2025 Awards Book Club nears the end with award nominees “Asunder,” “The Ministry of Time,” and “The Tainted Cup.” Plus: What else are we reading?

2025 Awards Book Club, part 3

Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Heather Berberet

What are we reading?

Aleen: Sounds Like Love and Saint Death’s Daughter

Erika: The Assassin’s Blade and Moonstorm

Heather: When Women Were Dragons and Atmosphere

Scott: Shroud

Jason: Shroud, and also the Barker & Llewellyn series

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We went to the theater to see James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) and are back to report about the pleasant experience. Gunn sets a new direction for DC superheroes, and fans of Zack Snyder may want to look elsewhere. From Krypto the Superdog to a surprising squirrel save, from The Marvelous Miss Lane to that Elemento guy, we’ll break the whole thing down.

"Superman" (2025)

Jason Snell with Tony Sindelar, Dan Moren, Shannon Sudderth, Chip Sudderth and Brian Warren

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We remain submerged for a very long time to watch a very long film, 1981’s “Das Boot.” This certifiable classic is certainly long and German, encompassing almost everything you might expect in the genre. There’s action, suspense, a lot of character moments, and long periods of tedium spent listening for bad sounds, punctuated by moments of terror as the boat goes to eleven (and beyond).

"Das Boot" (1981)

Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Brian Warren, Casey Liss, Dan Moren and Philip Michaels

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The Summer of Submarines joins forces with Old Movie Club to take on 1958’s “Run Silent, Run Deep,” starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. It’s a tense thriller that has inspired sub and sci-fi movies for many decades. Erika’s gleeful reaction to the film’s abrupt ending may surprise you!

"Run Silent, Run Deep" (1958)

Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Philip Michaels, Shelly Brisbin, Dan Moren and Casey Liss

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The summer of submarines kicks off with 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” a taut character drama that pits a captain (Gene Hackman) against his XO (Denzel Washington) in a conflict that escalates as global tensions rise outside their nuclear submarine.

"Crimson Tide"

Jason Snell with Philip Michaels, Lisa Schmeiser, Dan Moren, Casey Liss and Erika Ensign

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With the guiding hand of Prof. Siracusa choosing the curriculum, we watch select animated shorts from the Netflix series “Love, Death + Robots.” John’s quest to find the perfect photorealistic CGI animation continues. Tony does his companions a solid if he’s ever killed on a moon. The others debate if they represent love, death, or robots. We try to reconnect with our inner pool-polishing robots. It’s a real team effort.

"Love, Death + Robots"

Jason Snell with John Siracusa, Annette Wierstra, Brian Hamilton and Tony Sindelar

Here’s the viewing list for the Love, Death & Robots episode of The Incomparable.

Plus one (optional) upsetting bonus episode:

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The second (and final?) season of the BBC/Disney+ collaboration era of “Doctor Who” is at an end, and so our crew of fans is here to pick up the pieces and ponder what went right and (unfortunately) what went wrong. Where does this franchise go from here?

"Doctor Who" season 2 wrap-up

Jason Snell with Steven Schapansky, Erika Ensign, Chip Sudderth, Annette Wierstra and Heather Berberet

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We conclude (for now?) our coverage of the TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time, which was just canceled by Amazon. Three seasons in, we cover whether we think it is still worth watching despite cancellation (we do) and how well the show’s third (and final?) season fulfills the promise of it coming into its power.

"The Wheel of Time" season 3

Moisés Chiullán with Sarah Hendrica Bickerton, Heather Berberet, Bryan Guffey and Kathy Campbell

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Our Awards Book Club continues its run through the roses with a tougher than expected review of Vajra Chandrasekera’s “Rakesfall,” Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Alien Clay,” and Kelly Link’s “The Book of Love.”

2025 Awards Book Club, part 2

Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms and Erika Ensign

What are we reading?

Scott: Strong Female Character by Fern Brady, The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsu Kang, Making History by KJ Parker

Aleen: Dauntless Path series by Intisar Khanani

Erika: Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

Jason: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson

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Guillermo del Toro’s career started small, with the small-scale vampire (sort of) horror (sort of?) movie “Cronos,” in which an old man finds a mechanical object containing a magical bug that gives him eternal life in the bad way. Meanwhile, young Ron Perlman hates his evil uncle but continues to do his bidding! It’s a fun 1992 throwback that is still recognizeably del Toro.

"Cronos" (1992)

Jason Snell with Steve Lutz, Moisés Chiullán and Tony Sindelar

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