News stories are listed below in reverse chronological order.

29th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEW ADDED

A new review of the second Star Trek: Vulcan's Soul novel, Exiles (by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz), has been added to Unreality SF.

Reviewer JENS believed that "the authors have become too settled-in and lazy with their well-known characters like Spock and Ruanek and don’t really know what to do with them to keep them interesting for the readers", but thought other parts of the book were "very well-executed".

The review can be read in full here.

27th June 2008 | NEWS | THE 4400 TO LIVE ON IN BOOKS

Writer Greg Cox revealed earlier this month that the story of The 4400, a popular science-fiction series that was cancelled recently, will be continued in a series of books.

There are already two novels based on the series - The Vesuvius Prophecy, by Cox, available now; and Wet Work, by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, due for release this autumn - but they take place during the show's run, whereas the new books will continue the characters and plotlines beyond the conclusion of Season Four.

"I just signed the contract," he confirmed, in a message posted on the USANetwork.com message board on June 15th, "to write a new 4400 novel continuing the story from the TV show left off. This will be the first of at least two new books continuing the story.

"Nothing definite on the plot yet. To be honest, we're still hashing that out. And whatever we come up with will have to be approved by CBS somewhere down the road. But I've already started work on some outlines and am chatting with my editor about the project tomorrow."

His original message was re-posted here. Unreality SF interviewed Cox about The Vesuvius Prophecy in March, and plans to cover this series in as much depth as possible, so stay tuned for further information.

27th June 2008 | NEWS | COMPANION CHRONICLES NEWS

Big Finish's website has been updated with more information about the third series of Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles audios:

- Episode 3.4, the previously-announced Empathy Games by Nigel Fairs (a Fourth Doctor story told by Louise Jameson as Leela), is now available for pre-order here.

- Episode 3.5, the previously-announced Home Truths by Simon Guerrier (a First Doctor story told by Jean Marsh as Sarah Kingdom), is now available for pre-order here.

- The newly-revealed episode 3.6 is the first of the promised releases featuring later Doctors, rather than the first four. It stars Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, narrating a Fifth Doctor tale called The Darkening Eye, by Stewart Sheargold. This story is a prequel to Sheargold's The Death Collectors, which is the latest full-cast audio play to star the Seventh Doctor, and the guest voice is Derek Carlyle as The Dar Traders. The Darkening Eye is available for pre-order here, and The Death Collectors is available to buy or download here.

- Episode 3.7 has also been revealed as a story starring a later Doctor - in this case, the Seventh, in a tale narrated by Sophie Aldred as Ace. The guest star in this release, which is entitled The Prisoner's Dilemma and is written by Simon Guerrier, is Laura Doddington as Zara, the sister of the Fifth Doctor's companion Amy from the forthcoming Key 2 Time series. The Prisoner's Dilemma is now available to pre-order here.

- Episode 3.8, a First Doctor tale which remains shrouded in secrecy for now, is now available for pre-order here.

- The ninth episode of the third season is a Second Doctor adventure recounted by Polly (Anneke Wills). Entitled Resistance, it is written by Steve Lyons, and features John Sackville as The Pilot. It can be pre-ordered here.

- Episode 3.10 will be The Magician's Oath, a Third Doctor story told by Richard Franklin as UNIT's Captain Mike Yates. The story is written by Scott Handcock, stars Michael Chance as Diamond Jack, and can be pre-ordered here.

- Episode 3.11 is a Fourth Doctor story by Peter Anghelides. Although no other information is available on the Big Finish website, it's likely that this will be the previously-mentioned Romana I story, starring Mary Tamm. It can be pre-ordered here.

- Episode 3.12, another Fourth Doctor story, is also available for pre-order.

26th June 2008 | NEWS | PEST CONTROL PODCAST

The first episode of new BBC podcast Behind the Mic focuses on the recent Doctor Who audiobook Pest Control. It features writer Peter Anghelides, sound engineer Simon Hunt and producer Kate Thomas discussing their work on the story.

The Behind the Mic section of the iTunes store, where you can download the Pest Control episode and subscribe to all future editions of the podcast, can be found here.

