Resolution Project 2020

We march into 2020 totally brave and bold with some of our most ambitious Resolution Projects yet! Whether it’s knocking through a catalog of 15 to 20 books, blazing through seasons upon seasons of series both old and newly beloved, or cracking open the cookbooks and assembling a smorgasbord of speculative treats, we’ve got something for everyone to look forward to in this shiny new decade!

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Erin S. Bales: As I mentioned in my resolution wrap-up for 2019, my resolution for 2020 is already off to a cracking start, dear Chicers! My goal is to reread every short story, novella, and book in The Expanse series in preparation for the release of the final book. (For the first five books, I reread the series for every new release, but then I ran out of time for such things. Those books are large and in charge, y’all!) Anyway, I have already reread the series’ sole short story — “The Drive” — which, as far as I know, can only be found here. Next stop, The Butcher of Anderson Station, a novella prequel to Leviathan Wakes (book one) that was published after the first book.

Now, on James S.A. Corey’s website, they recommend reading the books and novellas in the order in which they were published (for continuity, to avoid spoilers, etc.). That is one of the great things about this series. The novellas aren’t fluff or random spin-offs that don’t have any connection to the larger narrative. Buried within them are clues to future books and future plot points, their significance only coming to light in hindsight.

(Side note: In case you’re wondering, James S.A. Corey is the pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. That’s why I will sometimes refer to “they,” “them,” or “the authors.”)

I do, however, disagree with the authors on one small point — The Butcher of Anderson Station. Not only is that book set before Leviathan Wakes, I think it gives a much clearer (and, for me, a much-needed) picture of Fred Johnson, the Outer Planet Alliance, his connection to the OPA, and the OPA’s relationship with Earth and Mars.

Oh. We will also be reading Auberon out of order because it was released after Tiamat’s Wrath, despite the events in the novella taking place before the events of the book. That’s a Corey-sanctioned deviation, though. With The Butcher of Anderson Station, I’ve gone completely rogue.

So, if you’d like to join me in this massive undertaking, here will be the reading order for the resolution I’m calling “Crossing the Expanse.”

(I’m sure you can figure it out, Chicers, but the half-numbered titles are the novellas. Also, I’ve provided links to a couple of my previous reviews.)

• 0.  “The Drive”
• 0.5. The Butcher of Anderson Station
• 1. Leviathan Wakes
• 2. Caliban’s War
• 2.5. Gods of Risk
• 3.  Abaddon’s Gate
• 3.5. The Churn
• 4. Cibola Burn
• 5. Nemesis Games
• 5.5. The Vital Abyss
• 6. Babylon’s Ashes
• 6.5. Strange Dogs
• 7. Persepolis Rising
• 7.5. Auberon
• 8. Tiamat’s Wrath
• 9.  TBA

If I have time, and the inclination, I might dip into the Expanse Origins series published by BOOM! Studios, but they’re honestly at the very bottom of my TBR pile.

As I finish each title, I’m planning to post a review — SPOILER ALERT: They will probably be full of spoilers — as a look back at the intricacies of the unbelievably rich world and cast of characters Corey has created, to marvel over the foreshadowing, and to, at times, simply fangirl/boy over the awesomeness of the series.

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J.L. Gribble: My real New Year’s resolution for 2020 is to write the final book in my urban fantasy series. But everyone needs a break every once in a while, which means it’s not a conflict of interest to also make some resolutions for Speculative Chic. After three years of Resolution Projects where I read things, I’m taking a different approach for 2020. With Disney+, I have a whole new streaming service to distract me from my writing.

Every month in 2020, I’ll pick a movie or the first few episodes of a television show and offer my thoughts. It might be a new release. It might be live-action. It might be a classic animated film. Who knows? But I will never have watched it before, either as an adult or back in my childhood. A quick perusal of the main page already tempts me with such modern offerings as Descendants and Runaways, and classics I never caught such as Escape to Witch Mountain and The Black Cauldron. I also spy some intriguing documentaries from the National Geographic section.

I currently have a book to edit, so instead of getting lost in adding things to my queue, I’ll pop on the “Arendelle Castle Yule Log” and get back to work. Join me in 2020 for my monthly Disney+ Distraction!

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Kelly McCarty: Historically, I’m not the best at New Year’s resolutions. I don’t get in great shape or become wildly successful. I always crush the 50 Book Challenge, but I managed to fail both my 2017 resolution to read The Lord of the Rings and my 2019 resolution to read all nine of Jacqueline Carey’s books set in Terre d’Ange. For my 2020 Speculative Chic resolution, I’ve decided to do something totally different and out of my comfort zone to start the new decade. I’ve decided to combine my love of reading and cooking to review cookbooks that have a connection to speculative fiction.

I love a good cookbook. Some might even say that I have a bit of a cookbook problem, as the weight of my collection has managed to collapse my bookshelves — twice. In my cookbook browsing, I have noticed that there are actually a lot of themed cookbooks with a connection to speculative media. Since this resolution is going to be a bit more expensive and time-consuming than most, these are the four cookbooks that I am committing to reviewing.

