Count the stars...

Okay guys, here's the long-overdue obligatory explanatory friends filter posting.  If you've been around a while you can ignore this, otherwise please give it a nice thorough skimming.  Thanks.

Want to friend me here on lj?  No problem!  But if you want a friend back just drop me a line somewhere so A) I notice you've friended me and B) I know you're not a Russian spambot.

Want to friend me on another site?  Check my profile for a list of other sites I use, with links.  

Trying to find something I posted to a community?  Lots of my old community posts are in my memories, but I've been lax about adding them lately, so some of the more recent ones might be missing.  Keep in mind that some of these might require you to be a member of the community to read them.   

Any stories posted off my journal are locked to the community, but almost all of them are replicated here.  If you are on the appropriate filters, you can find them by searching through the tags.  If in doubt, ask me and I should be able to find it or repost it if it was lost or never posted online. 

Need to e-mail me?  a(dot)book(dot)maven(at)gmail(dot)com

Want to change which filters you're on?  Just leave a comment on this or any other of the filter update posts, or e-mail me.  Be sure to let me know which you want to add or which to remove. 

Want to read only one thing and there's not a filter for it?  Let me know and I will make a custom filter for you (within reasonable limits).

FILTERS
How it works:  I use filters to sort out different posts so that I can use this journal as one stop for all my reading, writing, fanishness, and crafting activities, hopefully without causing any of my readers undue inconvenience or having very long posts you aren't interested in show up on your flist.  The difference between the filters I use here and the filters some of you may be used to is that I let you choose which filters you want to be on.

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Generally speaking, I am a sporadic poster.  I often comment on outdated entries and don't mind at all if you do the same.  Feel free to comment if you have any questions, concerns, or

Sorry Zhie, probably made you think this might have something to do with hobbits.  Nope, it's about knitting (which I firmly believe hobbits do a lot of).  Well, knitting and how I really ought to update this blog more.  Internet or no internet, I should still be able to post at least once a week if I write the entry in advance and post it during my break at work or from a friend's house.  So that's my new goal, to post some form of entry, even if it's just uploading from my backlog of poems, at least once a week.

Lately I've been knitting a lot.  I've started to make progress on secret projects S and N, mostly because I was on bed rest for a while and even when I couldn't see too well from the medicine, there are a few patterns I could do blindfolded (assuming I didn't drop any stitches).  Both are going up on Rav. because I don't think the recipients will be able to see them there.

BUT, Christmas presents have all finally been distributed (some very late), so I can post some pics of them.

Warning that some of these are probably too big or small and may kill dial-up (hence the cut).

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Right now I have about three projects going on and many more on ice for a while. 
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Wow, that's more than 3 and I'm not even counting secret projects or the socks for my best friend's birthday that need a toe frogged, ends woven and some duplicate stiching done.  (In less than an month!)  Or the headband for Smaug's birthday (back in February) that I only today found the other needle to finsh casting off.  No wonder I haven't updated the blog in three months!

Another one of the summer Big Finish reads.  From here on when reviewing these books I did the individual story summary/reviews in a more free-form manner, so if spoilers worry you don't click on the cut, or scroll to the summary at the very end.

Doctor Who Short Trips #4: The Muses, edited by Jacqueline Rayner. HC, 209 pages, Big Finish Productions Ltd., 2003.

The word for this book is muse, and each of the nine stories works around one of the nine muses. The book opens with a rather rambling quote from Hesiod’s Theogeny before moving on to the first story. Before each story comes the name of the muse inspiring that particular story, and her particular gift.

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To recap: Sixth Doctor story “Teach Yourself to Dance” was okay, Four and Leela were great in “The Brain of Socrates,” “Mordieu” was rather terrible, “An Overture Too Early” was well-written but without closure, “Hymn of the City” overreached itself a bit but otherwise did a fine job with Ace and the Seventh Doctor, “Confabula” was too self-conscious but had some good bits anyway, “The Astronomer’s Apprentice” was bold but carried it off well, “Katerina in the Underworld” stood out with a simple but interesting premise, good characterization, and just generally being well written, and “The Glass Princess” starts off with a bang and incorporates multiple Doctors into a bittersweet fairytale retold.

So that’s one story I disliked, four middling ones with various problems, two enjoyable romps, one good story that was definitely not a romp, and one favorite I’m sure to reread.  Perhaps not the best mix, and this book can’t match Companions. But honestly, it’s worth buying just for Steve Lyon’s fabulous “Katerina in the Underworld.”

This is actually from the summer (most of these are), and as such rather outdated, but I'm very behind on posts here.

Doctor Who Short Trips #2: Companions, edited by Jacqueline Rayner.  HC, 213 pages, Big Finish Productions Ltd., 2003.

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This was my first experience with the Big Finish Short Trips line of anthologies, and one of my favorite Doctor Who books.  I liked most of the seventeen stories in this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start reading the Short Trips series.  Just remember that these only cover Doctors One through Eight, and also cover the Big Finish audios, which can get confusing for those of us who unfamiliar with the post-1989 storylines and companions.  Wikipedia has been my friend lately. 

Each of the Short Trips anthologies is based around a different idea, some good, others apparently not-so-great.  This book is about the Doctor’s companions, in some cases before, others during, and many after their travels with him.  The word for the book is, unsurprisingly, ‘companions.’