26th June 2008 | NEWS | DWM DETAILS

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine is out today and, as usual, it features news on upcoming Doctor Who tie-ins:

James Swallow's Cyberman II has been pushed back to February 2009 in order to make way for Doctor Who: The Stage Plays, a series of three double-disc audio adaptations. Curse of the Daleks (by David Whitaker and Terry Nation), The Seven Keys to Doomsday (by Terrance Dicks) and The Ultimate Adventure (also by Terrance Dicks) will be slightly modified from the original versions to make them suitable for audio, but the latter play will have all the original songs intact. Colin Baker will play the Sixth Doctor in The Ultimate Adventure, as he did for part of its stage run, and Nicholas Briggs will provide the Dalek voices for all three plays, but no other casting has yet been confirmed. Release dates and further information are available in the magazine.

The three-part Key To Time arc due for release between January and March 2009 has been titled The Key 2 Time, and new companion Amy will be played by Ciara Janson. DWM reveals who Amy is, and announces casting for her twin sister.

Additionally, DWM reveals that upcoming Doctor Who Target novelisations on CD include The Green Death as read by Katy Manning (Jo Grant) and The Time Warrior as read by Jeremy Bulloch (Hal), and features news on books The Torchwood Archive and The World Shapers.

Doctor Who Magazine #397 features more on all of these stories, as well as reviews of the latest products. Each copy also comes with a free "vintage Doctor Who book" from a selection of 27. The magazine is priced £3.99 and will be available for the next four weeks.

26th June 2008 | NEWS | TIE-IN TIDBITS

Various snippets of information about the ranges we cover from the last month:

DOCTOR WHO

DoctorWhoNews.com has posted details of Time Traveller's Almanac by Steve Tribe, due for release in the Autumn, on their news page. They also have the cover image of the book.

The cover image of upcoming Companion Chronicles story The Doll of Death, a Third Doctor adventure narrated by Katy Manning as Jo Grant, has been added to the CD's pages on the Big Finish website.

The official BBC Doctor Who website has posted the latest of its book reviews by schoolchildren - this time, looking at Dale Smith's The Many Hands. The children's thoughts can be found here.

The latest podcast from Big Finish Productions is a Top Five Special, in which host Barnaby Edwards plays clips from some of the listeners' favourite Doctor Who audio plays. It can be downloaded here.

SARAH JANE ADVENTURES

The titles for the two previously-announced autumn audiobooks have been announced via online retailer Amazon.co.uk. Peter Anghelides's story is called The Time Capsule (link), and Stephen Cole's is called Shatter Point (link). Both will be available in November.

STAR TREK

TrekWeb.com's resident reviewer Jeff Ayers has posted his thoughts on the latest Deep Space Nine Relaunch novel, Fearful Symmetry by Olivia Woods. The review can be found here.

PsiPhi.org, once the most active, detailed and popular website for Star Trek Book news, has been revamped. Whilst its creator David Henderson has been unable to update the site for some time, its main page now features a new layout, and promises further updates soon. Check out the changes here.

26th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEWS ADDED

The following reviews of Doctor Who audio CDs have been added to Unreality SF:

The New Eighth Doctor Adventures
- 1.3: Horror of Glam Rock by Paul Magrs [reviewed by DAN]
- 1.4: Immortal Beloved by Jonathan Clements [reviewed by DAN]

The Companion Chronicles
- 1.4: The Beautiful People by Jonathan Morris [reviewed by DAN]

23rd June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW INTERVIEW ADDED

Dan has interviewed Richard Salter for Unreality SF, discussing the new Doctor Who: Short Trips anthology Transmissions, which Richard has edited.

"Half the stories don’t feature companions. It wasn’t planned that way but that’s how it worked out. I quite like that – the TV series rarely shows us the Doctor travelling alone, so it’s something a bit different. I think the companion role is sometimes less necessary in the short story format anyway. Look at how [recent TV episode] Midnight – practically a short story made for TV – works because the Doctor is on his own, and nobody knows who he is or can vouch for him."

The interview in full is available here.