1. True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps by Gianna Sobol and Alan Ball with Karen Sommer Shalett: This TV show about the romances and problems of the humans and various supernatural creatures in Bon Temps, Louisiana is one of my all-time favorites, at least through the first four seasons. True Blood is adapted from the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, but the cookbook is more faithful to the TV show, featuring characters that never appeared in the books. The recipes have a Southern/Cajun flair and each one is presented by a character.
2. Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders: In Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, British World War II nurse Claire Randall touches an ancient stone and travels from back in time to 1743 Scotland. Outlander is now a television show as well, but the cookbook is grounded in the book series. For each recipe, there is an excerpt from the book that mentions said food. My heritage is mostly Irish and Scottish and I’m curious to try some of these traditional Scottish recipes.
3. A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer: George R.R. Martin’s epic medieval fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire is rich in discussions of food. This cookbook recreates cuisine from all regions of the Seven Kingdoms. I was surprised that this cookbook is based on the books and not the insanely popular HBO adaptation, Game of Thrones. This is the cookbook that I’m most nervous to tackle because these recipes are the most complicated. Each recipe features a modern adaptation and the authentic medieval preparation.
4. Supernatural: The Official Cookbook by Julie Tremaine: I’m least familiar with the source for this cookbook. I don’t know much about Supernatural other than that two handsome brothers fight paranormal creatures, but I do know that I like pie. This cookbook mostly features diner-style recipes that I’m excited to try.

I plan to cook and photograph at least four recipes from each cookbook. If this goes well, I may tackle other speculative cookbooks and recipes. There are several cookbooks based on video games, a second Outlander cookbook coming out in June, and an abundance of Harry Potter-themed recipes on Pinterest.

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Kristina Elyse Butke: I’m happy to revisit two of my favorite animated series for Speculative Chic in 2020! If you’ve been keeping up with my more recent Weekly Roundups, it might not be a surprise to learn I have a great love for Voltron: Legendary Defender and The Dragon Prince (both available on Netflix).

As I write this, it’s the one-year anniversary of the critically acclaimed Voltron series, which concluded with its eighth season. The Voltron fandom is still active and quite passionate, and the final season is still packing some emotional punch. I look forward to rewatching the show in its entirety — one of my favorite things about revisiting a work is finding new things I missed out on the first time!

Meanwhile, the third season of The Dragon Prince just dropped, and every time a new season debuts I always review the previous one as a refresher. As 2020 continues on, the fourth season will also debut, so I’m happy I’ll get a chance to discuss it for the Resolution Project when it rolls out. It’s been soooo difficult blocking out social media and avoiding season three spoilers (Twitter literally exploded when it posted to Netflix), but the wait will soon be over as I get the ball rolling on this project!

Watching each show is going to be no trouble for me. I’ve binge-watched many episodes in a single weekend before, so I know I can knock through each series quickly. What will be challenging for me is having the discipline to write a review for each season of each series. The good news is I’m going to pace myself with one post a month — so eight months covering Voltron and four months covering The Dragon Prince to make that magic number twelve. I’m already getting excited just talking about it!

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Nicole Taft: I, uh, own a lot of books. I suppose this should come as no surprise to anyone reading this. After all, I’m sure many of us own a lot of books. Likewise, I’m sure many of us own a lot of books we haven’t read yet. While I failed 2019’s resolution of completing video games I already owned, I think completing books I already own will be much easier. I can polish off a book in a handful of hours compared to a game’s 40 hours or more *glares at Hollow Knight.*

I went around my room and made a list of all the books that I own but have yet to read. Some of them teeter on the “touched upon” category — that is, they include several stories but I haven’t read through the entire volume yet. I decided to include them just to make sure they get finished as well. Then I can truly say that I’ve read everything I own and can go back to hoarding additional books and then not reading them (false: I legitimately do not have any more room for book-buying).

THE LIST:

• The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• The Empress Game: Exile’s Throne by Rhonda Mason
• Complete Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
• A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Seven Novels (A B&N Collection) by H.G. Wells
• Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
• Inside by Maria V. Snyder
• Endymion by Dan Simmons
• Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons
• Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku
• Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf
• Lock In by John Scalzi
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
• King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard
• War Storm by Victoria Aveyard
• If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell
• Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

I included Bruce Campbell’s book because of his close ties to all things B-movie horror, Xena fantasy, and his involvement with the speculative genre in general. Some of these books I have owned for years. For example, I 100% forgot I even owned Children of Húrin, and A Dance with Dragons is the very same copy that our Editor-in-Chic bought for me back when she was running her original book blog long before Speculative Chic ever existed (don’t hate me, Shara; I was hoping maybe Martin would have put out his next book long ago, but alas, he never has). Others, however, are fairly new, such as the Red Queen series I bought on a whim (hey, it was 50% off at B&N in hardcover no less!) or The Hazel Wood, which I snagged with some birthday dough.

I won’t be reviewing every book in this list due to various reasons (H.G. Wells has seven books which would be absurdly long, and we’ve already reviewed A Dance with Dragons, etc.), but everything that deserves a review shall have one. I have more faith in my ability to do this resolution because if I want to read something, I’ll have no choice but to pull from my own shelf. And I clearly have plenty to choose from. ONWARD TO GLORY!

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While we’ve got an ambitious bunch starting the pack with the 2020 Resolution Project, that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t have more contributors hopping into the fray over the course of the year. It’s wherever the spirit takes them, so we hope you’ll be keeping track of our intrepid team with us as we embark on our exciting new venture this 2020. Fingers crossed!!