Doctor Who books (fiction, nonfiction, nonfact)

[kirk55555]

I just got the TARDIS Type 40 Instruction manual. Anyone who likes the Star Trek tech manuals should grab it immediately, and even just people who like the TARDIS in general. It has a lot of cool stuff, including a big section about all the TARDIS interiors from the first one all the way up to and including the 13th Doctor's TARDIS (and several non-Doctor TARDISes), and its all well written (specifically, its written from an in universe perspective).

Its less "trying to be somewhat scientifically possible" then the old Trek Tech manuals, but quality wise its about as good, its just a great book for people who like stuff like this.

 

[Steve Roby]

I've been reading a few of the NSAs. I'm many years behind, partly saving for a rainy day, partly because some of them have been a bit too much on the younger readers' side of things. But I'm enjoying these ones. Gary Russell's The Glamour Chase was okay, nothing spectacular but readable (I've liked some of his significantly more than this, and at least one I liked a lot less). But the next two were considerably more enjoyable. James Goss's Dead of Winter and Una McCormack's The Way Through the Woods, were well told stories with fresh approaches to stories that weren't, at core, too far removed from other Doctor Who stories we've experienced before. But they both focus on the Doctor/Amy/Rory relationship quite nicely while introducing well-drawn new characters in spooky circumstances. The NSAs may not be the NAs or the EDAs, but I'm glad to be reminded that there's still some good reading there.

 

[Turtletrekker]

This keeps popping up in my newsfeed, so if I can't ignore it, neither can you.

It would seem that a short story written by Gareth Roberts has been excised from an upcoming volume due to his transphobic views.

(At least) One of the writers contacted BBC books questioning Roberts contribution, stating that she would rather have her story removed than appear in the same compilation as him. She fully expected to be the one who was bounced due to Gareth Roberts actually being a name in Doctor Who, but the publisher went in a different direction.

https://boundingintocomics.com/2019...mped-by-bbc-books-for-stance-on-transgenders/

 

[jaime]

This keeps popping up in my newsfeed, so if I can't ignore it neither can you.

It would seem that a short story written by Gareth Roberts has been excised from an upcoming volume due to his transphobic views.

(At least) One of the writers contacted BBC books questioning Roberts contribution, stating that she would rather have her story removed than appear in the same compilation as him. She fully expected to be the one who was bounced due to Gareth Roberts actually being a name in Doctor Who, but the publisher went in a different direction.

https://boundingintocomics.com/2019...mped-by-bbc-books-for-stance-on-transgenders/

Hes a very grumpy chap, but i never thought i would see the day when this would happen. Its literally Gay vs Trans. Sad day.

Edit: read story. Remembered the tweets at the time. Sigh. And its Gay vs Lesbians about Trans. And Roberts wasnt even being that grumpy. Mind you...i believe his household is also conservative...

 

[jaime]

This turned up while i was reading about the roberts story. And its amazing.

http://www.curufea.com/doku.php?id=faction:factionfinal

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Ugh. Has that site never heard of a return carriage? I guess I should be grateful they bolded the questions. Ugh.

 

[jaime]

Ugh. Has that site never heard of a return carriage? I guess I should be grateful they bolded the questions. Ugh.

It was very old.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

...and...?

What, did typewriters not have return carriages?

 

[jaime]

...and...?

What, did typewriters not have return carriages?

Its not that old.

Somewhere in the middle. Like...2002ish maybe. I didnt check the dates.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

*whoosh*

 

[Awesome Possum]

This keeps popping up in my newsfeed, so if I can't ignore it neither can you.

It would seem that a short story written by Gareth Roberts has been excised from an upcoming volume due to his transphobic views.

(At least) One of the writers contacted BBC books questioning Roberts contribution, stating that she would rather have her story removed than appear in the same compilation as him. She fully expected to be the one who was bounced due to Gareth Roberts actually being a name in Doctor Who, but the publisher went in a different direction.

https://boundingintocomics.com/2019...mped-by-bbc-books-for-stance-on-transgenders/

I’ve enjoyed his stories, learning this about him was extremely disappointing and makes it nearly impossible to enjoy his stories, same goes for Graham Linehan who is worse and now harasses people online and tries to prevent charities for children from getting funding.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Ugh. Has that site never heard of a return carriage? I guess I should be grateful they bolded the questions. Ugh.

I remember that interview when it was originally published. I even have it saved to my computer. It had hard returns, and Miles' answers were broken up into paragraphs.

 

[jaime]

I remember that interview when it was originally published. I even have it saved to my computer. It had hard returns, and Miles' answers were broken up into paragraphs.