23rd June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEWS ADDED

The following reviews of Doctor Who audio CDs have been added to Unreality SF:

The New Eighth Doctor Adventures
- 1.1/1.2: Blood of the Daleks by Steve Lyons [reviewed by DAN]

The Companion Chronicles
- 1.1: Frostfire by Marc Platt [reviewed by DAN]
- 1.2: Fear of the Daleks by Patrick Chapman [reviewed by DAN]
- 1.3: The Blue Tooth by Nigel Fairs [reviewed by DAN]

21st June 2008 | NEWS | SJA BOOK SCHEDULE

More novelisations of stories from The Sarah Jane Adventures were confirmed by Gary Russell and Phil Ford recently, and four are now available to pre-order online.

Season One's seventh and eighth episodes, Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, will be novelised by Rupert Laight (link). The ninth and tenth episodes, The Lost Boy, will be novelised by Gary Russell (link).

In addition, the opening stories of Season Two will be available. Episodes one and two will be novelised by Gary Russell (link), and episodes three and four will be novelised by Phil Ford (link).

All four books are scheduled for release on November 3rd, published by Penguin, costing £4.99 each.

19th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEW ADDED

Added to Unreality SF today:

- JENS's review of SPIDER-MAN: DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS

19th June 2008 | NEWS | FREE WHO BOOKS WITH DWM

Issue #397 of Doctor Who Magazine, due for release on Thursday June 26th, will come with a free Doctor Who novel, it was announced yesterday. Each copy will be accompanied by one Classic Series novelisation from a selection of 27.

The magazine, which costs £3.99, also boasts news on the return of Captain Jack, an interview with Lesley Sharp, and word from Steven Moffat on his promotion to the role of 'showrunner'.

Tom Splisbury, the editor of the magazine, revealed that, "The 27 titles are all Target novelisations except for three, which are: The Making of Doctor Who, Terry Nation's Dalek Special and The Adventures of K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures. There's a full list on the back of the magazine, so you'll be able to see then!"

14th June 2008 | NEWS | NEW REVIEW ADDED

Added to Unreality SF today:

- NAOMI's review of DOCTOR WHO: THE MONSTERS INSIDE

13th June 2008 | NEWS | NEW DOCTOR WHO CD COVERS

Big Finish have added the covers of several forthcoming CDs to their website.

The first is from Companion Chronicles 3.1: Here There Be Monsters by Andy Lane, which stars Carole Ann Ford as Susan. A large version of the cover can be seen here.

The second is from Companion Chronicles 3.2: The Great Space Elevator by Jonathan Morris, which stars Deborah Watling as Victoria. A large version of the cover can be seen here.

The third is from New Eighth Doctor Adventures 2.8: Vengeance of Morbius by Nicholas Briggs, which stars Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith as the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller. A large version of the cover can be seen here.

12th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEWS ADDED

Added to Unreality SF today:

- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: SPARE PARTS
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: THE FEARMONGER
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: MINUET IN HELL
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: SWORD OF ORION
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: STORM WARNING

11th June 2008 | NEWS | NEW FEATURE ADDED

In response to Unreality SF's review of the recent Doctor Who anthology The Quality of Leadership, where reviewer DB speculated that non-Whovians interested by the involvement of Star Trek authors would be slightly lost, JENS has written a parallel review of the book.

He discusses each story from the perspective of someone new to Doctor Who, analysing whether it's as inaccessible as DB thought.

The feature can be read here.

9th June 2008 | NEWS | NEW BIG FINISH NEWS

Big Finish have posted the details of some upcoming Doctor Who audio plays on their website.

The full cast, synopsis and trailer for The Boy That Time Forgot, which is released next month and features the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa (Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton) are available, alongside with the previously-added trailer.

In addition, the cover, cast and synopsis of August's The Doomwood Curse are also online. The play features the Sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard (Colin Baker and India Fisher).

