The Fantasy Book Worm
@fantasybookworm42.bsky.social
I read nerdy books and share my thoughts on them, usually though not always in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and especially #DoctorWho tie-ins.
He/they, autistic, poly, kink-positive.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights #LetWomenSpeak
He/they, autistic, poly, kink-positive.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights #LetWomenSpeak
Rewatched The Green Death recently. There's something quite compelling about a megalomaniacal super computer whose entire motivation is literally just capitalism. #DoctorWho
November 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Rewatched The Green Death recently. There's something quite compelling about a megalomaniacal super computer whose entire motivation is literally just capitalism. #DoctorWho
This was the cover
November 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
This was the cover
I made some posts earlier this year talking about my favourite opening lines to books. Somehow I neglected to mention this gem from Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers #RedDwarf 📚🪐
November 10, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I made some posts earlier this year talking about my favourite opening lines to books. Somehow I neglected to mention this gem from Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers #RedDwarf 📚🪐
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Doctor Who", or "Transformers."
Robby the Robot, here appearing in Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem
Robby the Robot, here appearing in Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem
October 31, 2025 at 10:17 PM
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Doctor Who", or "Transformers."
Robby the Robot, here appearing in Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem
Robby the Robot, here appearing in Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem
With the best will in the world, episode concepts like Better Than Life were never going to be exploited to their full potential on an '80s BBC sitcom budget. The novelisation takes FULL advantage of being freed from that restraint and I'd recommend it for that alone #RedDwarf 📚🪐
October 31, 2025 at 6:28 PM
With the best will in the world, episode concepts like Better Than Life were never going to be exploited to their full potential on an '80s BBC sitcom budget. The novelisation takes FULL advantage of being freed from that restraint and I'd recommend it for that alone #RedDwarf 📚🪐
Have now acquired all of the original series 2 tie-in novels. Apologies if the paperback/hardback inconsistency is annoying to some people, I try to get hold of these books as cheaply as I can (in reasonable condition) #DoctorWho 📚🪐
October 22, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Have now acquired all of the original series 2 tie-in novels. Apologies if the paperback/hardback inconsistency is annoying to some people, I try to get hold of these books as cheaply as I can (in reasonable condition) #DoctorWho 📚🪐
I recently listened to Max Warp again. Overall it's a good script by Jonathan Morris, albeit dated by its very specific metatextual reference, but there is one moment early on where I believe a small tweak would have made a vast improvement #DoctorWho #BigFinish
October 14, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I recently listened to Max Warp again. Overall it's a good script by Jonathan Morris, albeit dated by its very specific metatextual reference, but there is one moment early on where I believe a small tweak would have made a vast improvement #DoctorWho #BigFinish
This was not exactly the kind of post I was looking for when I browsed the #Reading hashtag, but being an autistic stereotype I'm not going to complain
October 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
This was not exactly the kind of post I was looking for when I browsed the #Reading hashtag, but being an autistic stereotype I'm not going to complain
Considering how much of a Philip Reeve fan I am it's taken me some time to get to reading this, but I'm glad I finally am. Loving it so far! #Reading 📚🪐
October 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Considering how much of a Philip Reeve fan I am it's taken me some time to get to reading this, but I'm glad I finally am. Loving it so far! #Reading 📚🪐
I don't know who wrote this quote but it reads like the reviewer was simultaneously taking a swipe at both JK Rowling and Enid Blyton, which I'm totally here for #Reading
October 9, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I don't know who wrote this quote but it reads like the reviewer was simultaneously taking a swipe at both JK Rowling and Enid Blyton, which I'm totally here for #Reading