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Since I loved most of this anthology, it’s probably easier to point out the few areas where there were problems than to go on about the many aspects I enjoyed.  “Qualia” tacked a difficult companion in an admirable attempt, but didn’t quite pull it off.  Understanding “Notre Dame Du Temps” required background knowledge that I didn’t have, so while it was well written, it didn’t make sense to me.  “Hidden Talent” had some good moments and an interesting enough premise but the action and resolution weren’t thought out enough, and “The Canvey Angels” was a darker and more serious story placed between two lighthearted ones, which probably hurt my reading of the story.

The only other noticeable flaw was the typesetting, as in many cases there were no spaces after a comma,or a period.  This was annoying at first, but it seems to have been fixed in the later books.  I would still highly recommend this book for Doctor Who fans, particularly any fans of Barbara Wright as there are three strong pieces referring to her in it. As for myself, this is one I know I’ll be reading again. 

Doctor Who: The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole.  HC, 253 pages, BBC Books, 2006.

The Doctor (Ten) and Rose return to Earth in the 22nd century, landing in Africa where bio-engineered food is a necessity, but what's up with the alien tech signals?

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This wasn't one of my very favorites but I liked it pretty well.  More plot-driven than character-driven and sure to become humorously obsolete in some odd way within 50 years, but overall recommended as an enjoyable read.

Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole.  HC, 253 pages, BBC Books, 2005.

The Doctor is really making a habit out of landing on strange and probably unfriendly planets, but landing himself in a giant prison system is not a good idea.  Particularly when he and Rose get captured and separated from each other and the TARDIS.  Where the Doctor lands, there's some enemies he recognizes, and some he doesn't.

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This was fun, I liked but didn't love it.  Overall recommended, especially if you have a craving for Slitheen or Nine. 

Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons. HC, 254 pages, BBC Books, 2005.

The Ninth Doctor, together with companions Rose and Captain Jack, travel into the far future, but it doesn't seem that much like the future. It's much more like a 1984 future on another planet -- everybody wears gray, no fiction is allowed, there's fossil fuels, asylums, and lots of news shows plus one show that some people would dream about being on, if dreams were allowed. They're still figuring this out when everyone gets separated...

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Overall I quite liked this, it's one of the DW novels that I know I'll be rereading more than once. There are two other books with 9/Rose/Jack (which actually come before this one), I'm looking forward to reading those and shall be sad when they're done.

These four K-9 children's books were included as PDFs on the DVD release of The Invisible Enemy/K-9 & Company.  I decided to count them all as one review because they are so short.  (Of course I might change my mind on that if I come up 3 reviews short in December...)

The Adventures of K-9 #1: K-9 and the Time Trap by David Martin.  PDF, 36 pages, Sparrow Books, orig. pub. 1980.

K-9 is dispatched on a mission to find the Rigelian Seventh Fleet, which is one of a number of "vanishments".  He travels in a K-NEL!( Collapse ) 

The Adventures of K-9 #2: K-9 and the Beasts of Vega by David Martin.  PDF, 36 pages, Sparrow Books, orig. pub. 1980.

K-9 travels to Vega 3 to investigate a strange disorder striking down space workers.
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The Adventures of K-9 #3: K-9 and the Zeta Rescue by David Martin.  PDF, 36 pages, Sparrow Books, orig. pub. 1980.

K-9 must answer a distress signal in Zeta Four Sector, where a star possibly going Nova is too hot for even the Time Lords to handle.
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The Adventures of K-9 #4: K-9 and the Missing Planet by David Martin.  PDF, 36 pages, Sparrow Books, orig. pub. 1980.

Tellus, formerly known as Earth, has lost a planet and they want it back.  That was a very valuable planet.  Oh, and if K-9 wants he can rescue the humans who were lost on it too.
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I think that had these been modern books I would have been much harsher on them, but given their age, I'm going to give them an "enjoyable" rating.  They were quick reads and amusing even if I wouldn't quite count them as canon.  Not terribly collectible save for die-hard K-9 fans, but if you get them on the disc anyway, you might as well read them.  Some of the lines were quite humorous (whether intentionally or not) and overall it was a nice nostalgic 80s trip.

Doctor Who: Wooden Heart by Martin Day.  HC, 247 pages, BBC Books, 2007.

The Doctor and Martha find a deserted starship in deep space, and then a country village within it.  The people living there are experiencing some difficulties with fog and disappearing children.  So it's up to the Doctor and Martha to investigate!

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All of the above left me feeling that this is another okay addiction to the Doctor Who series.  I'm willing to believe these events could possibly be canon, and it read fine, but this is not the top of the line.

Doctor Who: Martha in the Mirror by Justin Richards.  HC, 244 pages, BBC Books, 2008.

The Doctor and Martha have landed in Castle Extremis, the DMZ between two warring races, and currently host to two uneasy peace delegations.  There's trouble afoot in this beautiful castle, and a young girl, a glass book, and an odd mirror all have their secrets.

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I had a lot of issues with Richards' last book in this series, so I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this book.  It had a great blend of fantasy, mystery, and science fiction that reminded me of The Girl in the Fireplace, and I think it's one of my favorites in this line.  Very well done, and I'm happy Richards found his feet with Martha and the Tenth Doctor.