Bad formatting then xD

Still. What an interview. And that era of Who books practically shaped the new series. I only got to read unnatural history recntly, and man, Clara owes a lot to Sam, and trenzalore is san francisco. The War and stuff was more an always obvious influence. I suppose Turn Left owes a fair chunk to the Dark Sam concept too.

I had hoped Graham was going to be Fitz like. But never really got that. Catain Jack owes him a debt though.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Titan's Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #9, out yesterday, begins a story arc with...

Spoiler

The Corsair!

 

[Mr Awe]

same goes for Graham Linehan who is worse and now harasses people online and tries to prevent charities for children from getting funding.

Well, fuck. There goes being able to enjoy Father Ted!

 

[Awesome Possum]

Well, fuck. There goes being able to enjoy Father Ted!

Yeah, it and IT Crowd. I know separate the art from the artist, but it’s really hard when they’re that awful. The charity ended up getting its funding and a YouTuber ran a multiday video game livestream of Donkey Kong 64 which raised a lot of money largely out of spite because of it, so that worked out well.

 

[Mr Awe]

Yeah, it and IT Crowd. I know separate the art from the artist, but it’s really hard when they’re that awful. The charity ended up getting its funding and a YouTuber ran a multiday video game livestream of Donkey Kong 64 which raised a lot of money largely out of spite because of it, so that worked out well.

I'm not familiar with IT Crowd, but I love(d) Father Ted. Very disappointing to hear. I'm glad to hear that the charity worked out well anyway!

 

[Lonemagpie]

Well, fuck. There goes being able to enjoy Father Ted!

Well, there's still the other writer, Arthur Mathews, who hopefully isn't a douche.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Elizabeth Sandifer takes a look at The Missy Chronicles in her latest TARDIS Eruditorum essay. It's a strange essay. I might even call it misguided, because in reading Sandifer's criticism of the book, particular its writers and edtior, it's not at all clear to me that she really understands how publishing, let alone the specific requirements of tie-in publishing, works. Could the list of writers be more diverse? Sure? Could we have writers who weren't writing Doctor Who tie-in fiction in the 90s? Sure. But you also have to have writers who can write to licensor rquirements and approvals, on an often short deadline, for not a lot of money. That limits the list of potential writers, and an editor is going to turn to an established hand pretty much every time. (Which is why, for instance, the Star Trek novels are written by the same half-dozen people, why the Doctor Who novels are written by the same dozen people, etc.)

Eventually, Sandifer gets to the stories, which she seems to have generally found interesting as they give her something to discuss about whether or not Missy works as a character independent of the Doctor. It occurs to me there should be a Missy/Iris story.

 

[jaime]

Elizabeth Sandifer takes a look at The Missy Chronicles in her latest TARDIS Eruditorum essay. It's a strange essay. I might even call it misguided, because in reading Sandifer's criticism of the book, particular its writers and edtior, it's not at all clear to me that she really understands how publishing, let alone the specific requirements of tie-in publishing, works. Could the list of writers be more diverse? Sure? Could we have writers who weren't writing Doctor Who tie-in fiction in the 90s? Sure. But you also have to have writers who can write to licensor rquirements and approvals, on an often short deadline, for not a lot of money. That limits the list of potential writers, and an editor is going to turn to an established hand pretty much every time. (Which is why, for instance, the Star Trek novels are written by the same half-dozen people, why the Doctor Who novels are written by the same dozen people, etc.)

Eventually, Sandifer gets to the stories, which she seems to have generally found interesting as they give her something to discuss about whether or not Missy works as a character independent of the Doctor. It occurs to me there should be a Missy/Iris story.

Friend of mine turned down a torchwood novel because it simply didn’t pay enough.
This friend wasn’t Neil Gaiman or Steven King, so you can imagine he wasn’t exactly turning down a bucketload of cash.
It is frustrating there are never new authors, but frankly ‘diversity’ for once shouldn’t be a concern in the traditional sense (especially as ‘class’ is usually a bigger divider in these areas than the usual ones.) so much as new voices and a need for new talent. (trek in particular has always been ‘diverse’ who perhaps less so, but by no means particularly lacking...especially as it’s very hard to work out anything at all about an author from their name or writing....as a quick test, an anyone tell me a thing they know about Lloyd Rose or L.A Graf they gleaned from just their name? What about Andre Norton or J.K Rowling?)
The other thing of course is that Who in particular was largely a male fanbase for a longtime...in a time where gatekeeping wasn’t particularly possible. The cliques that formed just did So. I am not fond of the Fitzroy set, but that may largely be because I never went in there for a drink.

So that does seem an odd, if rather popular, axe to Grind. One that often lacks context of hat seems an ancient past, what with the sisterhood of Karn and the league of gentlemen, the black lace writers et al.