Hello and welcome to this guest post on Track of Words where I’m thrilled to welcome the fantastic Aliette de Bodard – author of The Red Scholar’s Wake and so much more – to the site, to talk about the games and TV shows that she’s been turning to over the last year. I recently read (and reviewed) The Red Scholar’s Wake and was blown away by its rich setting, brilliant characters and totally engrossing central romance; it’s space opera in a way I’ve not come across before, and I loved it! I was delighted when Aliette agreed to write this article – it’s always great to get an insight into what your favourite authors are enjoying, and I always appreciate some new recommendations for media to consume, love and be comforted by!
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Aliette de Bodard: It’s been another pandemic year here (I managed to catch Covid twice in 4 months in the first quarter), and I am clinging to the comfort of favourite media, which I thought I would share here.
Towards the close of 2021 I watched The Wheel of Time, a series which I emphatically didn’t expect to love as much as I did: I thought the showrunners made some really interesting decisions which deepened the world-building, and I’m totally here for the Lan/Moiraine battle couple. The casting is really amazing (also loved Alvaro Morte as Logain, Zoë Robins as Nynaeve, and Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche, as well as Siuan’s relationship with Moiraine). I also watched The Witcher and enjoyed it, but I have to say that there’s something quite endearing about Wheel of Time that Witcher doesn’t have, a sense that the universe is being lived in, that people are happy despite the tremendous pressure of the Blight and the Dark One.
I went on to watch a few Korean shows: I watched back to back Hotel del Luna, a series about a mysterious hotel where ghosts stay while they’re moving on from life, and Mystic Pop-Up Bar, about a small bar where the owner needs to settle people’s grudges and regrets as penance for killing people in her past. I actually liked the second one more than the first: I felt it was more kind-hearted and dealing with decent people (and I really loved all the characters and the mains had some chemistry between them, unlike Hotel del Luna, where the main character is ruthless and heartless, and also where the mains don’t really have much chemistry between them). But Mystic Pop-Up Bar also ripped out my heart, not a show for the faint of hearts especially if one is a parent.
I also quite enjoyed The Legend of Vox Machina, an animated version of Critical Role’s first season–I didn’t know anything about it going in and it’s really nice. I can see very clearly that it’s a roleplaying campaign with a party–and a party that sometimes really, really fumbles their saving rolls, which made for some much-needed laughs.
And finally, Legend of Fei is a really nice wuxia that’s focused on female characters and has a cute romance involving Wang Yibo (he played Lan Zhan on The Untamed, and it turns out that he can also play a total gremlin, absolutely loved him on this) and Zhao Lying, who’s mesmerising as the titular character having to navigate family, love and martial arts in the wider world.
Gaming wise, I dug up my Switch (a 2020 lockdown buy), and finally started playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is breathtaking. The depth of the world, the open-world structure as well as the freedom one has to do things from cooking to playing with the laws of physics–it all adds up to a beautiful package (sometimes a fiendishly difficult one: I hate the ‘sneak into hideouts’ sections of games, and the one in this one had me tearing my hair out, especially when I managed to accidentally whistle for my horse after almost clearing the section). I also got Secret of Mana on the Switch as part of Collection of Mana: it’s a pure nostalgia trip but the kids and I are greatly enjoying it. Having an instant save has been a lifesaver, and it’s been good to go through sections I remember playing as a teenager but with a whole new audience (some bits are still absolutely brutal!).
I’ve also been playing The Lego Star Wars game, which doesn’t wildly break the formula but is quite enjoyable–there’s something quite funny about playing with familiar characters in a Lego setting, and the game itself is funny and has some really cute cut scenes.
In 2023 I’m mostly looking forward to Hades 2: I’ve been obsessively watching the trailer since it came out and I just can’t wait!
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Photography credit: Chloe Vollmer-Lo
Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and five British Science Fiction Association Awards.
She is the author of the lesbian space pirates romance The Red Scholar’s Wake (Gollancz/JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc, 2022), and Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc), a fantasy of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court. She also wrote Fireheart Tiger (Tor.com, 2021 BSFA Award winner), a sapphic romantic fantasy inspired by pre colonial Vietnam, where a diplomat princess must decide the fate of her country, and her own.
Her space opera books include The Tea Master and the Detective (2018 Nebula Award winner, 2018 British Fantasy Award winner, 2019 Hugo Award finalist).
Check out Aliette’s brilliant website for more information.
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Big thanks to Aliette for writing this great guest post, as part of the 2022 Track of Words Advent Calendar! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and have maybe been inspired to check out some of the TV shows and/or games that Aliette mentioned. If you haven’t already, I would definitely recommend reading Aliette’s latest novel, The Red Scholar’s Wake – it’s comfortably one of my favourite reads of 2022!
Check out my review of The Red Scholar’s Wake
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