The Cambridge Geek

Best of 2017

Since we've got more or less to the end of the year, seems like a reasonable time to sum up my "best ofs" for 2017. This post will cover all of the topics I've reviewed enough of to make it worthwhile.

Best of 2017 Anime

Recovery of an MMO Junkie is about a NEET in her 30s, who attempts to find romance through an MMO, even though she is more than a little socially useless. It made the Girl scream at the screen too often to not be on this list.

Tsuredure Children has more people being terrible at romance, but here it's school children, attempting to navigate the difficult world of first dates, with tsundere partners, the inability to talk, and BDSM.

Saga of Tanya the Evil is about a salaryman is sent back in time to occupy the body of a tiny Nazi magical girl, while attempting to murder god. Has a very cool techno theme and a rather impressive plot.

Best of 2017 Books

Sea of Rust is set in a post-apocalyptic world, robots have risen up and killed off humanity, but have inherited their predilection for infighting, politics and murder, as they begin to form armies.

In Reincarnation Blues, Milo is on his last possible incarnation, having lived over nine thousand lives, and must find a way to achieve Nirvana, or fall back into oblivion, ceasing to exist. A tale told through both his life, and flashbacks of previous.

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. tells the story of the United States' department of defence which has investigated the existence of magic, and discovered that witches used to be able to perform time travel, which has implications for global strategy and the future of war.

The Court of Broken Knives is a grimdark take on the "lowly farmboy save the world" saga, but substitute mercenary for farmboy, decaying ruin for world, and conquers and dominates for saves.

In All Systems Red, a murderbot is performing guard duty on a new survey world, when something begins killing off the unfortunate colonists. Can the bot avoid its own violent impulses while fighting off the threat?

Best of 2017 Films

In The Hitman's Bodyguard, Ryan Reynolds is a bodyguard. Samuel L. Jackson is an assassin. They fight crime. No, wait, they commit crimes. Both against property and each other. Everything explodes. It's amazing.

With Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel finally decided to make a Spider-Man film with Peter as a rather young teenager, which sets it up as a comedy with very little of the drama element typically seen. Impressively hilarious.

For Kong: Skull Island someone realised that giant monsters fighting didn't have to be particularly highbrow, and instead could be mostly about punching. Much better for it.

Best of 2017 Games

Everspace is a roguelike set in space, in which you throw clones into the unrelenting void in the hopes that you can get a bigger ship, bigger guns and can murder your way through a galaxy or two.

In Slime Rancher, collect slimes, turn them into gems, make horrible hybrids and farm them for food, warriors or entertainment. Surprisingly enjoyable, and more than a little relaxing.

Sundered is an action, platformer RPG, in which you'll murder things the size of houses, survive swarms of enemies and unlock hideous or beautiful powers depending on whether you turn to evil.

In Jeeves Live Martin Jarvis presents slightly dramatised readings of some of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves tales, which are thankfully already funny, made better by his dry style.

In the wake of his father's funeral, a recovering alcoholic spends a little too long in his father's wine cellar, struggling with ghosts and memories, in a bit of Brigstocke's life in The Red.

In Be Lucky, various Welsh people live off grid in the hopes of avoiding civilisation, but unfortunately Milton Jones still finds them and does puns at them. Good enough to get a second series almost immediately.

John Finnemore's Double Acts is a series of six double-handers, in which two actors you've almost certainly heard of, spend thirty minutes entertaining you with witty stories and clever dialogue.

Best of 2017 TV

In The Good Place, Kristen Bell finds herself in heaven, even though she lived a somewhat dubious life. In an attempt to prevent herself from being thrown out, she learns philosophy from a fellow corpse. Funniest show all year.

Blood Drive is a rather brilliant grindcore splashfest, in which people attempt to win a road race, with cars powered by human blood. Which makes perfect sense. Twists a lot of the common tropes while still revelling in the gore.

Preacher is an adaptation of the comic series featuring Jesse Custer and the voice of god, which allows him to control anyone he happens to talk to. Has a brilliant tone, true to the nature of the comics.

Tagged: Feature Best of Year