9th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEWS ADDED

Added to Unreality SF today:

- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: PEST CONTROL
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: SHADA
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: THE STONES OF VENICE

8th June 2008 | NEWS | DESTINY PLOT DETAILS

Amazon UK has posted blurbs for the three Star Trek: Destiny books due for release this year. The first one has been seen before, but the other two are new. They reveal significant plot details, so if you do not wish to be spoiled, do not click the link.

All three can be viewed together in this post on the TrekBBS.

8th June 2008 | NEWS | KOBAYASHI MARU BLURB

The back cover copy from the forthcoming Star Trek: Enterprise book Kobayashi Maru, has been posted on StarTrekBooks.com. The book, by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels, is the latest in the series of post-finale Enterprise novels, and is due for release in August.

8th June 2008 | NEWS | PEACEMAKER IN AGE DEBATE

James Swallow's Doctor Who book Peacemaker has been used as a test case by CBBC's Newsround, as part of the ongoing age range debate in the British book industry.

Publishers are currently considering printing a recommended age range on children's books, but many authors and campaigners are against the idea, believing it will limit the range of children's reading.

Newsround reported on the story, using Peacemaker as an example to guage the reactions of children of various ages.

Swallow blogged extensively on the issue here, along with links to the Newsround report and the original show on BBC iPlayer.

8th June 2008 | NEWS | 4400: WET WORK COVER

The cover of upcoming The 4400 novel Wet Work has been posted online by its co-author Dayton Ward.

The book, which was written by Ward and Kevin Dilmore, is the second novel based on the series, and will be released in October, following Greg Cox's The Vesuvius Prohecy which is due later this month.

The cover of Wet Work, and Ward's latest updates about the book, are on his blog.

7th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | RECENT ADDITIONS

Added to Unreality SF recently:

- the release schedule for AUGUST 2008
- the release schedule for SEPTEMBER 2008
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: CUDDLESOME
- DB's review of DOCTOR WHO: STING OF THE ZYGONS

6th June 2008 | NEWS | SHEARMAN ON MARTHA'S STORY

Following the announcement of Dan Abnett's co-authors for forthcoming Doctor Who book The Story of Martha earlier today (see below), one of those contributors, Robert Shearman, has discussed the book on LiveJournal.

"I'm very fond of Martha," he said. "The only time I've written for her before was in the Panini Storybook - and that had to be submitted before she'd properly been on screen, so I had to sideline her a bit and keep her vague! So the appeal was to do something featuring her, because I think she's a smashing character - bright and clever and feisty."

On the structure of the book, he said, "It's mostly a novel - the majority of it is written by Dan. But the book gets hijacked every now and then by other writers, including me. Poor Dan. I'd bite back if I were him!"

His comments and further discussion can be found at the Life on Martha community.

6th June 2008 | NEWS | DECEMBER WHO BOOK COVERS

DoctorWhoNews.com has revealed the covers of Beautiful Chaos, The Story of Martha and The Eyeless - the three new Doctor Who books announced at the end of May, which will be released in December this year.

The Story of Martha cover also reveals Dan Abnett's co-authors for that book: David Roden (co-writer of 1993 charity sketch Dimensions in Time), Steve Lockley and Paul Lewis (who wrote a story for Short Trips: Destination Prague), Robert Shearman (writer of TV episode Dalek) and Simon Jowett (who has written episodes of Bob the Builder, and books based on Finding Nemo and Wallace and Gromit).

The covers, and their blurbs, can be viewed here at DoctorWhoNews.com. Click on the thumbnails for a (very!) large version of each cover.

Unreality SF recently conducted interviews with authors Lance Parkin and Gary Russell, who discussed their respective books.

6th June 2008 | NEWS | DOCTOR WHO NEWS SNIPPETS

- Children from Kinross Primary School have reviewed Snowglobe 7 for bbc.co.uk
- The official website presents The Lonely Computer, an exclusive short story by Rupert Laight
- Lance Parkin challenges readers to come up with an NSA-style book proposal on his blog
- The latest Big Finish Podcast is a bumper 45-minute edition with a different format

4th June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW REVIEW ADDED

Unreality SF has added Jens's review of the third and final Star Trek: Crucible novel, Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering.

The review, which describes the book as "an interesting, fun romp", can be read in full here.