I'm curious whether this novel being commissioned resulted from a meeting with Justin Richards and the show staff that was like "we need to have at least one book be set on the Powell Estate," given it was clearly a conscious decision when reviving #DoctorWho to focus more on the domestic side
October 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I'm curious whether this novel being commissioned resulted from a meeting with Justin Richards and the show staff that was like "we need to have at least one book be set on the Powell Estate," given it was clearly a conscious decision when reviving #DoctorWho to focus more on the domestic side
The Netflix MLP movie is not flawless but I maintain this specific moment of Izzy standing there being totally wholesome doing no harm to anyone while the other ponies are charging around in frenzied panic because she's a unicorn is crushingly relevant right now, almost depressingly so #MyLittlePony
October 4, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The Netflix MLP movie is not flawless but I maintain this specific moment of Izzy standing there being totally wholesome doing no harm to anyone while the other ponies are charging around in frenzied panic because she's a unicorn is crushingly relevant right now, almost depressingly so #MyLittlePony
The 9th Doctor books feel uniquely integrated with the show when compared with the later NSAs to me, with "bad wolf" being mentioned in every book, The Monsters Inside being Rose's first visit to an alien planet and then that story actually getting referenced onscreen #DoctorWho
September 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
The 9th Doctor books feel uniquely integrated with the show when compared with the later NSAs to me, with "bad wolf" being mentioned in every book, The Monsters Inside being Rose's first visit to an alien planet and then that story actually getting referenced onscreen #DoctorWho
A Web of Air by Philip Reeve, and So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams. Two books that to me have the vibe of an author just being done with writing what the audience expects and going off on a complete tangent, almost as though trolling (love both incidentally) #BookSky 📚🪐
September 26, 2025 at 7:29 AM
A Web of Air by Philip Reeve, and So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams. Two books that to me have the vibe of an author just being done with writing what the audience expects and going off on a complete tangent, almost as though trolling (love both incidentally) #BookSky 📚🪐
I ordered a book recently and it arrived with this photo inside the cover. Don't know why it was in the book or who put it there. Should I be concerned #BookSky?
September 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I ordered a book recently and it arrived with this photo inside the cover. Don't know why it was in the book or who put it there. Should I be concerned #BookSky?
Reorganising my bookshelves so my #DoctorWho NSAs are now all in the correct order
September 23, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reorganising my bookshelves so my #DoctorWho NSAs are now all in the correct order
Found pristine new copies of two of my favourite books in the charity shop today. About time I replaced the dog-eared copies I've had since I was at school #BookSky 📚🪐
September 23, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Found pristine new copies of two of my favourite books in the charity shop today. About time I replaced the dog-eared copies I've had since I was at school #BookSky 📚🪐
1. The Stealers of Dreams, by Steve Lyons (5/5)
Fantastic! Ambitious high-concept sci-fi exploring how a civilisation becomes stunted by an environmental problem, and an interesting twist on the "fiction is outlawed" dystopia trope. How can you imagine a better world when imagination is dangerous?
Fantastic! Ambitious high-concept sci-fi exploring how a civilisation becomes stunted by an environmental problem, and an interesting twist on the "fiction is outlawed" dystopia trope. How can you imagine a better world when imagination is dangerous?
September 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
1. The Stealers of Dreams, by Steve Lyons (5/5)
Fantastic! Ambitious high-concept sci-fi exploring how a civilisation becomes stunted by an environmental problem, and an interesting twist on the "fiction is outlawed" dystopia trope. How can you imagine a better world when imagination is dangerous?
Fantastic! Ambitious high-concept sci-fi exploring how a civilisation becomes stunted by an environmental problem, and an interesting twist on the "fiction is outlawed" dystopia trope. How can you imagine a better world when imagination is dangerous?
