My Monthly Anticipation | September 2022

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello everyone,

Who doesn’t love the anticipation of new releases and things that they plan on doing? Every month there seems to be something new and exciting ready to hit the market for our consumption.

Being ready to embrace them with open arms is all we can really do.

To showcase this, I’ll be sharing my top 3 for each category of things that I look forward to this month right here, right now!

BOOK RELEASES.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King.
Release Date: September 6th, 2022.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.
Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

My thoughts: Here’s Stephen King dishing out another novel, this time venturing further into the realm of fantasy! I’m definitely curious.

Ithaca by Claire North.
Release Date: Sep[te
Seventeen years ago, king Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them have returned, and the women have been left behind to run the kingdom.
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. Whilst he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that husband is dead, and suitors are starting to knock at her door . . .
But no one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne – not yet. Between Penelope’s many suitors, a cold war of dubious alliances and hidden knives reigns, as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip one way or another. If Penelope chooses one from amongst them, it will plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning and her spy network of maids can she maintain the delicate balance of power needed for the kingdom to survive.
On Ithaca, everyone watches everyone else, and there is no corner of the palace where intrigue does not reign . . .

My thoughts: I’ve only ever known Claire North to do science fiction and she usually nails it with her tremendous imagination. A Greek mythology retelling now? I’m curious.

COMIC BOOK RELEASES.

Issue #1 will be released by Marvel Comics on September 7th, 2022.
A small colony of synths have settled in secret on a backwater moon. When a company of United System soldiers come to them for help retrieving biotechnology on a hostile planet that could be the key to saving humanity, the synths must decide whether the prospect of peace between man and machine is worth the risk of betrayal.

My thoughts: It’s time for the Alien comic book franchise to get rebooted under Marvel Comics. Let’s see how they handle this.

Issue #1 will be released by DC Comics on September 6th, 2022.
What happens when a comics art powerhouse meets one of the greatest, most exciting heroes of all time? One part prestige art book, one part compelling noir tale, this one-of-a-kind edition collects some of Lee Bermejo’s most jaw-dropping Batman covers woven together to tell a story that strikes right at the heart of the Dark Knight’s never-ending crusade.

My thoughts: Listen. I’m a huge fan of Lee Bermejo’s artwork. It’s gorgeous. For him to now WRITER AND DRAW his own Batman story? I’m all in! Show us what you got!

Issue #1 will be released by DC Comics on September 20th, 2022.
Two-Face has always been viewed as Batman’s most tragic villain. If only Harvey Dent hadn’t been scarred by acid, he could have continued his good work as D.A. in Gotham City and been Batman’s greatest ally and friend…right? Or has Batman extended Harvey Dent too much grace in his multiple attempts at reform? He’ll question himself as Harvey Dent is free once more, scarred but seemingly free of Two-Face’s influence. But…when it’s revealed Harvey Dent’s father has been threatened to be murdered on his 88th birthday, will Two-Face be able to resist joining the party? From the bestselling creative team of Mariko Tamaki (Detective Comics, Crush & Lobo) and Javier Fernandez (Nightwing, King Spawn)!

My thoughts: I’m always wary about short-story collections, especially in comics, but these creative teams are legit and have so much potential. I hope the final result is good. The first issue with Riddler had Tom King writing it up, now we get Mariko Tamaki. Let’s see how that goes!

TV SHOW RELEASES.

Season 1 premieres on September 1st, 2022.

My thoughts: There’s a lot of hate being thrown at this upcoming TV series and I can’t blame anyone for it to exist considering how important the source material should’ve been for a project that has so much money invested in it. I was personally always excited to see what story it will deliver and still am.

Season 5 premieres on September 14th, 2022.

My thoughts: I only saw season 1 and found that the show really did a wonderful job in adapting the original novel. I still have no idea how the show pushed on to give us 5 seasons but I can only imagine that they found the story they wanted to tell or this would’ve gotten canceled a long time ago! I might have to revisit this now.

Season 1 premieres on September 21st, 2022.

My thoughts: I have yet to watch any of the Star Wars TV series content since The Mandalorian and many would tell me to stick to just that… Andor, however, looks way more promising and I hope it delivers… for the sake of SW fans…

MOVIE RELEASES.

