Monthly Archives: January 2014

Non-fiction 4 About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who, 2005-2006; Series 1 & 2, by Tat Wood Amsterdam, by Russell Shorto British Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, eds Ciaran Brady and Jane Ohlmeyer Do Elephants Ever Forget?, by Guy … Continue reading →

Devoted to voting Excellent profile of my former intern, Jenny de Nijs. (Though her time with ID has been edited out!)(tags: eu li ) Which is your favourite Hugo-wining novel? Important poll!(tags: sf ) Dr. Seuss Went to War The … Continue reading →

Views on this book were mixed in my what-to-read-in-2014 poll, but I have to say I rather enjoyed it. Like Paul Cornell's London Falling, which I read this time last year, it has contemporary London police being caught up in … Continue reading →

It took me ages to track down the sixth volume of this manga series about bringing up an autistic child in contemporary Japan, but it was worth waiting for. Here, Hikaru has started to hit puberty, and has to be … Continue reading →

A rather odd Eighth Doctor Adventure, with the Doctor, Fitz and Anji trapped in a fantasy world where fairy-tales (hence the ‘Grimm’ of the title) are more or less true. Some good Anji moments in particular, and a few nice … Continue reading →

I sent an old friend an email yesterday to ask about a particular policy issue in his country, which I used to follow quite closely but have slightly lost track of recently. He called me back today, saying that he … Continue reading →

As before, I have tabulated how many people list the shortlisted works for the BSFA Award on the two major library sites, Goodreads and LibraryThing, and what average rating the books have been given. Goodreads Librarything number average number average … Continue reading →

CurrentDouble Down, by Mark Halperin and John HeilemanJane Austen, by Claire TomalinCrowe’s Requiem, by Mike McCormackThe Big Finish Companion v1, by Richard Dinnick Last books finished[Doctor Who] The Death Put, by A.L. Kennedy[Doctor Who] Pest Control, by Peter AnghelidesThe Rabbi’s … Continue reading →

Northern part of Cyprus decriminalises homosexuality Step by step!(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality cyprus ) How did we get the teaching of Irish so wrong? Good question, not really answered.(tags: languages ireland ) All Thi”Quoth” the raven? The heartwarming tale of a defective … Continue reading →

A nice little book of scientific trivia for the younger reader, similar to the slightly less genteel Why Is Snot Green? / How Loud Can You Burp? books. No big surprises, though it’s interesting to note that nobody has yet … Continue reading →

The Straight Dope: Is the lost city of Atlantis at the bottom of a lake in North Dakota? Er, no.(tags: funny ancientmysteries )

This was the 50th Anniversary release in Big Finish’s Companion Chronicles series – a story told by Carole Ann Ford as Susan, explaining the very first adventure that she and the Doctor had after leaving Gallifrey and landing on Earth. … Continue reading →

A collection of essays published as a Festschrift for Aidan Clarke, mainly concentrating on the first half of the 17th century though with a couple delving back into the Elizabethan period which interests me more. Which is not to say … Continue reading →

Bulgaria introduces “preferential voting” This seems to mean “open lists”.(tags: bulgaria elections ) Brussels’ 007 dimension Kristof Clerix reports (thanks, @edwardlucas).(tags: belgium spying ) 13 reasons why I am taking the Daily Mail to the Press Complaints Commission Listing the … Continue reading →

I think the only other Rendell I’ve read is Thirteen Steps Down, which has a similar setting in the socially fragmented London of the Noughties; The Saint Zita Society features at its core those who work for the rich in … Continue reading →

An audio that will really appeal to those who are already fans of the Big Finish storyline with Hex, which appeared to have come to an end back in 2012. The first episode is practically a two-hander between Sylvester McCoy … Continue reading →

The Brittle Grip, Part 2 Josh Marshall on the wealthy.(tags: uspolitics )

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, O, what a panic's in thy breastie!   Thou need na start awa sae hasty     Wi bickering brattle!   I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,     Wi' murdering pattle. … Continue reading →

Crumbs. I’ve been trying to read a bit more of the great modernist writers, but I found this really too opaque for my commuting brain; I got that there was a murder and long-lost siblings and racism and slavery and … Continue reading →

Occasionally my reading and/or listening schedule generates an interesting pairing, and this is the first such this year: Paul Cornell's 1996 novel featuring the wedding of Bernice Summerfield, and Big Finish's 2012 play (a charity performance for ME research, with … Continue reading →

The Myth of the Shrinking EU Press Corps @garethharding looks at the real data.(tags: eu ) What if the annoyances of conference calls happened in real-life meetings. Ow ow ow!!!(tags: video funny ) A Beautiful Bouquet: the Pamirs Peter reports.(tags: … Continue reading →

Sea is for Cookie It’s good enough for me.(tags: art ) The Definitive Ranking Of London Tube Lines There is some room for reasonable disagreement, but not about the DLR.(tags: london travel ) Report: Most Americans Can’t Even Name Their … Continue reading →

This is part of my reading of past winners of the Tiptree (and Clarke and BSFA) Award; I must say I had not heard of either book other than in this context; I was pleasantly surprised. Walk to the End … Continue reading →

Hooray! The first of the sf award shortlists of this year are out, the pleasingly eclectic Kitschies, which celebrate “progressive, intelligent and entertaining books that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic”. This also means I can do my first … Continue reading →

What Grantland Got Wrong A closer examination of Grantland’s mistakes on trans issues.(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality ) The Dr. V Story: A Letter From the Editor Grantland apologises for its appalling treatment of a trans inventor, who then committed suicide.(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality ) … Continue reading →

CurrentBritish Interventions in Early Modern Ireland, eds Ciaran Brady and Jane OhlmeyerDo Elephants Ever Forget?, by Guy CampbellWith The Light vol 6, by Keiko Tobe[Doctor Who] Grimm Reality by Simon Bucher-Jones and Kelly HaleThe Big Finish Companion v1, by Richard … Continue reading →

What Makes Jo Walton So Great Hear, hear!(tags: sf )

Back in November, the day after Doctor Who's 50th birthday, a lot of people were pointing out that it was the 30th anniversary of the publication of The Colour of Magic, on 24 November 1983. As I've been noting elsewhere, … Continue reading →

Tom Baker interviews released on his 80th birthday “I’m Doctor Who again, you know, so my happiness is restored!”(tags: doctor who doctor who: 04 ) Agreement reached between Olli Rehn and Guy Verhofstadt European Liberals sort out their candidates.(For good … Continue reading →

Continuing my intention of blogging Big Finish audios as I listen to them: this is a story with Katy Manning doing Jo Grant, investigating a dangerous entity which exists only as sounds. This is a classic audio story set-up and … Continue reading →