2. The Monsters Inside, by Stephen Cole (5/5)
Now we're into the good stuff. This one has an ambitious sense of scale, spread over multiple planets with a space opera vibe. It's also pretty brutal with its commentary on the prison system. Neat that Justicia actually gets a reference in the show
Now we're into the good stuff. This one has an ambitious sense of scale, spread over multiple planets with a space opera vibe. It's also pretty brutal with its commentary on the prison system. Neat that Justicia actually gets a reference in the show
September 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
2. The Monsters Inside, by Stephen Cole (5/5)
Now we're into the good stuff. This one has an ambitious sense of scale, spread over multiple planets with a space opera vibe. It's also pretty brutal with its commentary on the prison system. Neat that Justicia actually gets a reference in the show
Now we're into the good stuff. This one has an ambitious sense of scale, spread over multiple planets with a space opera vibe. It's also pretty brutal with its commentary on the prison system. Neat that Justicia actually gets a reference in the show
3. The Deviant Strain, by Justin Richards (4/5)
This is just Doctor Who bread and butter really. A creepy base-under-siege story in an isolated location. Nothing groundbreaking here, but what it does it does effectively. Also the book is literally just named after the typeface on the cover.
This is just Doctor Who bread and butter really. A creepy base-under-siege story in an isolated location. Nothing groundbreaking here, but what it does it does effectively. Also the book is literally just named after the typeface on the cover.
September 18, 2025 at 4:58 PM
3. The Deviant Strain, by Justin Richards (4/5)
This is just Doctor Who bread and butter really. A creepy base-under-siege story in an isolated location. Nothing groundbreaking here, but what it does it does effectively. Also the book is literally just named after the typeface on the cover.
This is just Doctor Who bread and butter really. A creepy base-under-siege story in an isolated location. Nothing groundbreaking here, but what it does it does effectively. Also the book is literally just named after the typeface on the cover.
4. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards (3/5)
The pacing of this book can be summed up by the fact it grinds to a halt so the Doctor and Rose can visit the British Empire exhibition and gush about the British Empire being like the EU. Huh?? Still, it has clockwork cats, so that's cool
The pacing of this book can be summed up by the fact it grinds to a halt so the Doctor and Rose can visit the British Empire exhibition and gush about the British Empire being like the EU. Huh?? Still, it has clockwork cats, so that's cool
September 18, 2025 at 4:53 PM
4. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards (3/5)
The pacing of this book can be summed up by the fact it grinds to a halt so the Doctor and Rose can visit the British Empire exhibition and gush about the British Empire being like the EU. Huh?? Still, it has clockwork cats, so that's cool
The pacing of this book can be summed up by the fact it grinds to a halt so the Doctor and Rose can visit the British Empire exhibition and gush about the British Empire being like the EU. Huh?? Still, it has clockwork cats, so that's cool
5. Winner Takes All, by Jacqueline Rayner (3/5)
I've admittedly not read this one in a while but I recall it has a kind of juvenile plot about video games and a bunch of POVs from a young kid fantasising about Rose that I just found uncomfortable to read. I don't enjoy stuff that makes me cringe
I've admittedly not read this one in a while but I recall it has a kind of juvenile plot about video games and a bunch of POVs from a young kid fantasising about Rose that I just found uncomfortable to read. I don't enjoy stuff that makes me cringe
September 18, 2025 at 4:41 PM
5. Winner Takes All, by Jacqueline Rayner (3/5)
I've admittedly not read this one in a while but I recall it has a kind of juvenile plot about video games and a bunch of POVs from a young kid fantasising about Rose that I just found uncomfortable to read. I don't enjoy stuff that makes me cringe
I've admittedly not read this one in a while but I recall it has a kind of juvenile plot about video games and a bunch of POVs from a young kid fantasising about Rose that I just found uncomfortable to read. I don't enjoy stuff that makes me cringe
So I'm gonna do a ranking of the 9th Doctor novels now that I've just finished re-reading The Monsters Inside. Note that I'm not including Only Human by Gareth Roberts because I've not read it and have no intention to do so #DoctorWho #BookSky 📚🪐
September 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
So I'm gonna do a ranking of the 9th Doctor novels now that I've just finished re-reading The Monsters Inside. Note that I'm not including Only Human by Gareth Roberts because I've not read it and have no intention to do so #DoctorWho #BookSky 📚🪐