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gavreads's review
It’s quite an apt tittle really. It’s the first full length novel to feature the universe travelling Iris Wildthyme, who by the looks of it has been on several adventures already, and for me it was my entry into her mad life (which it can be for anyone else who reads it too). So not only does Iris enter the novel readers can enter into Iris. And I don’t mean that in a smutty way. She’s way too old for a start…
… I don’t want to give the wrong impression there isn’t anything smutty about Enter Wildthyme but there is buckets of fun placed on piles of adventure. And sometimes you just need a romp. I know I did. The outside world isn’t looking the best as I’m writing this but Paul Magrs took me on a proper journey. You see Magrs is one of those writers that gets people but doesn’t lecture or allow the darkness to take over.
There are dark moments here but Iris and her traveling companion Panda (who really is a Panda and toy shaped) along with new Celestial Omnibus passengers Simon (who returns to Darlington only to dragged across time and space) and the vending machine called Barbara (who despite her bulk quite handy in fighting off killer beasts).
Curiously Iris Wildthyme (according to Wikipedia) has had quite a career before teaming up with Dr Who and then going her own way again. She’s one of those characters I’ve heard about, much like Bernice Summerfield (though she started out as a New Adventures companion rather than being her own character), who I’ve wanted to read because of the Dr Who connection and curious as to how the work on there own.
And boy is Iris a character, she is mysterious (though we get a peek at her origins here), she is lively (drinking and singing songs that are only whispered in Bars as fables) and most importantly she is an adventurer. Now I’ve mentioned Dr Who and you can’t escape that there is going to be some comparisons.
Not only because the no 22 Celestial Omnibus has very TARDIS like qualities (I’m still a little confused how you fit a vending machine in one easily) but because of the nature of Iris. She shares the Doctors meddling tendencies but it also feels like universe has chosen her to be a ‘hero’.
I’m already a fan of another series of Paul’s, the Effie and Brenda Mysteries, so the thought of reading Enter Wildthyme gave me mixed feelings, could I like another of his creations? Am I fan of Paul’s or just Effie and Brenda? It’s not as daft as it sounds. Think Terry Pratchett I love his Discworld books but find it hard to care about his others. And there are other series by writers that I love because I love the characters.
In fact Iris is like that because she’s been allowed to slip into the hands of others and she is a force herself rather than a puppet of her creator but I have a feeling that her creator knows her best.
So what about the story? It starts with the loss of a glass jar and ends with… well that would telling but I literally couldn’t believe it stopped where it did. Talk about cliff hanger.
The characters get used interesting ways from the baddie of the piece that really needs to stop murmuring all the time to Magda, who is left holding fort (not very successfully) whilst everyone else has been kidnapped or off saving the universe. Nothing feels cardboard. Everyone has their own lives, which probable could be much less exciting if Iris hadn’t come into them.
But I for one am excited that Iris Wildthyme stopped her Celestial Omnibus and picked me up. I’m quite in spin still. Why don’t you come aboard? You know you what to.
… I don’t want to give the wrong impression there isn’t anything smutty about Enter Wildthyme but there is buckets of fun placed on piles of adventure. And sometimes you just need a romp. I know I did. The outside world isn’t looking the best as I’m writing this but Paul Magrs took me on a proper journey. You see Magrs is one of those writers that gets people but doesn’t lecture or allow the darkness to take over.
There are dark moments here but Iris and her traveling companion Panda (who really is a Panda and toy shaped) along with new Celestial Omnibus passengers Simon (who returns to Darlington only to dragged across time and space) and the vending machine called Barbara (who despite her bulk quite handy in fighting off killer beasts).
Curiously Iris Wildthyme (according to Wikipedia) has had quite a career before teaming up with Dr Who and then going her own way again. She’s one of those characters I’ve heard about, much like Bernice Summerfield (though she started out as a New Adventures companion rather than being her own character), who I’ve wanted to read because of the Dr Who connection and curious as to how the work on there own.
And boy is Iris a character, she is mysterious (though we get a peek at her origins here), she is lively (drinking and singing songs that are only whispered in Bars as fables) and most importantly she is an adventurer. Now I’ve mentioned Dr Who and you can’t escape that there is going to be some comparisons.
Not only because the no 22 Celestial Omnibus has very TARDIS like qualities (I’m still a little confused how you fit a vending machine in one easily) but because of the nature of Iris. She shares the Doctors meddling tendencies but it also feels like universe has chosen her to be a ‘hero’.
I’m already a fan of another series of Paul’s, the Effie and Brenda Mysteries, so the thought of reading Enter Wildthyme gave me mixed feelings, could I like another of his creations? Am I fan of Paul’s or just Effie and Brenda? It’s not as daft as it sounds. Think Terry Pratchett I love his Discworld books but find it hard to care about his others. And there are other series by writers that I love because I love the characters.
