While I’ve been fighting this cold, my reading quota has fallen sharply. I hope to begin correcting that soon. But first, the latest episode of Mad Men calls. That Don Draper is a right bastard, isn’t he? I’m expecting epic fallout once Megan takes the blinders off. Don’t disappoint me, Matt Weiner.

The Syfy Channel, the cable network that has long operated under the woefully misguided notion that what science fiction fans want to watch is more pro wrestling and high school dropouts hunting ghosts in the restrooms of abandoned shopping malls, is planning a miniseries based on Philip K. Dick’s novel The Man in the High Castle. The book describes an alternate history where the Axis powers emerged victorious in World War II and occupied America. But this being a Dick novel, the story gets pretty meta.

Syfy has a mixed track record of developing book adaptations. Its version of Dune was mediocre to good, but it made a hot mess of Ursula K. Leguin’s Earthsea. I worry that a network suit will take a red pen to anything in the script that addresses the book’s more metaphysical themes while shouting at the writers, “No, no, no! Less late-night freshman dorm bullshitting, more Nazis! And let’s make one of the Nazis a hot but icy blonde who kills American resistance fighters with a katana! I’m thinking Scarlett Johansson. Get me her agent! And get me some more coke!” Or something like that.

The fact that Frank Spotznitz, a writer for The X-Files, is involved gives me faint hope that it won’t be a train wreck. But it’s usually wise to expect disappointment from Syfy and be pleasantly surprised if the final product doesn’t suck.

Let’s do this.

• Best movie I saw: Lincoln–Finally, an epic movie about the American legislative process! Spielberg’s analysis of the nation’s most celebrated president as a calculating power broker stands apart from other biopics because it retains a sharp focus on one of Lincoln’s signature achievements: the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. It’s tempting to descend into hagiography with this kind of subject matter, but Tony Kushner’s script mostly resists those impulses and instead gives us a Lincoln who can be equally charming, brooding, and resolute. The acting is superb all around, but Tommy Lee Jones deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of a powerful and acerbic abolitionist senator.
• Best book I read: Redshirts by John Scalzi–This novel opens as a parody of every pulpy science fiction television show you’ve ever seen, but it gradually becomes something much more thoughtful and, for lack of a better word, meta. It’s an examination of the nature of storytelling and how it shapes both reality and our imaginations. Scalzi’s experiences in writing for television inform this book and gives the reader a peek into the pleasures and frustrations of the creative process. It’s also a deeply funny book that is grounded in an abiding love for the genre.
• Best album I heard: Bloom by Beach House–When this album was released, I tweeted that it sounded like the soundtrack to an unproduced Cameron Crowe movie. Crowe agreed with me, so I must be on to something. Beach House has a knack for simple opening riffs that quickly explode into walls of sound. A lot of dream pop albums tread into monotony after the second or third track, but Bloom never gets boring. I’m expecting great things to come from this band in albums to come.
• Best TV show I watched: Game of Thrones–This year offered another embarrassment of riches on the small screen, but Game of Thrones managed to present a second season that outdid its first in terms of scope, tension, and sheer fun. Things are going to hell in Westeros and, across the sea, an exiled princess is grooming her young dragons for war. The show balances multiple storylines without skimping on material or becoming self-indulgent. Peter Dinklage is even more assured as the scheming Tyrion, but Maisie Williams is astonishing as Arya. She imbues her character with traumatized maturity that few other actors her age could convey. She is a talent to watch in the coming years.