Hey friends!
It’s that one waiter who immediately understands your dietary restrictions and has solid answers to all your questions AND double checks with the kitchen, Sam Cote, here with the TENTH installment of Weekly Favorites! Big milestone, I know.
What I’m Reading: Still working through The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson #3)! Usually Percy Jackson books take me about 4 days to finish, but with the massive schedule changes school presents, I’m still figuring it out. It’s mildly frustrating, knowing what my pace was before, but I’m reminding myself that this isn’t a race.
What I’m Listening To: I started listening to the Ring Shout audiobook by P. Djeli Clark on Libby. I saw it in a bookstore in early 2020 (its cover is eye-catching and provocative), and mostly forgot about it until it won the Nebula award for best novella, the Locus award for best novella, and the British Fantasy Award for best novella. The book is a dark historical fantasy/southern gothic fantasy, in which we follow Maryse Boudreaux and her ragtag band of monster hunters– the monsters in question are demonic klan members (a curse transmitted by the film The Birth of a Nation) that transform into fantasy beasts from hell. As expected, it has an intense plot and message, and is deeply allegorical; Djeli makes space for joy and love in this narrative in ways that I didn’t anticipate based on the synopsis. The fantasy elements are done with rare finesse, which makes me want to pick up more of Djeli’s work. Can’t wait to read the rest of Ring Shout!
What I’m Watching: The Rings of Power! I’m absolutely loving it so far. I’m familiar with a few of the characters (Galadriel, Elrond, and Durin) from the Peter Jackson adaptations and their appearances in The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, so it’s been interesting to see them in the Second Age. Knowing where they end up in the Third age (when LOTR takes place) is making me quite excited for their arcs in this show. Almost all the plot threads have me hooked already, and I’m curious to see how they’ll begin interconnecting (some are more clear than others in this regard). I like that I don’t have to justify the show the way I do with The House of the Dragon— it relies on violence and real world problems to the point that it runs the risk glorifying them (intentionally or not). GoT and HotD are grimdark fantasy, but Martin’s approach is not the norm for the genre, nor the most effective (see Ring Shout above, or The First Law Trilogy in previous blog posts). The Rings of Power is a lot easier to love in that regard– it’s not grimdark, so the only reason I’m comparing the two is that they’re being released simultaneously. I’m glad that this show feels like its set in Middle Earth. One major concern for fans of the Peter Jackson films was whether Amazon would be able to capture the vastness and magical atmosphere that Jackson was– so far, I’m definitely satisfied. To hear more details about this, definitely check out Daniel Greene’s spoiler-free review of the first two episodes. I’m a big fan so far, and will continue watching from the edge of my seat!
What I’m Making: Currently working on starting my first D&D campaign as the dungeon master! I’ve got a great party of five brand new players chomping at the bit and excited to get it rolling, and I’m excited to learn alongside them. We’re running The Lost Mine of Phandelver, so if you have any tips for that shoot me a message on Instagram!
How I Slow Down & Unplug: I’ve been doodling more recently! In class, out of class, when I should be doing homework, all the time.
samdcote.com 