In fact Iris is like that because she’s been allowed to slip into the hands of others and she is a force herself rather than a puppet of her creator but I have a feeling that her creator knows her best.
So what about the story? It starts with the loss of a glass jar and ends with… well that would telling but I literally couldn’t believe it stopped where it did. Talk about cliff hanger.
The characters get used interesting ways from the baddie of the piece that really needs to stop murmuring all the time to Magda, who is left holding fort (not very successfully) whilst everyone else has been kidnapped or off saving the universe. Nothing feels cardboard. Everyone has their own lives, which probable could be much less exciting if Iris hadn’t come into them.
But I for one am excited that Iris Wildthyme stopped her Celestial Omnibus and picked me up. I’m quite in spin still. Why don’t you come aboard? You know you what to.
givethatbooknerd's review
2.0
2 stars: tries to be something between Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide, but tries too hard.
The storyline: the whole storyline was based on an unclear something. The gang wants to stop someone from doing something, but what happens if that someone would succeed? Why do we want to stop them? The book also feels like it misses a few chapters. Usually, in a series, the first book has a defined ending, and the second book takes up where the first book stops, but this book just feels like it misses 3 chapters at the end.
The characters: it's great that there is such a diverse cast. We see different sexualities, someone in a wheelchair, a woman of colour heading the (all-woman) Torchwood equivalent. Too bad they are all quite flatly written. I especially hated Marvelle's dialogue, because he ends all his sentences like this murmur murmur. Starts to get quite annoying after a while. I could relate a bit to Kelly, tho.
The worldbuilding: Not sure? I guess this was quite nice usually, but sometimes they went too much for the slapstick comedy. I liked the glass, didn't like the furniture.
The atmosphere: I'm not sure if there even was an atmosphere to speak of. It all felt kind of hasty, fleeting, with disregard of information we got earlier in the story. It didn't draw me in, I felt more like a spectator.
Best part: I did like Barbra as a character, in general.
The storyline: the whole storyline was based on an unclear something. The gang wants to stop someone from doing something, but what happens if that someone would succeed? Why do we want to stop them? The book also feels like it misses a few chapters. Usually, in a series, the first book has a defined ending, and the second book takes up where the first book stops, but this book just feels like it misses 3 chapters at the end.
The characters: it's great that there is such a diverse cast. We see different sexualities, someone in a wheelchair, a woman of colour heading the (all-woman) Torchwood equivalent. Too bad they are all quite flatly written. I especially hated Marvelle's dialogue, because he ends all his sentences like this murmur murmur. Starts to get quite annoying after a while. I could relate a bit to Kelly, tho.
The worldbuilding: Not sure? I guess this was quite nice usually, but sometimes they went too much for the slapstick comedy. I liked the glass, didn't like the furniture.
The atmosphere: I'm not sure if there even was an atmosphere to speak of. It all felt kind of hasty, fleeting, with disregard of information we got earlier in the story. It didn't draw me in, I felt more like a spectator.
Best part: I did like Barbra as a character, in general.
otherwyrld's review
2.0
Humorous Fantasy and Science Fiction is a very hard thing to get right. The rare hits include [a:Douglas Adams|4|Douglas Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1189120061p2/4.jpg] and the [b:Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327656754s/11.jpg|3078186] and [a:Terry Pratchett|1654|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1235562205p2/1654.jpg]'s Discworld books. Most books in this sub-genre are a miss and this one misses by the length of a double decker bus.
I think that the problem I had with this book is that it tries just too damn hard. It tries to be the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, but also adds an unhealthily large dollop of Doctor Who for good measure. The main protagonist is Iris Wildthyme, who might as well be a female version of the Doctor. All I can say about this is that if the series ever gets around to having a female Doctor I hope it doesn't resemble this character because I would never watch the show again. The main antagonist have a very irritating habit of mumbling his words, which means that all his sentences end with "murmur, murmur" - it gets very old very fast.
The dialogue can best be described as clunky, and commits the cardinal sin (according to Stephen King) of using too many adjectives. Too often the story tells instead of shows as well. Finally, just when you think that the plot is getting us somewhere, it just *stops*, presumably to be continued in a sequel. It's one I won't be reading.
2 stars is generous, 1 1/2 stars would be closer to how I felt about this book.
I think that the problem I had with this book is that it tries just too damn hard. It tries to be the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, but also adds an unhealthily large dollop of Doctor Who for good measure. The main protagonist is Iris Wildthyme, who might as well be a female version of the Doctor. All I can say about this is that if the series ever gets around to having a female Doctor I hope it doesn't resemble this character because I would never watch the show again. The main antagonist have a very irritating habit of mumbling his words, which means that all his sentences end with "murmur, murmur" - it gets very old very fast.
