Arne Dahl: Europa Blues
(SVT, 2012 / BBC, 2013) [subtitled]
![TV poster: “Arne Dahl: Europa Blues” (SVT, 2012 / BBC, 2013) [subtitled]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Arne-Dahl_Europa-Blues.png)
A suitably grim and downbeat ending to the series. Again, one of A-group has an unlikely personal connection to the case—Arto Söderstedt (Niklas Åkerfelt) maxing out on harried lightbulb moments while events go to hell for everyone concerned, good or bad.
The Departed
dir. Martin Scorsese (2006)
A paragon of its genre, albeit with Matt Damon who is outshone not only by DiCaprio (nuanced and convincing) and Nicholson (borderline unhinged) but also by just about everyone else, including Conor Donovan in a few brief scenes as his younger self.
The Dead Shall Be Raised
by George Bellairs (John Gifford, 1942)
audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Isis, 2017)
Bellairs writes with literary pretensions and a faux-waggish jocularity, intent on scoring points off his cast of village stereotypes. While thus engaged, he leaves Inspector Littlejohn to follow basic leads and listen to confessions. A paltry, self-solving mystery with only one suspect.
Magnum P.I., Season 1
(CBS, 2018)
A light and fluffy action reboot that contrives to carry a vibe every bit as 1980s as the original. Jay Hernandez is no Tom Selleck but galvanises Higgins (Perdita Weeks), Rick (Zachary Knighton) and T.C. (Stephen Hill), who bring the real charm.
Pollen
by Anna Burdenko; trans. Alex Shvartsman, Clarkesworld #222 (March 2025) [originally published in Trust the Future, 2023]
![Magazine cover: Clarkesworld #222 (March 2025); review of “Pollen” by Anna Burdenko; trans. Alex Shvartsman [originally published in Trust the Future, 2023]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Clarkesworld-222.jpg)
A cleverly wrought SF short story, rich in characterisation yet nimble in its worldbuilding. Burdenko posits a castaway scenario wherein a teen girl and her younger sister endure maroonment on a deadly, deserted alien planet, kept sane by hallucinations(!) of their family.
A Thief in Time
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy Science Fiction (July, 1954); UK No. 21 (December, 1954), pp. 4-27.
A light-hearted romp but the time travel paradox isn’t explored so much as indulged in, ad hoc, until (it feels) Sheckley rollicked his word count up to novelette length and the editor had enough pages filled to put a stop to it.
The Science Fiction Book: An Illustrated History
by Franz Rottensteiner (Thames and Hudson, 1975)
Through a focus on its authors, Rottensteiner traces the development of science fiction from its early precursors through to 1975, giving due attention to European writers. The illustrations are generally reproductions of cover- and internal artwork—adding curiosity value 50 years on.
Blood and Circuses
by Kerry Greenwood (McPhee Gribble, 1994)
audiobook read by Stephanie Daniel (ABC Audio, 2011)
Phryne’s vulnerability is a new development, and one that was perhaps needed for the series to retain credibility. The roaming omniscient narrative, however, is symptomatic of a mystery that doesn’t quite work (being rather too hemmed in by Greenwood’s extensive circus research).
Doctor Who: The Power of Three
by Chris Chibnall; dir. Douglas Mackinnon (BBC, 2012)
An important episode in Amy and Rory’s storyline. Gentle humour, endearing character moments, but the ‘stuff of nightmares’ Shakri are brushed aside with laughable ease. Chibnall might have done better to spend less time on Rory’s dad and more on the resolution.
Space 1999: Breakaway
by E. C. Tubb (Orbit, 1975)
A novelisation of episodes 1, 13, 19 and 10 (production code rather than broadcast order) of the 1975 British SF series. Tubb’s prose is slapdash, and the stitching together of crises affords a lurching, improbable quality to science that already obliterated credulity.