Geekmas 2017: Starting Over.

The holiday season is here again, as marked by the inevitable drawing of names for our workplace gift exchange. In order to simplify the process for whichever of my co-workers has pulled the folded paper slip with my name from the traditional red velvet bag - or anyone else seeking seasonal gift-giving inspiration - here's my annual Geekmas Gift Guide.*

This year, I'm the victim of my own success, as it were - thanks to remarkable follow-through on gift suggestions last year, I'm obliged to pretty much start from scratch. My sincere thanks to all of the people who selected items from the list, and to my girlfriend Karli** for managing the process from behind the scenes.

As always, the following list has been selected to fit more or less within the $20 - $25 range applicable to workplace Secret Santas (and Karli's** immediate family). To keep things simple for potential gift-givers, I've tried to source as many things as possible from Amazon.ca or equally accessible retailers - which will make more sense when you get to the Toys section. 

Books
I've had a pretty good year for buying myself reading material, so I had to dig around a bit more than usual for this section.  However, that being said, my first choice here was easy: Artemis, the sophomore work from Andy Weir, author of The Martian.  Early reviews are positive, although there have been a couple of comments that Mr. Weir isn't completely successful in writing a female lead.

 

From the non-fiction aisle, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, by Sean Howe (whom you may recognize as the editor of Give Our Regards to the Atom-smashers!, which I picked up during our New York trip.).  If you're at all curious about the background behind Marvel's rise to fame, you may want to buy a copy for yourself, as well - or borrow mine.

A little Cancon to round things out, and a confession:  I've never read Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale.  There, I admit it.

Other options would be Luna: Wolf Moon, by Ian McDonald; Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch, and The Murders of Molly Southbourne, by Tade Thompson.

By the way, as per the above stipulation regarding price range, paperbacks or trade paperbacks, please, no need to go hardcover.  


Movies
I know that the era of physical media is on the wane, but I'm still fond of my library of movies and TV shows - I think of it as my own little On Demand service. As always, blu-ray by preference - although we're starting to think about a 4K disc player to go with our 4K flatscreen.

 

How could I not ask for a copy of Wonder Woman, 2017's superhero feminist breakout movie? Well acted, well directed, and hopefully a how-to guide for future Hollywood female comic book character adaptations.

On the vintage movie front, I'm going to suggest the classic 1954 black and white SF/horror film Them.  If you're not familiar with Them, three words:  giant radioactive ants.  This movie frightened me beyond words when I first saw it at the age of ten - now I'm more appreciative of the manner in which it overcomes the limitations of Fifties effects technology with an excellent cast delivering excellent performances. (And the debut of the giants ants still scares me a bit.) Alert fans will catch a brief appearance by a youthful Leonard Nimoy as an Air Force staff sergeant. 

Either Rogue One or The Force Awakens would be useful additions to the lineup, although I lean a bit toward Rogue One:  The Force Awakens will probably end up being part of an eventual purchase of the sequel trilogy, whereas all evidence would suggest that there won't be another Rogue One movie.

And, as a wildcard suggestion, any of the DC Animation Justice League series collections.  DC's animated adaptations have been uniformly excellent, with good storylines and superb voice acting.  If you're not certain, yes, Justice League Unlimited is part of the same group.



Toys
Yes, toys. As previously mentioned, toys are a huge part of the fan experience. My current haphazard collection is a bit idiosyncratic compared to the standard approach: it's not specific to a fandom, and I haven't invested thousands of dollars in it.  It's predominantly made up of contributions from other people in the form of gifts.

I don't have any Star Wars toys, and I honestly wouldn't know where to start in terms of recommending something from the list of options available - anyone buying me a Star Wars item has complete carte blanche.  However, if you want to pick up something a bit different, I'd love to have one of the Funko Fallout Legacy Collection toys - either the Lone Wanderer or the Power Armour figure.

 

Funko is better known for their ridiculously comprehensive selection of Pop! figures, but as you can see, they also produce more realistic action toys. To my surprise, the Fallout toys shown above can be found at walmart.ca - who knew? They're currently on sale, too.

And, in all fairness, if reading all of this has just made your head spin, not to worry - I'm completely content with gift cards. 

  - Sid

* To be honest, this isn't an easy process for me. My British mother left me with a marked reluctance to actually ask someone to give me a gift, which makes the whole idea of publishing a list of "I wants" a bit of a challenge. However, I take comfort in the fact that if someone has already made the gift-giving decision (or had it mandated by workplace imperatives), they may well be eager - if not desperate - for some guidance.

** My gorgeous girlfriend, to be accurate.