WHERE'S NERD?

I don't know if you have noticed, but the old Nerd has been quiet of late. I have been a bit tired, so am taking a little bit of a hiatus for a while. However, I have still been reading and listening to stuff. I mean, just because I'm not producing content as much, I am still consuming stories so I thought I would give you a little update, just to let you know I am still here, hiding in the blogosphere. 

So! What have I been  up to?

Well, as it is the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, my attention has been focussed on reading Dr Who books and watching the classic Doctor Who episodes that have been added to BBC iPlayer.

In addition to this, I have also been listening to Dr Who audio dramas that have been aired on BBC Sounds, including Russel T. Davies's first Dr Who Story, staring the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker.

As well as watching Dr Who, I have been catching up with some other programmes. One of the series that I have been meaning to catch up with is Ghosts (again on the BBC iPlayer) 

I watched this originally when it was first aired, but for some reason I lost it on the fourth season.

In fact, as I think about it, I have been catching up with a lot of things on the BBC. I have also been listening to other stuff on BBC Sounds. 

As you know, I do like a bit of Cosmic Horror

Well, there is a really good podcast called The Lovecraft Investigations. This is a really good podcast that takes a number of Lovecraft's stories and gives them a 'true crime' type of investigation.

Another series I listened to was Harland (again on BBC Sounds). This was an interesting one. It was a a kind of folk horror/eco dystopian/ sci fi thriller.

Currently, I am part of Behind the Musings judging team for the ongoing Speculative fiction Indie Novella Championship (SFINCS), which is a companion competition to SPFBO

And finally, I have been catching up with some Manhwa on Webtoons (if you don't know what Webtoons is, there's a post all about it somewhere on the site). I have been catching up with Witch Creek Road and also started one called Everything is Fine by a UK artist called Mike Birchall. This is an intriguing story where I have no idea what is going on. The premise is that there are these humanoid figures with a cats head (I don't want to go too much into the plot as it is just unfolding). It initially starts as being this quirky story, but then becomes quietly unsettling and disturbing.

Obviously music has been a big factor as well. 

Not only have I been revisiting older bands like The Sisters of Mercy, there has been the new release by one of my favourite artists, Steven Wilson, who has recently released The Harmony Codex

In addition to this there is the new release by the latest iteration of one of my favourite bands Gong, which was originally formed by the much missed Divided Alien Daevid Allen, who sadly passed away in 2015. However, Allen's vision for the band to continue, but in a different form, living with a life of its own.

I have also been listening to a young local band, Descendancy who have just released their first E.P.

And a couple of bands that are new to me, one I picked up after reading a post on Twitter by Maria Blackrane  was Infected Rain, a progressive metal band from Moldova 

And the other is the new album by Orbit Culture called Descent.

Bookwise, I have just read Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris. A swampcore (I have no idea what that means🤣) horror.

Oh, and there has been my usual booktube watches. If you haven't watched Portable Magic with Trin, give it a go. Also, Den of the Wyrd which is Susanna Imaginário's channel (writer of the Timelessness Series) is another good watch.

I have written a few quick reviews on Goodreads. If you want to follow me on Goodreads just look me up.

As usual I have been playing video games. I have been playing Goblin Sword on Switch, an sprite based platformer.

And recently started Kingdoms of Amalur - re - reckoning on Xbox because I picked it up cheap.

The main reason is that this is written by R. A. Salvatore with art by Todd McFarlane. I haven't really got far with it so it's hard to make a judgement about it so far.

Advance Reader Copies I have got to read from Netgalley have steadily been going down. At the mo ent I have two upcoming releases to read.

In addition to that, Jordan Loyal Short recently got in touch asking if I would like to read his upcoming release 

If you want to know something about it, here's the synopsis 

Viktor’s magic is turning him into a dragon. And it’s not pretty.

To save his friends from a deadly ambush, Viktor drew too deeply on the power of the Dragon Well, and now a magical tumor has begun to change him, one scale at a time.

Viktor sets off on a quest for a cure that will lead him to a remote sanitarium. Here, he will uncover a mad doctor’s strange experiments, a very stubborn dwarf, and rumors of an ancient mirror that may hold the key to Viktor’s very survival.

As a secret society of dragon fanatics closes in, Viktor must choose between the power his transformation offers, and the hope of finding a cure.

To the fabled Tyrant’s Tomb, Viktor races the mysterious Thule Society, where deadly traps and cryptic puzzles protect a treasure of unspeakable power. With every heartbeat the tumor’s corruption spreads. Can a court dandy and a disgraced scholar help Viktor find his cure? Or is it too late to save the city from a mad doctor’s dark designs?

City in the Dragon's Eye is due to be released in February 2024.

So there we go! That's me!

As always