The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2021
by Erin K. Wagner
I’m going to start my list this year with some frank honesty. 2020 was tough. There were a lot of challenges. But I was in no way prepared for the difficulty of 2021, which was more personally challenging than the previous year (a privilege I recognize), not least for the flare-up of an anxiety disorder I had previously kept under control. So, much of my reading/viewing in 2021 was therapeutic, whether explicitly so in the form of self-help books and therapist-assigned homework or implicitly so in the form of old and comforting favorites. I would like to encourage you to read what brings you comfort, without obligation to outside pressures, and, please, seek help when you need it. You deserve it.
Here are some texts that brought me comfort in 2021.
Books & Short Stories
--Jemisin, N. K. The City We Became. Orbit, 2021
I frequently teach the short story (“The City Born Great”) that Jemisin built on for her recent novel The City We Became. While I enjoy the short story and use it to discuss the relation between place and character, the impacts of marginalization, and the need for social justice, I found the novel even more engaging than I expected. The inversion of traditional fantasy tropes contributes to a lively, sinister, and twisty read.
--Le Guin, Ursula K. The Earthsea Cycle. As read in: The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition. Saga Press, 2018
On last year’s list, I included the The Tombs of Atuan as I began my read-through of the entire Earthsea cycle (including short stories). After that novel, I paused in my read-through. This year, however, I needed the quiet wisdom of Le Guin’s work—so I picked up the anthology again and finished reading the series. The arc of these books, arguably split into two trilogies, is beautiful and sad and real—in its rejection of the grand hero narrative for the quieter struggles of each and every one of us.
--Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall Trilogy. Fourth Estate, 2019-2020
Mantel released the last book of her acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy in 2020, and I received the full trilogy for Christmas that year. I had read the first novel, Wolf Hall, many years before, so I enjoyed revisiting Mantel’s depiction of Henry VIII’s court. There is something about Mantel’s prose that is so gorgeous, precise, and poetic, lingering on the edge of sadness, that makes it worthwhile to read the books to just bask in the language alone. This trilogy fleshes out the skeleton of the history books and allows us to navigate the conflicted lives of people caught in a struggle for power, women and men alike, that seems fated for tragedy.
--Pratchett, Terry. Discworld. Harper Collins, 1983-2015.
I have long heard my friends and partner rave about Pratchett’s Discworld series, but until this year the only work I’d read of Pratchett’s was the co-written Good Omens. However, I needed something simultaneously light, humorous, and significant to read at bedtime, and Discworld seemed the ticket. It has not disappointed. Though, in its beginning, the novels seem more preoccupied with lampooning fantasy tropes alone, as they progress, character and plots lines are more fully developed and there are many wry comments on the inequities of society. I have just finished Hogfather in honor of the season.
--Roanhorse, Rebecca. Black Sun. Saga Press, 2020.
I bought Roanhorse’s newest novel a while ago but had been saving it as a treat. So I finally read it over summer and fall of this year. Though I think I might slightly prefer the urban fantasy-adjacent The Sixth World series, this novel presents a fresh take on the epic fantasy, an homage and a commentary on the tradition all in one. I particularly enjoyed the story-line of the ousted priestess Naranpa, and Roanhorse is excellent at painting scenes that engage all five senses in her carefully crafted world.
--Sen, Nibedita. “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island.” Nightmare, May 2019
I read this story a few years back (see my review on my website) but first thought to teach it this fall. Upon rereading it for that purpose, I was reminded of how much I love it. Relatively brief, the story packs a punch, playing with style, plot, and character in intriguing ways. Reminiscent in tone of the Australian Picnic at Hanging Rock, this story in the form of annotated bibliography expertly skewers academic bias and shortcomings of white feminism while giving voice to those previously deprived of it.
--Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. Ballantine Books, 1965
I will fully acknowledge that LOTR has problems—in its slim representation of women, in its implicit xenophobia. But when first introduced to it as a child, it was the world to me. It ushered me into a realm of speculative fiction that has since guided my own writing career. And my first copies are like a well-worn blankie, frayed, patched together, and familiar. I reread these in a particularly traumatizing month—since I realized I had watched the movies much more recently than I had fully reread the books—and not only did they provide the comfort of old friends, but the struggle of Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom became vividly relatable.