3rd June 2008 | NEWS | TIME TRAVELLER'S ALMANAC

A Doctor Who book entitled Time Traveller's Almanac has been listed on several online retail websites for a while; details about the book have now emerged.

Published in hardover, written by Steve Tribe, and priced at £14.99, the book is listed in the Diamond Distibutors Preview as follows:

"Who are the eminent artists of the 16th, 19th or 21st Centuries? What are the mysteries of Carrionite Science? Where do the Daleks come from? Answers to all of these questions and more can be found in The Time Traveller's Almanac, the ultimate intergalactic fact-finder. Fully illustrated with photos and artwork, the Time Traveller's Almanac provides an essential biography of the Doctor Who universe."

It looks like this may fill the slot held by similar non-fiction books such as The Inside Story, The Shooting Scripts and The Encyclopedia in previous years.

3rd June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Unreality SF has posted its second interview with Lance Parkin, in which he discusses the forthcoming Doctor Who novel The Eyeless, which features a solo Tenth Doctor.

The first interview, which focuses on his past work, such as The Gallifrey Chronicles and the Eighth Doctor Adventures, can be found here.

2nd June 2008 | NEWS | FEARFUL SYMMETRY EXTRACT

TrekWeb.com's Jeff Ayers has revealed an exclusive extract from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine flip-book Fearful Symmetry, due for release next month from Pocket Books.

The novel, which is also a loose tie-in with the Mirror Universe books, is by new author Olivia Woods. The extract is located here.

2nd June 2008 | SITE UPDATE | NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Unreality SF has posted its first interview with Doctor Who author Lance Parkin, discussing his various Classic Series novels, touching on subjects such as loose ends in The Gallifrey Chronicles, the Eighth Doctor's novel-only companions, and the evolution of Ahistory.

The second interview, which wil focus on forthcoming Tenth Doctor book The Eyeless, will be added soon.

1st June 2008 | NEWS | TIME'S CHAMPION COVER

A rough sketch of the Doctor Who: Time's Champion cover art, drawn by respected artist Alister Pearson, has been revealed on the project's official blog.

The image, a final version of which is being worked on and will be revealed soon, features the Sixth Doctor, companion Melanie Bush, and adversary The Valeyard.

1st June 2008 | NEWS | SUMMER SALE ON WHO CDs

Big Finish Productions have launched their annual summer sale, with reduced prices on many of their Doctor Who products. Popular releases such as the Eighth Doctor adventure Shada, the non-fiction book The Inside Story, and the four-part Excelis series are now available at reduced prices.

Also included in the sale are spin-off series such as Sarah Jane Smith, Gallifrey, UNIT and Bernice Summerfield.

For a detailed list of the products involved, with prices and ordering information, visit the Big Finish website. The sale lasts through until the end of June.

1st June 2008 | NEWS | BIG FINISH NEWS FROM DWM

Issue #396 of Doctor Who Magazine, which was released on Thursday in the UK, features news of several forthcoming Doctor Who adventures from Big Finish Productions.

The series' forty-fifth anniversary will be celebrated by a double-CD release called Forty-Five in November, featuring four one-part stories, similar to the recent Circular Time and 100. No details of themes, authors, or Doctors involved have yet been revealed, but Nicholas Briggs was quoted as saying, "We thought it was a good chance to work with some great writers we hadn't worked with before. So expect some surprising and different stories".

Also, December's planned release of Blue Forgotten Planet has been postponed until next year. It had been planned as the last story for the Sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard, but has been pushed back because of how well that pairing has worked. It will be replaced by The Raincloud Man. (Previous reports on the Big Finish website claimed that Blue Forgotten Planet had, in fact, been renamed rather than replaced.)

Additionally, James Swallow's Kingdom of Silver (a Cyberman story which James discussed at length in this interview with Unreality SF) will guest-star Terry Molloy alongside the Seventh Doctor, but apparently not in his usual role as Davros. The story will be a three-parter, joined by one-part tale Keepsake, for a double-CD release in September.

The original story can be found in DWM #367, available now from Panini Comics priced £3.99.