Hello friends! Here’s an update on what’s been entertaining me lately.

Ahsoka. The Ahsoka series finished up a couple weeks ago to mixed reviews, from what I could see. I enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn’t perfect. I put forth my thoughts on it in my last post, which you can check out here.

Loki S2. After two long years, we finally got Season Two of Loki, and I was super-excited. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, after Sylvie pushed Loki through the time door and back to the TVA, only for him to find it changed–with Mobius not recognizing him and a Kang statue where the Timekeepers used to be.

The first episode “Ouroboros” was pretty good, with Loki running around time-slipping (something I didn’t completely understand, but okay); the introduction of Ouroboros, who is weird and adorable and a nice new addition; and the Time Council, who we hadn’t seen before, and who are dead set on finding Sylvie, who is now living happily in 1982 Oklahoma working at McDonald’s and doesn’t want to be bothered, thank you very much. A lot happened in this episode but I felt hopeful it was going to be a good season.

Episode Two, “Breaking Brad” kind of erased that, with Loki and Mobius finding and interrogating an AWOL TVA operative named Brad, who was living his best life being a famous actor and promoting his new movie “Zaniac.” They’re trying to find Sylvie, too, but Brad is being uncooperative and just generally a jerk, because….I don’t know why, really. But they find Sylvie, and she’s not happy and not willing to help with….something, I don’t know, I was really confused with this episode. Turns out the Time Council is trying to destroy the rogue time branches that have been popping up since Sylvie killed He Who Remains, and Loki, Mobius and Sylvie manage to stop them but not before they blow up quite a few. Anyway, Loki and Sylvie are, not exactly enemies again, but definitely not on the same page.

The first two episodes were entertaining, but not grabbing me the way the first season did. Season One was much more streamlined, with a clear story arc; this season seemed all over the place. I was feeling a little disappointed.

But Episode Three “1893” restored hope. Loki and Mobius are trying to fix the Temporal Loom, and for that they need Miss Minutes, who they assume is with Ravonna Renslayer. They find Renslayer in 1893 Chicago at the World’s Fair. She herself is trying to find a variant of He Who Remains, following the advice of Miss Minutes, who claims she knows his grand plans. They all find him in Victor Timely, a Kang variant who is displaying some time technology at the Fair (after receiving the TVA Guidebook as a kid from Renslayer anonymously at Miss Minute’s direction). The guy is just as strange as He Who Remains, a man with big dreams but without the technology needed to bring them to life. Basically he’s a con artist, but he does believe in his work. I feel kind of bad for this guy, with all these weirdos from the future showing up and wanting him for something or other. He seems innocent, but there are clues that his ambition will always come first, as seen when he throws Renslayer off the boat because he doesn’t do partnerships. Anyway, Loki and Sylvie are at odds again, fighting over the life of this variant; they all find him at his workshop and go at it again. This is after that wily Miss Minutes gets all creepy on him and declares her love for him. Sylvie nearly kills him, but Victor begs for his life (something He Who Remains didn’t do), and she decides to spare him. She tells Loki “Don’t make me regret this.” And oh, I think that’s where we’re headed. Victor goes with Loki and Mobius to the TVA to help with the Temporal Loom, and I think something Bad is going to happen, lol.

Anyway, faith restored in the series, and looking forward to the next episode.

Crimson Climb. I’ve been reading Crimson Climb by E.K. Johnston, a book about Qi’ra and how she became enmeshed in Crimson Dawn. In the movie Solo, we get Han’s story about what happened to him after they were caught in the spaceport, where he escaped and she didn’t. In this book we pick up there and see what happened to Qi’ra as she’s led back to the White Worms. It’s not pretty, and we see how she becomes the person we see later in the movie. She relies on no one anymore except herself, never trusting anyone, and always does what is best for her. Sounds like an awful person, but it’s what she needs to do to survive. She’s also very, very smart, and we see that in this book: how she rises in the ranks of Crimson Dawn. I’m not finished with the book, and it’s kind of stalled for me in the middle, but I’ll get back to it. I’ll give my thoughts on it, in a post I have planned outlining other Qi’ra-related content.

Octavia Butler books. I found these books at a favorite used bookstore the other day and decided to give them a go. Octavia Butler is a kind of pioneer in “Afrofuturism,” a popular genre of fantasy/science fiction written mostly by black women. I was first introduced to it in the book “Who Fears Death?” by Nnedi Okorafor, which knocked me off my feet. I then discovered N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, which really opened my eyes to what fantasy/science fiction can be, as well as getting a different perspective other than white male/medieval-based fantasy, or even white female/goddess stuff, which was getting a bit boring, to be honest.

Here’s a summary of Parable of the Sower from Amazon:

When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions.
Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.

Parable of the Talents is the sequel; I haven’t started reading them yet, but I’m going to try to get the first one in after Crimson Dawn and before The Eye of Darkness, the first High Republic novel of Phase 3 (I have a post planned for those books, too).

I’ve been on vacation this week and had some extra time, so I have several posts planned for the next week or so. Stay tuned.

What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!