Why this nine-book series sets itself up as one of the best of all time — “Things change, and they don’t change back,” one character remarks to another in the book Nemesis Games. Given that this quote occurs roughly halfway through the nine-book series of The Expanse, and comes right in the middle of even more change that its speaker had no way of anticipating, it’s…

Lessons for the Church from Jay Kim’s Analog Christianity — Earlier this year, I read Jay Kim’s Analylog Christianity, a pastor’s assessment on the perils facing Christianity in the digital age. Kim’s assessment of the online world is precise and wise; his unsurprising argument is that the Church needs less of it. …

Organized ramblings on the many, many dangers of AI — I’ve encountered every possible reaction under the sun to ChatGPT’s emergence around the beginning of the year. As an educator, the one I’m most familiar with is revulsion at its use as a teaching tool (a sentiment that I share completely). …

The end of this trilogy lived up to his high standards — In early May, Adrian Tchaikovsky released Lords of Uncreation, the conclusion to his Final Architecture trilogy that started with Shards of Earth (which I penned a few words about) in 2021. …

While not quite the masterpiece that its predecessor was, ‘Ragnarök’ is a worthy conclusion to Kratos’s Norse saga — I’ve reached the point in my life where I have to pick and choose the video games that I invest in carefully. I only have time to play a few a year, especially given the increasingly long play times of each new blockbuster release. …

The album is comfortable and competent, if a bit underwhelming — The indie rock scene of the 2000s through early 2010s was filled with dozens of interesting bands; stalwarts like Death Cab For Cutie, Arcade Fire, or the Decemberists defined the genre and inspired legions of followers. But for countless fans, there’s no band that has stood quite as tall as…

Why The Valley of Vision is worth a listen — It’s impossible to overstate how much Spotify has changed the music industry, and nowhere is this more evident than in artists’ choices of how to release their music. The album as a project form very much still exists, but more and more musicians release songs by themselves every year. …

Why this indie-focused site is still a viable alternative to Spotify Like many of the people who are roughly my age, I grew up using an iPod that boasted a carefully curated music library. I was perhaps slightly more selective than most with the music that I listened to —…

The songs, albums, and artists that stuck with me this year — I used to make a habit of writing a blog post with my favorite albums of the year. I didn’t listen to that much new music in 2022 though, so I’m going to highlight a few songs and albums I loved from the last 12 months. Take a look below: Best Album: …