Started Invasion of the Cat-People. About halfway through Episode One (I do love when Classic Who books split themselves into episodes/parts. It’s such a charming little detail)
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The Doctor Who one I’m on at the moment is a reread of Vampire Science.
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I really enjoyed Cat-People mostly, it got a little weak towards the end I thought, but still a very fun story with a lesser-known team
I got the impression it’s a very simple but fun runaround and I always have time for kitties. Even if said kitties are war-mongering conquerors.
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While the warmongering kitties are the less focused on of the two alien races prominently featured in the book, they are certainly quite fun!
This is also the book which made Polly’s surname being Wright as ‘canon’ (as much as I don’t believe there is a canon). It was only in production documents, I think, but Russell included in this book.
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The Dimension Riders is a definitely a bit dull compared to the books immediately before and after it, I also didn’t feel Bernice was characterized very well. However, I enjoyed Blythe’s later New Adventure, Infinite Requiem, much more! I think Benny was better written but also, even more key, I think it just had better concepts & settings to work with, especially in the villain(s) and alien species in it.
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Good to have something to look forward to 
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I haven’t read Joyride, but absolutely loathe Blythe’s Who work. All three of his books that I have read were dull tredges. I’ll give Infinite Requiem a bit of credit; there were 1 or 2 scenes I thought were ‘looking promising’ on Earth, but it was so clear that his heart wasn’t in them.
And this was before it came out that he’s transphobic!
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Are you enjoying it? It’s one of my least favourite VMAs I’m afraid!
Yeah how much can one separate the art from the artist? An author’s personal opinions can certainly sour the enjoyment of their work. Has he been very vocal on that front?
Having got through the first 60-ish pages, it’s certainly a light, breezy read. Not much substance going on but pretty fun and intriguing enough.
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I just finished “The Dimension Riders”. Let’s just say that I wasn’t that impressed, Daniel Blythe’s style of writing really doesn’t agree with me. Next up finally a VNA written by Kate Orman, “The Left-handed Hummingbird”
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I never really got into Blythe’s books.
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It’s the only one of his that I have read. I think he only did one other VNA, hopefully it is more engaging
My thought on that personally (as a trans person myself, although I’m not speaking for any trans people who aren’t myself) is that who an author is as a person has nothing to do with how much I enjoy their work. (Other people may very well feel differently.) However, an author who’s openly espousing beliefs that are harmful or I strongly disagree with is not one I will be financially supporting in any way. That’s the advantage (sometimes) of these Wilderness Years books being out of print lol, you’re either reading them online or getting them secondhand and so you’re not financially supporting any of the authors.
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I like that attitude, let the story live on it’s own merits. And I agree that you shouldn’t support people financially who care so little about others. I try to live my life on the Twelfth Doctor’s merits: “Laugh hard, Run fast, Be kind” - when people fail to be kind, I tend to find faults in what they do.
My issues with The Dimension Riders are based on Daniel Blythe’s writing style as I had no knowledge about him beforehand.
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I think it’s difficult, because it also depends on how much of their views are present within their work too. I’ll admit that none of the ‘known’ (albeit to different extents) transphobic authors (e.g. Roberts, Blythe, Baxendale) espouse such beliefs in their work (Romana wears men’s clothes in 2/3 of Roberts’ Romana books - and the 1930s views on that are seen as outdated and mocked a little), but I’ll admit it does tinge their work a little. I swear one of Roberts’ comics got reprinted a year or two ago, and I know Baxendale was still writing for DWM last year! It’s very lucky that, generally, most of their works aren’t very good anyway hahaha (see Blythe, whose work may very well send me to sleep if I reread any of it!) In my opinion, it is important to discuss their views when discussing the authors, in part because there will still be those not in the know, and in part because I believe that it remains an important discussion. The fact is that these views don’t just appear - we should, at least to an extent, apply modern contexts to work. That doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy it, but the fact is that an author’s name has a kind of prestige to it, one which I believe should be damaged by these blatantly harmful views! Speakers like Roberts held a big opinion just a few years ago, for instance - making his bigotry public has certainly diminished that.
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My all-time favourite DW author - but probably my least favourite book (still an 8/10) - she just dazzles with much more impressive work later on!
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i’m reading the novelization of Waters of Mars! it’s my first dw book that i’ve ever read
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