Get ye to the great comment-lands of The Toast, and take to the sea! (Note: may contain "ironic" misandry.)

The fact that the UC "Guide to Micro-Aggressions" is cited as an example of "ill-advised" PC Culture, when it's basically just a list of very common recommendations for "how to avoid subtly pissing off your students," says a lot about how disingenuous a lot of this debate is. "What you say? Complimenting a non-white…

Also, the high watermark for pain/joy/pain/etc in Hobb's work is still probably Molly's pregnancy in Fool's Assassin. Why do you do this to me, Hobb.

Yes, I was actually shocked when the third and then FOURTH book came out. Like, "What? I thought this was a two book series and that we were done here?"

Okay, this just put it on my to-read list! Thanks, Scrawler! :)

I just wish I knew precisely how it was pronounced. I get the feeling I'm making an ass of myself every time I bring him up in polite conversation.

They were more than happy to to publish Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt's "Coddling of the American Mind" bullshit, as well. Well-meaning college students: America's greatest threat!!

Embarrassed to admit that despite reading lots, I read almost nothing from 2015 this year. I usually feel pleased with myself if I read books on a delay as low as one year. So Best of Year lists end up being a nice source of future reading material, rather than a validation of my personal preferences.

I liked that Fool's Quest gave Fitz about a hundred pages of *good* things happening to him, before (metaphorically) smashing his fingers with a large (metaphorical) hammer once again. I'm a little suspicious that we're back with the insufferable dragon people by the end (The Rain Wilds are my least favorite of her…

How direct a sequel is Slade House to Bone Clocks? "Vastly tighter story" sounds pretty damn promising to me!

Same. It must be a strange experience for Coates to suddenly be called "That black guy that all the white liberal people love", hah.

Aw man, I wish I had a better answer to this question, but I've been so behind on everything this year. Sci-Fi wise, seconding the Ancillary Mercy mention. I've also heard a lot of good things about Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, if you want a less "hard" Star Trek type experience. My…

Jacob de Zoet is probably my favorite of his books, and I love it so very much. He's one of the few "literary" authors who can pull off the whole genre-fiction-crossover thing without being too awkward or writing bad literary prose / bad genre fiction. (Some) Murakami and Atwood being the other two major examples.

Agreed. Forgetting the source, but there was an article which I think really captured the appeal of Coates, particularly for white audiences: he's brutally direct and clear in his description of the legacy and modern culture of racism in modern America. It's the refreshing feeling of being spoken to as an adult.

The Atlantic is like the official capital of the "Well, I'm a progressive liberal, but Those People just go too far!!" sensibility.

Counterpoint:
no u

The presence of John Teti, Nick Wasnerski's art, and a scattered mixture of game and TV writers is why I'm not yet willing to write off the AV Club these days. Their stuff is still really excellent, and while I don't comment as much as I used to, Gameological still carries some spirit from its independent days (see:…

Eh, while there was a certain dirty charm to the Old Comment Days, I prefer now being able to read an article with a woman's picture at the top without reading 10 comments about how someone wants to ejaculate on her titties.

Man, between the apparent weird design decisions, the grindiness, the nonsensical plot and creepy objectification, the hideous UI and muddy colors, and my general complete and total exhaustion with open world games this year, this sounds like someone crafted a special JRPG hell just for meeeeee.

Even when un-labeled, DA:I's center option seemed to mostly be predictable when it came to sarcasm, at least compared to FO4, though "DA:I Sarcastic" could range from "gentle ribbing" and "clever observation."