TV & Movies
--Villeneuve, Denis, dir. Dune. Warner Bros, 2021
As I mentioned in my list last year, I was looking forward to this movie—while also aware of its potential shortcomings and the problems of the source text. One of my favorite directors, Villeneuve did not disappoint in delivering an epic narrative, comprehensive to those unfamiliar to the world, crowded—and yet expansive—in its shots of landscape. Subtle changes gently criticize the white savior/masculine narrative of Herbert’s original book (though some might argue not enough).
--Cretton, Destin Daniel, dir. Shang Chi. Disney, 2021
A very fun movie. Awkwafina is always a joy to watch, and Ben Kingsley brings the right touch of humor to his role. I was familiar with Simu Liu from his previous Canadian sitcom, Kim’s Convenience, and enjoyed watching him kick ass in this film. I also found the fight choreography more satisfying than in most Marvel movies.
--Fukunaga, Cary Joji, dir. No Time to Die. Universal Pictures, 2021
I am a sucker for Daniel Craig’s Bond films (and have watched the entire Bond franchise), though I wholeheartedly agree with criticisms regarding representation of gender and race in the series. Watching the new film, via at-home rental, was a fun break from the normal grind, and I was pleased to see that this film both heavily nodded to classic Bond tropes while also acknowledging their shortcomings, thinking more seriously about the impact on women’s lives and their equivalent abilities. The end was also truly unexpected, and I think was a very wise choice on the part of the creative team.
--Hawke, Ethan, writer. The Good Lord Bird. Showtime, 2020
My partner is a big fan of Ethan Hawke, and I was excited to watch a series about John Brown. That said, this series more than met our expectations. It exceeded them by leaps and bounds. With nuanced dialogue and storytelling, with exemplary performances by Hawke and newcomer Joshua Caleb Johnson, this show explored the life of a radical abolitionist through the eyes of a young man and runaway slave. As such, it pushes for radicalism in social change and critiques the shortcomings in white allyship at the same time.
--Wheel of Time. Amazon, 2021-
Like many of you, I’m sure, I read the Wheel of Time series as a teenager. It was not my favorite series; I found many parts of it to be too imitative of LOTR, other parts of it indulgent of male fantasies. Nonetheless, I get excited about new speculative TV, and I have found the first episodes of the new Wheel of Time series to be fun and engaging. The show attempts to correct some of the sexism of the original series and foregrounds more nuanced representation of major female characters like Egwene and Nynaeve.
--Roddenberry, Gene, prod. Star Trek: The Next Generation. Paramount, 1987-1994
I think most can agree that if comfort sci-fi shows exist, Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of them. Having only watched episodes here and there in the past, I’ve settled down to slowly watch the entire series, from beginning to end, even as I keep up with new episodes of Discovery. The show is, in many ways, silly, especially when the holodeck is involved. But it can also be surprisingly moving. Though I have long expressed a dislike for Deanna Troi, whose main character trait I thought to be femininely emotional, and Riker, who I thought to be sex-crazed, I must admit upon this re-watching that there are elements to them I neglected before, especially with Deanna. Through her, the show prioritizes mental health and the impact of trauma in a way few other sci-fi shows have.
Looking Forward to Reading or Viewing
--Corey, James S. A. The Expanse. Orbit, 2011-2021
--The Expanse. Syfy; Amazon, 2015-2022
As the last season of the Expanse tv series gets ready to drop, I am beginning the new novel in hopes of finishing it before watching the series finale. I applaud the way that the show has forefronted the women characters. The performances of Dominique Tipper (Naomi) and Cara Gee (Drummer) in the fifth season were spectacular and under-recognized, as was that of Shohreh Aghdashloo (Avasarala). I look forward to seeing what they will do in this last season as the show attempts to tie things off much earlier than the novel series. I am also excited to see how authors James S. A. Corey will wrap up their investigation of how the human engages with the inhuman against the vast backdrop of space. I think the strengths of both forms of this series is their attention to exactly that—humanity and how it evolves.
Erin K. Wagner grew up in southeast Ohio on the border of Appalachia, but now lives in central New York, where she hikes in the Catskills and listens for ghostly games of nine-pins. She holds her Ph.D. in medieval literature and teaches literature and writing in the SUNY system. Her stories have appeared in a variety of publications, from Apex to Clarkesworld, and her novella The Green and Growing is available from Aqueduct Press. Her second novella, An Unnatural Life, was released by Tor.com in September 2020. You can visit her website at https://erinkwagner.com/.
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