Releases on September 8th, 2022.

My thoughts: Live-action Disney movies are usually huge flops but, man, I want to believe in Tom Hanks and think this will be different…

Premieres on September 16th, 2022.

My thoughts: There’s a lot of controversy around this movie and the history that it will portray. I’m curious to see how factual or sensational Hollywood will be about it all.

My thoughts: This movie looks gorgeous! I’m curious to see how Anna de Armas portrays Marilyn Monroe here.

VIDEO GAME RELEASES.

As a HUGE fan of the original game, I am beyond thrilled to replay it in this version, rebuilt from the ground up for the PlayStation 5. What annoys me is the price tag on it and the unnecessity of this “remaster” in the grand scheme of things. I’ll find out soon enough if it was all worth the trouble of rebuilding this game or if the money-grabbing scheme was just a trap all along.

Releases on September 2nd, 2022.

PERSONAL LIFE.

Sweater weather is incoming! I sort of look forward to the cold just because it’s a reason to get comfy, stay in, and cuddle around a good book, without sweating. 😉 I do look forward to tackling this month with more energy than usual. I hope to try and maximize my free time and do as much of everything I want to achieve while maintaining some sort of rhythm and frequency that I deem enjoyable. I do have some big deadlines at work and I look forward to meeting expectations more than ever. I’m hoping that I won’t run into too many hiccups along the way though. Those are the worse. 😀

Thank you all for checking out my monthly anticipation post!

Now tell me what you’re looking forward to this month! Any new releases? Anything exciting you plan on doing?

Yours truly,

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

45 thoughts on “My Monthly Anticipation | September 2022”

  1. Much like the Wheel of Time, I’m waiting on Rings of Power. I’ve seen a lot of furor too and if WoT is any indication, Amazon is going to take a gigantic dump all over middle earth. I suspect I’ll end up ignoring it so I don’t give myself an aneurism 😀

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    1. Hahahaha the hype and buzz around WoT died so fast after release and it’s quite unfortunate considering the literary impact of the books on the genre. As for Rings of Power, I do hope that it’ll be as good as we could hope it could be and with Amazon injecting billions of dollars into it, they too are probably praying that the hate dies down quickly…

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  2. I find all the hate and the “they’re not bothering with the source material” for Rings of Power so frustrating. The showrunners, McKay and Payne, have the rights to material in The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings and its appendices. They cannot use material from The Silmarillion because they don’t have the rights to it, except on a case by case basis that they consulted with the Tolkien Estate about. And even if they had the rights to The Silmarillion, there is far less information there about the Second Age than there is about the First Age. They don’t have the rights to The Silmarillion because the Tolkien Estate will not sell the rights. It’s not because they couldn’t be bothered or are ignorant of what’s going on in the great tales.

    I wish people would give it a chance before they start dumping on the show. You never know. It might be amazing.

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    1. I’m completely with you there and, knowing how much you love the books too, I’m so glad to hear that you’re hopeful that it’ll be worth exploring. There’s too much creative-control politics around a potential epic tale that we could all just love for what it is and what the crew wanted to achieve.

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  3. I have the same status as you when it comes to the Star Wars series, watching just The Mandalorian and letting everything else just pass by waiting for the next season of it. I have enough trouble keeping up with Marvel! I have no experience or interest with the “Middle Earth” franchises, but I have read there is an effort to hate on the new Amazon series before it even comes out. Sad, but that’s fandom these days. Pinocchio…I have no idea how that is going to turn out, but with Hanks associated with it perhaps I will give that a go.

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    1. Tell me about it. I still got some catching up to do with recent Marvel TV content but man, there’s a lot of everything nowadays! You’re right. It’s insane what the online community can transform into thanks to social media today. I do hope the show succeeds for what it really has to offer and doesn’t get killed off because of people who want to boycott the bigger company behind the production of the show… Yep. Tom Hanks is the only one giving me hope that it might be good. Otherwise, I’m more curious about Dell Torro’s stop-action Pinnochio movie that’s coming out soon!

