This post is a continuation of my series of monthly review posts - what I've been doing and all that kind of good stuff. Other entries in the 2025 series:

I fucking hate Novembers. Halloween is over and we exist in that cold, wet holding pattern before the Christmas lights go up. Well, that said, I was out running early on in the month and someone already had some Santa and Snowman inflatables up, so you do you I guess.

Light Trails

With things being so godforsaken exhausting I haven't had much time do anything. However, at the end of the month I took a day off work and enjoyed a family trip to Gulliver's Valley. We stayed overnight in the 'castle' and enjoyed the light trail and rides. There were triple bunk beds! The kids loved those. I've come away from the light trail very wet (it hoyed it down pretty much the entire time), but with a bunch of ideas for future projects...

Gullivers Valley Land of Lights Christmas Display

Running (up those hills)

Tried to do something a little different this month and use the Sundays to run 10k. My Garmin watch informed me that the rest of the week was 'cool down' time, which felt about right. I found a fairly decent 10k route and got into a bit of a groove at the distance, slowly improving on the pacing as I learned more about where to push. It felt weird doing only one run a week, so I think that next month I'll go back to running varied distances, possibly getting a 10k just before Christmas.

Media

Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race that Will Change the World by Parmy Olson

Olson tells the story of the rise of generative AI, through a biographical exploration of the personalities involved: Sam Altman, Mustafa Suleyman and Demis Hassabis. It's classic Silicon Valley techbro story - of ethics (and lack thereof), idealism, capitalism, startup culture, geniuses and betrayals. It's about how DeepMind came to be acquired by Google (and embroiled in the politics of the AlphaBet holding company), and OpenAI came into Microsoft's sphere of influence.

If you've been following along with the story of generative AI behind-the-scenes, there's nothing new for you in this book. In fact, a lot of the detail is sandpapered for a wider audience. Which is fine, its target is the general public. I'd recommend this to someone who's interested on digging a little deeper on the people side rather than the tech, that largely keeps out of the superlatives of those riding the AI Hype.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

The Devils is a fantasy set in a post-medieval Europe of magic and intrigue. Organised religion is gender-swapped, with a female Jesus Christ and Clergy. Europe is a fantastical version of itself, with Troy still standing, Carthage defeats Rome in the Punic Wars, the Church in schism, and an impending threat of Elvish invasion. The child-Pope assembles a group of incarcerated 'Devils': a monk, a Dark magician, a vampire, a werewolf, an elf, an immortal knight and a rogue.

It's a relatively fast-paced book, with humorous (albeit often vulgar) D&D campaign style dialogue and memorable characters. From what I gather about Abercrombie's other 'grimdark' works, and from what I've read elsewhere in that genre, I'd disagree that this is a grimdark, or even a dark fantasy. Rather, it's a fantasy crying out for a TV adaptation - the dialogue is basically primed for it.

This took me the vast majority of the month to read, and by the end I did enjoy it, but it took about 150 pages to get moving. And for many, they'd have put it down before that point. Speaking of Dungeons and Dragons, the story did feel very much like an on-rails action movie.

Welcome to Neverbury by Chris Lynch

A collection of short stories set in a fictional coastal UK town, exploring the Lovecraftian goings on. Imagine a cross between H.P. Lovecraft and the League of Gentlemen. The root of these stories comes from expanding the stubs of entries in Lovecraft's commonplace book, tying them to a central location. Very hit and miss in terms of quality.

Donkey Kong: Bananza on the Nintendo Switch 2

Alright, so I started playing this when the Switch 2 came out a few months back. It was really fun then, and picking it back up and playing to completion was just as fun. Technically, this is a brilliant game from the studio that brought us Super Mario Odyssey. It's a platformer where you're encouraged to smash and construct your way through the planet! Dig for bananas, use the bananas to power up. Donky Kong starts at the surface of the planet and journeys through to the core, with each 'sublayer' acting as a different world. Bananza is technically impressive, it runs flawlessly even on handheld mode. The challenges are just the right level of difficulty that keep you enagaged. The adventure itself is fairly linear but this is complemented by huge opportunities for exploration and farting about. It's a much better launch (ish) title that Mario Kart World, which I've barely picked up since I finished it. There's some DLC out for Bananza now, which I'll pick up when it's discounted.

Stranger Things on Netflix

Season Five of Stranger Things is upon us. It's weird to think the show has been around for so long and yet there's not actually that much of it. So we rewatched it in the run-up to the new season dropping.

I really enjoyed re-watching the first three seasons, all of which I'd previously rewatched. They felt like old friends. The classic horror vibe from Season One stands up well - the aesthetic is spot-on, as is the teenage drama and the kids on bikes attitude from classics such as the Goonies. Season Two, apart from The Lost Sister, was great. I loved reliving the mystery of the tunnels and how well Sean Astin characterised Bob. RIP Bob. Season Three is structured as a summer blockbuster, it's big, it's fast, it's got a big fuck-off monster. I felt nostalgic with the Mall scenes - I know they're the '80s in America but that was late '90s Gateshead MetroCentre to me. I remember once as a teenager being allowed to run around the MetroCentre at 4 in the morning while waiting for a coach down to Birmingham, and it properly creeped me out - just that liminal spaces / backrooms vibe. Robin's character was a breath of fresh air to the season, as was the iconic Steve/Robin/Dustin partnership. Billy is super dangerous. Most of all, I loved the Max and Eleven scenes in the mall, trying on the clothes and just enjoying some carefree time, backed by the most 80s song of all, Material Girl by Madonna. Iconic.

Season Four hit a little differently. It was my first rewatch, and it wasn't as enjoyable. The run length is indulgent, with too much time being spent on the Russia plot and, to some degree, Lucas' basketball teams. I didn't feel like there was as much of a mystery this season - that there's a big baddie dubbed Vecna. The motive wasn't something to be discovered, rather it was spoon-fed at the last minute through a vision. It didn't play into the story or drive the characters in any way. What drove the characters was a very simplistic "baddie, go kill" plot, with Max's curse acting as a countdown. All that aside, there were bits I enjoyed. The introduction of Eddie and his Hellfire Club brings back the Season One Dungeons and Dragons vibe with a high-school twist, and Eddie fits right into the plot and the group. The use of Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush is itself also an iconic piece of the Season, and the more Kate Bush's work is recognised, the better.

I'm looking forward to Season Five. Bring it on!