I started reading this 2025 comic fantasy novel this weekend which leapfrogged the TBR list because my daughter and wife recommended it and if I don't read it quick my daughter will take it home Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by @deathbybadger.bsky.social published by Hodderscape

This was a much needed relief from the grimness of the last book I read and this is a very good entry in the NSA range. I was a bit surprised when all the clowns turned up and I did wonder if the ending may have been too continuity heavy for new series fans but it was a light breezy read

Thirteen by Richard Morgan (originally published as Black Man) Just finished this. It is a long read coming in at over 600 pages. It does an incredible job of world building and extrapolates quite well at how the US could fragment politically. On a human level it succeeds less well as there are...

I had a poster of this above my bed at University

Watching The Traitors - Canada on BBC I-player. Host Karine Vanasse is giving definite Servalan vibes with a number of her outfits #Blakes7

strawpoll.com/GJn44mP8qnz #EFLLeagueOne26_27Ranking Round 2 (Poll 1 of 8) Please vote & share

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 1. The Harvest of Time by Alistair Reynolds (2013) We have a winner. This book features The Third Doctor, Jo Grant and UNIT and really feels like a lost TV episode. The Master is imprisoned and there are strange goings on aboard a North Sea Oli Rig. Not surprised it won.

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 2. The Wheel of Ice by Stephen Baxter (2012) The winners in this round are the two original novels featuring past Doctors from established science fiction writers. Here Stephen Baxter who won the Philip K. Dick award for his 1995 sequel to The Time Machine - The Time Ships

So next up from my TBR shelf is my father's day present from my daughter. She has a very good local bookshop she uses and knows I have recently started buying Gollancz SF Masterworks. I was not familiar with this book, though it did win the 2007 Arthur C. Clarke prize so it is a journey of discovery

I have recently started picking up a few of these but apparently there are 179 of them in the format so I have written myself a top ten wants list for Gollancz SF Masterworks. My daughter bought me Thirteen by Richard Morgan for Father's Day

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 3. The Krikketmen by Douglas Adams & James Goss (2018) Before it became Life, The Universe & Everything this plot started out as an uncommissioned Doctor Who script following his successful adaptations of City of Death and The Pirate Planet James Goss gives us his take on it

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 4. Scratchman by Tom Baker & James Goss (2019) When this was published there was a lot of people who said what a shame it was the movie was never produced but if you have seen any British movie from the 1970s based on a TV series it is probably no bad thing this is all we got

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 5. Engines of War by George Mann (2014) The only book that was published which featured John Hurt's War Doctor. It is a strong book and I enjoyed reading it. The Gallifrey sections felt a bit reminiscent of The Eight Doctors but it fills a gap. There could have been more

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 6. All Flesh is Grass by Una McCormack (TLV 2) (2020) Halfway through this book it suddenly shifts gear & everything starts to come together. If both books had been at that level then they might have been higher. Not to be confused with the Clifford D. Simak novel.

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 7. The Knight, The Fool & The Dead (TLV 1) (2020) As someone who only read the books from the Time Lord Victorious multimedia event its possible that the wealth of background material passed me by so I was underwhelmed by the the novels - looks like I wasn't the only one

#DoctorWhoNSARanking 8. The Drosten's Curse by A L Kennedy (2015) This features a companionless Fourth Doctor and was expanded from a previously published short story. It is not a bad read but it feels very orphaned from the TV series despite having a character named David Agnew in it

Started reading this at the weekend. Originally published in 2011 this one got the reprint treatment so I am hoping for good this. First book by @naomialderman.bsky.social that I have read. I do like this TARDIS team

strawpoll.com/GJn44mOw6nz The final poll for today is The War Doctor vs Time Lord Victorious

Next up we have book 2 of the Star Wars Corellian trilogy by Roger Macbride Allen published by Bantam book. This book is over 30 years old

Read this the other day. It actually feels like a New Series episode with its limited setting and characters but it does what it sets out to do without dwelling too much on continuity. I read it to complete this series most of which I borrowed from libraries

Earlier this week my wife and I had a lovely mini break at The Sheep Sanctuary in Whitby Saw dolphins on a boat trip round the bay and visited Robin Hood's Bay

Post a photo from 2019

Gone to audition for a role in the Blake's 7 reboot

Over on #X I am running a poll to decide which my next #DoctorWhoNSARanking project should be. The choices are Twelfth Doctor or the miscellaneous books. I know that at least three people have voted but the results are still showing zero This is driving me mad because I only stayed for the polls

#IsaacAsimovNovelRanking 6. Foundation and Earth (1986) 5. The Robots of Dawn (1983) 4. Robots & Empire (1985) 3. Foundation & Empire (1952) 2. Second Foundation (1953) 1. Foundation (1951)

#IsaacAsimovNovelRanking 15. Nemesis (1989) 14. The End of Eternity (1955) 13. The Stars, Like Dust (1951) 12. The Naked Sun (1957) 11. Prelude to Foundation (1988) 10. Forward the Foundation (1993) 9. Foundation's Edge (1982) 8. The Caves of Steel (1954) 7. The Gods Themselves (1972)

Over on the Other Place I have just completed my Isaac Asimov novel countdown but I thought people here might be interested in the results 19. Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (1987) 18. The Currents of Space (1952) 17. Pebble in the Sky (1950) 16. Fantastic Voyage (1966)

It was my wedding anniversary last week and my wife bought me the very nice @gollancz.bsky.social SF Masterworks edition of The Forever War so this has jumped to the top of my to read list as I try to catch up on some classic SF Joe Haldeman is the second earliest surviving winner of the Hugo award

Finished this at the weekend. Overall it is an enjoyable read and gives us some Time War action but the middle third gets bogged down in classic Who Gallifrey lore which reminds me a bit of The Eight Doctors. As the book went on I kept reading the John Hurt version of the Doctor as Peter Capaldi