes a name for himself in the Moving Pictures alongside his attractive female co-star. I am a bit fuzzy on the details leading up to the climax in which it’s discovered that the moving pictures are negatively affecting reality. Ultimately, things happen and the Moving Pictures are banned from the Discworld by the wizards of the Unseen University. Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, who appears in many of these novels features heavily as well as a director of moving pictures and the characterisation is on point.
So, whilst I did that plot outline no favours, I think this was one of my favourite Discworld novels so far. The pacing was just right and some of the references were hilarious such as the inclusion of a talking dog that has a friendly rivalry with a famous golden dog called Laddie (definitely not Lassie).
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Cozy fiction! I was originally going to listen to this one in audiobook format however, I struggled to understand the narrator (who I think is the author himself), so I ended up buying this and the sequel in paperback.
This book follows the story of Viv the orc, an ex-mercenary pursuing a different life outside of adventuring after having been in the game for many years. She obtains a scalvert’s stone which is said to bestow the “ring of fortune” upon all the possessor’s undertakings and sets off to open a coffee shop.
We meet many fantasy races along the way and Viv partners with Tandri, the succubus, to run her shop. The shop is a great success as many in the city have never tried coffee before (a gnomish invention) and as the story progresses, baked goods are added to the menu, and other ideas are implemented such as reusable cups and so on. It’s not long however before one of Viv’s former mercenary crew catches wind of her new enterprise and sets about trying to sabotage it. The coffee shop is burnt to the ground and Viv briefly loses hope before her friends rally around her to rebuild.
I enjoyed Legends and Lattes, it was such a chill read and the plot was a new concept to me. I liked the flip on the usual fantasy narrative and while it was slow to get to the climax of the plot, I think that suited the style of the book.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Another audiobook, this one mostly kept me company when I drove to see my family in April. I believe the audiobook was voiced by the actors from the TV show, though I haven’t watched it yet. It follows the story of Crowley and Aziraphale, who are an Earth-based demon and angel respectively, who are trying to prevent the rise of the anti-Christ and end of the world as they know it since that would upset the comfortable lives they lead on Earth.
Beyond that, I can’t remember the particulars of what happened. A lot of it revolves around a book possessed by a witch named Anathema Device written by one of her relatives (great-great-grandmother?) called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. Overall, I liked it, but I don’t think it’s my favourite of Terry Pratchett’s work (and I haven’t read enough of Neil Gaiman to comment), though I do need to get around to watching the TV show.
Bookshops and Bonedust
The sequel to Legends and Lattes which is actually a prequel, follows the story of one of Viv’s first forays into mercenary work. She is injured in the opening of the story, taking a near-fatal wound to the leg, and is forced to recover in a small, boring coastal town to await their return. Near the beginning of her stay, she discovers a bookshop owned by a ratkin named Fern and they become fast friends. Fern loans books to Viv in exchange for building hype and helping out around the store. There is an underlying plot of necromancy, but it feels much more secondary to the happenings of the bookshop, I felt that the intrigue/secondary plot was not as well integrated into this book as it was in the first one.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first one, but it had enough to keep me going. The main thing I liked about it was that it filled in many gaps in Viv’s character that the first book did not cover.
I am technically skipping a book here because I did not understand it. It was a 335-page slog called The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag by Robert Rankin and I realised afterward that it was part of a series… not that I think it would’ve made much more sense
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Another Discworld novel. Death realises that he is running out of time and so he retires from his position to work on a farm, doing odd jobs and harvesting the wheat (because he’s a natural with a scythe). The book follows the perspective of both Death and Windle Poons, who is a senior (in both senses) wizard at the Unseen University.
Windle dies, is buried, but then wakes up as a zombie of sorts and has to relearn how to control himself, but once that occurs, he is completely able-bodied again. He is shunned by his fellow wizards and joins a support group for the undead.
I read this book quite quickly and I think that was to my detriment because I don’t remember much of the plot and very little of the resolution except that everything returns to normal at the end. It was not my favourite Terry Pratchett novel but still enjoyable.
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
This one was another audiobook, which I started in April and finished in June. The book is part of a series set in space, a few hundred years after Earth has colonised the Asteroid Belt (and surrounding moons/planets), and follows the stories of Detective Miller and James Holden.
Detective Miller is assigned a missing persons case to track down a Martian girl named Julie Mao. She has fallen in with the Outer Planets Alliance, a body that advocates for the rights of those born and occupying The Belt as they are resource-poor and are physically weaker due to growing up in low gravity. His path eventually crosses with James Holden who was working on an ice hauler called the Canterbury when it was blown up by an unknown ship. During his investigations, he discovers Martian technology in the spaceship that Julie Mao had been traveling in and broadcasts an accusation that starts a war between Earth and Mars. However, it transpires that the entire thing was initiated by a corporation called Protogen in pursuit of what is known as the protomolecule.
The protomolecule comes from before humans existed and was supposed to kick off the evolution of bacteria from the blueprint of an unknown alien race. Unfortunately, it was discovered by the unscrupulous Protogen who decided to experiment on the humans of Eros station and, since the molecule was not designed to deal with complex multi-cellular beings, the result is a crazy hivemind.
The climax of the story sees Detective Miller sacrificing himself to reason with the protomolecule-addled Julie Mao within the hivemind with them flying the space station to Venus to isolate themselves from the rest of humanity.
I’ll admit, this was a bit of a slog to get through because at first, I did not understand what was going on. However, I did read some of the book’s summary on Wikipedia and that helped. In the end, I did like this one, and as I’ve read some of the short stories and started on the second book, that has given me a better idea of the world where these events are taking place.
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
The final novel for the list is book 12 in the Discworld series which follows the three witches – Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg as they travel across the Discworld to prevent the marriage of a princess and thus the fulfillment of a story set in place by the witch Lily (which turns out to be Granny’s sister).
This book leverages all the fairytale tropes with a sprinkling of Terry Pratchett humour. Magrat is assigned fairy godmother and receives a wand however she never grasps how to do anything but turn objects into pumpkins
It is another one that I can’t recall the specifics of, I think because it’s one of those books where the main thing that’s happening is traveling with a few little things happening in between – kind of in the style of The Hobbit. I do know that I enjoyed this one, it was silly and funny but not memorable by any means.
Conclusion
This ended up waaaaay longer than I intended it to be but maybe I’ll try and get around to doing one of these every 3 months or so with what I’ve consumed in that time. Maybe, someday, I’ll fully remember the plots of the media I consume.
It has been super interesting to write this out and see which ones I could remember the best. Each of these is in order from oldest to most recent, so even though I’d read Witches Abroad most recently, it was one of the ones I remembered fewer details from. It’s also interesting that my enjoyment of a book didn’t seem to dictate whether I remember more or fewer details.
Anyway… here’s to trying to cure my story amnesia, one book report at a time.