Now that it’s 2009, I decided to look back on the year 2008. I’ve looked back at all of the movies and television I watched and the novels I read and drew some interesting conclusions. I’ve come up with some simple awards for the best and worst of the year below.

Books

Best Read

Winner: Dune by Frank Herbert
Runner up: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Fastest Read

Winner: Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling (2 hours)
Runner up: The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Gunslinger by Stephen King (5 days)

Best Surprise

Winner: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Runner up: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Biggest Disappointment

Winner: The Drawing of Three by Stephen King
Runner up: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Best Character

Winner: Harry Dresden (from Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files)
Runner up: Roland (from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series)

Movies

Best Movie

Winner: The Dark Knight
Runner up: Iron Man, Kung Fu Panda

Most Anticipated Movie

Winner: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (postponed)
Runner up: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Television

Best Returning Television Show

Winner: Lost
Runner up: The Office

Best New Television Show

Winner: Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles

Best Good Guy

Winner: Peter Petrelli (Heroes)
Runner up: Jack (Lost)

Best Bad Guy

Winner: Ben (Lost)
Runner up: Charles Widmore (Lost)

Hottest Lady

Winner: Cameron (Terminator)
Runner up: Kate (Lost), Elle (Heroes)

Audio

Best Podcast

Winner: MuggleCast
Runner up: The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack

A+

For the last several years I’ve been telling myself that I need to read Dune, one of the all-time classic works of Science Fiction. And yet, I never seemed to get around to it, being distracted by other exciting sci-fi and fantasy series. So when I finally picked up Frank Herbert’s masterwork, I was pretty excited.

Admittedly, I expected quite a lot from the novel, but I was nowhere near prepared for just how amazing it would be. Herbert’s novel instantly became one of my favorites. Not only is Herbert an excellent story teller, but he writes to an intricate level of detail comprable only to Tolkien. I loved that.

I don’t think I can adequately recap such a complex story, but for those of you who still have yet to experience its greatness, here is the two sentence summary:

Dune is the story of Paul Atreides who is the son of a duke that finds himself lording over a barren planet, but one that yields one of the most powerful goods in the far-reaching galaxy. When turmoil arises, it becomes Paul’s charge to wield his own strange power against his father’s deceitful enemies.

The thing that amazed me the most was how, despite such intricate detail, Herbert was able to put meaning into every word. As I was reading, I had the distinct feeling that every detail was important and I found myself reading portions two or three times over.

I’m now very eager to begin reading Herbert’s next install in the saga, Dune Messiah. I feel like there is still so much left to tell and I’m excited to find out what else Herbert had stored in his imagination.

Let me first say that Monday is my favorite day for television because I get to watch Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles at 8:00 and Heroes at 9:00. That combination makes for a pretty good evening of sci-fi entertainment. Is it weird that I actually like Mondays? Anyways…

Despite its mediocre ratings, I have really enjoyed TSCC all season long. It has just been getting better and better with each episode. “Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today,” which aired two weeks ago, is my favorite episode of the series so far. It just had everything…great action, an intriguing plot, and a cool story-telling mechanism.

To no surprise, the next week’s episode paled in comparison, though it was still a strong story. With tonight’s episode, we really got back to business again. Not only was it very intense and entertaining, it also had the longest title so far: “Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point.” That’s a mouthful.

Nonetheless, I really liked how this episode added an element of mystery with the “three dots.” It even began to remind me of Lost a little bit, since after two episodes we still don’t have closure on the “dot” mystery. I’m still intrigued by their meaning.

I also really liked the twist with Riley. If you haven’t watched the episode, this is where you should stop reading. It just floored me to find out that Riley was working with that bitch Jesse. I can’t believe that Riley has been playing us all this time. That was a really nice twist in the plot, but it does worry me a little. Right now Riley is John’s control, his connection to reality, and that relationship will eventually implode. What will that mean for John when it does?

And what is the deal with all of the skin scenes for Jesse? I don’t mean to complain, but she’s just doesn’t do it for me. Don’t the writers understand that Cameron is way more attractive, even if she is a robot? It’s a tough situation, but damn, Summer Glau is a beautiful woman and she looked amazing again tonight.

All right, that’s all I’ve got for now. I liked this episode. It wasn’t my favorite by any stretch of the means, but it did a nice job advancing the plot and it was entertaining. I’m looking forward to next week, which I think is the last episode before the winter hiatus.