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  6. Happy september, Lashaan! You know that I had no idea Stepehn King was still publishing novels?? Where have I been all this time? I don’t know 😅 Anyway, this one seems very interesting so I get why you’re curious!
    I’m also very much looking forward to the Rings of Power, though the trailer did not excite me too much as I felt like it was almost entirely CGI – but I will of course be watching and I’m pretty sure I will like it too 😁

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    1. Whaaaat hahah! Dude has been publishing non-stop, a minimum of a book per year. As a teenager, I just thought his books were mediocre because he was everywhere, all the time, as if it was always a quantity over quality thing. It’s only as an adult that I realized how huge his fandom actually was hahaha
      I hope we both have a blast with Rings of Power! I’m convinced it won’t be as bad as the haters are making it to be! 😀

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  8. Sweater weather is coming indeed and I can’t wait! Being able to wear layers is just the best.
    I’ve never been too attached to the Lord of the Rings source material, so I’m really excited for the show. I liked what Amazon did with Wheel of Time, so I’m optimistic for this one as well.
    As for the Pinocchio live action movie … I think I’m more likely to enjoy the upcoming Del Toro version than this one 😬 the actual Disney remakes have been very … disappointing.

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    1. Right? I just love the idea of being under heavy and comfy cloths hahaha
      I do hope that Rings of Power will turn out better than what all the haters are trying to make to transform it into.
      I’m with you there. Del Toro’s stop-action movie looks way more original and interesting than what Disney is trying to achieve… I feel like Disney is just trying to tick all boxes when it comes to live-action adaptations, without really focusing on the story/cast.

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  9. You made me curious about the Ithaca, but I’ll wait for your review 🙂

    I agree about TV – am willing to give Bezos a chance and have some hopes for Andor. Didn’t know about Blonde, might be interesting!

    It’s getting colder here as well, I could use a month or two more of temperatures around 25C, but well, I do have some nice sweaters 😉

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    1. I’m definitely curious about Ithaca and I feel like there’s a lot of Greek mythos retelling being pushed out there. I hope for our sake that both Rings of Power and Andor will be good. I’m really curious about Blonde too. I’m convinced it’ll at least be visually fantastic.
      Totally agree. What’s not to love about being able to wear our favourite sweaters! 😀

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  10. I’m excited for my Fairy Tale preorder to arrive! Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy this month, Lashaan. I’m a little iffy about Pinocchio too, but it seems more geared towards kids anyway, lol. Enjoy your month!

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  11. I don’t believe I’ve read anything by Claire North but I’m certainly up for trying Ithaca. And though I may have only read horror by Stephen King I’d also be up for trying Fairy Tale. I remember you talking about The Last of Us in an older post and I recall being impressed by the graphics and storytelling. But it seems everything eventually gets a remaster/reboot/retelling/rerun/rerererararan outta new content….

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    1. She’s got some wonderful science-fiction novels that I’ve read and enjoyed. I’m definitely curious to see what she’s going to deliver with Ithaca. I did read King’s Gunslinger series which is one of his super rare fantasy novels with a touch of western. I wonder what kind of story he’s got for us in Fairy Tale. Yep, I’m a huge fan of The Last of Us, especially the first one. It’s the second one that turned out quite controversial (story-wise) but was still a phenomenal game in all other aspects. And you’re absolutely right. Everything nowadays gets that rererereran treatment. A bit sad when you wonder if some people/companies just gave up on “original” content.

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  12. The new Stephen King novel looks very promising, and it starts with one of his favorite combinations of elements: teenage kid saddled with a difficult life and an older mentor/friend who drives him toward unexpected discoveries. I’m very optimistic 🙂
    And yesterday I watched the first episode of The Rings of Power: it’s too early to tell, but the attention to visual detail makes me hopeful, so far…

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  14. Lol! I’m looking forward to sweater weather for different reasons, lol! It’s the one of the few times of the year that I enjoy dressing up everyday because I have SO many options, lol.
    Anyway, I’m looking forward to the Woman King too and Rings of Power. For the latter, I think it might work better for a viewer like me who isn’t crazy about the source material.

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  18. I’ve seen the first two episodes of Rings of Power, and to be honest, I found them quite boring. That and it does go directly against established Tolkien lore in a number of ways, and I’m not talking about characters’ races either.

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