This week I returned to my comfort read through of the BBC Doctor Who Eighth Doctor Adventures with the next in the series, Option Lock by Justin Richards. For those not aware of these series, there was a time when Doctor Who was not on television and following the mixed reactions to Paul McGann’s TV movie representation of the Eighth
Read more
As a self-confessed book addict, I buy a lot of books that I intend to read. Many more than I actually have time to read these days. Bernard Cornwell’s famous Sharpe series has long been sitting on my shelves, awaiting the suitable occasion to be the next in my reading list. Before even starting the series I came across the
Read more
When a group of fantasy nerds get together and start the inevitable discussion of favourite fantasy novels The Lies of Locke Lamora gets mentioned. It picked up nominations for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Locus awards for best novel on publication in 2007, and has been on my reading list since then. Having finally got round to it in
Read more
Next on my reading list this year was another HG Wells classic, albeit one of his lesser known works. The Food of the Gods is a typical example of the classic Science Fiction building block “What If?”
Read more
I was fortunate enough to be sent an ARC of Lavie Tidhar’s The Circumference of the World for review and to my shame have only this week got around to making my way through it.
Read more
My first read in 2025 was also my first read of anything by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I have a couple of his books on the shelf, but had never got round to them. Most certainly a mistake on my part. I knew from his reputation alone that I should expect some form of insect in the book, I did not leave
Read more
It was my first time in a very long time returning to anything by HG Wells and I’d forgotten quite how good a writer he was, which seems a silly thing to say about undoubtedly one of the most influential Science Fiction authors of all time, but it is my overriding impression after finishing my final read of 2024.
Read more
Another entry, number 7, in the 73 book long 8th Doctor series by BBC books following the continuing adventures of The Doctor and his latest assistant Sam Jones. Before diving into the plot I feel I can’t continue without a small confession. I attempted to start this book four or five times over the past few months and never really
Read more
Through no fault of the authors, I’ve read two very similar books back to back. The normal “Hero’s journey” tropes apply, emphasised by the genre itself. A young man finds his life thrown into turmoil by an unexpected, fantastical, event and is launched from a typical, boring life into a realm hitherto unknown to him. He discovers new powers within
Read more
I’ve been aware of China Miéville, and his reputation for writing weird stories, for some time but it was only very recently that I made my first foray into his work, with the exceedingly excellent and undoubtedly weird The City and the City. Being inevitably drawn in to his style, imagination and sheer gall at writing such a weird story,
Read more
Zealot Script 