The dialogue can best be described as clunky, and commits the cardinal sin (according to Stephen King) of using too many adjectives. Too often the story tells instead of shows as well. Finally, just when you think that the plot is getting us somewhere, it just *stops*, presumably to be continued in a sequel. It's one I won't be reading.
2 stars is generous, 1 1/2 stars would be closer to how I felt about this book.
philipf's review
4.0
I enjoyed this but wish I had known going in that the story is not complete in this volume. (I also wish that the next book, Wildthyme Beyond!, were more readily available. Right now it costs $37 on Amazon.)
ianbanks's review
3.0
I've read a couple of Paul Magrs books before and was really looking forward to this one. Coupled with the fact that it's about a character he created for the Doctor Who range of novels in the 90s and is partly set in a bookstore I thought this would be right up my alley.
The Good: There is a wildly convoluted plot that only occasionally seems to get out of control. There a whole bunch of characters whom you might not like but are able to get a handle on at the very least. There are a wide variety of settings and ideas that keep the story sparking. It's well-written for the most part, feeling more than a little like Douglas Adams.
The Bad: After a while you get a little exhausted by the vast range of settings and characters that are thrown at you. I love a book in which nothing happens without a reason but Magrs throws so much at you that it can be difficult to keep up. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING, THOUGH! I just felt that here it got a little unwieldy. I also felt that some parts of the book were much better than others. Not an unnatural reaction, you say. Of course not, but it follows that there are some parts of the book that are worse than others. And - in this reviewers opinion - there were more than seemed usual in a book: the scenes in 1890s France, for example, just seemed a little superfluous as did the scenes at the Vincent Cosmo concert in 1973. Actually, they felt more rushed than anything: this is that rare book that perhaps could have dealt well with being a bit longer or split into two...
... which leads to my last grouse. This book ends with a very clear ending, but the story is in no way complete: villains are still at large, quests are unfinished, questions unanswered... this doesn't bother me except for the fact that at no point in the blurb, cover, title page is it made clear that this is Volume 1 in an ongoing series... which really does bother me because it changes my expectations of what I was getting out of this book. I may very well read future volumes of this, but I was more than a little miffed to discover that I'm not getting the end of this story. However, Mr Magrs is not the only author guilty of this so my overall rating and review are not affected.
The Good: There is a wildly convoluted plot that only occasionally seems to get out of control. There a whole bunch of characters whom you might not like but are able to get a handle on at the very least. There are a wide variety of settings and ideas that keep the story sparking. It's well-written for the most part, feeling more than a little like Douglas Adams.
The Bad: After a while you get a little exhausted by the vast range of settings and characters that are thrown at you. I love a book in which nothing happens without a reason but Magrs throws so much at you that it can be difficult to keep up. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING, THOUGH! I just felt that here it got a little unwieldy. I also felt that some parts of the book were much better than others. Not an unnatural reaction, you say. Of course not, but it follows that there are some parts of the book that are worse than others. And - in this reviewers opinion - there were more than seemed usual in a book: the scenes in 1890s France, for example, just seemed a little superfluous as did the scenes at the Vincent Cosmo concert in 1973. Actually, they felt more rushed than anything: this is that rare book that perhaps could have dealt well with being a bit longer or split into two...
... which leads to my last grouse. This book ends with a very clear ending, but the story is in no way complete: villains are still at large, quests are unfinished, questions unanswered... this doesn't bother me except for the fact that at no point in the blurb, cover, title page is it made clear that this is Volume 1 in an ongoing series... which really does bother me because it changes my expectations of what I was getting out of this book. I may very well read future volumes of this, but I was more than a little miffed to discover that I'm not getting the end of this story. However, Mr Magrs is not the only author guilty of this so my overall rating and review are not affected.
sadouglas's review
5.0
By now you'd think that reading a new Iris story would be like pulling on comfy slippers. After all, it was back in the last millennium that I first came across the character shining out of the pages of a Doctor Who book like the sudden beautiful view across the hills that you sometimes get on the road to somewhere dreary. And since then there have been novels, short story collections and audios. You'd think I'd be bored.
But not at a bit of it, as this new Iris novel proves. True, Iris has recreated herself again, but that's part of the charm of the character as well as the perfect way to keep things fresh. Paul Magrs is incapable of writing dully and Iris, Panda and the Bus are the ideal foil for him, even more I think than his other fabulously mad series with Brenda and Effie. Actually, it's a bit surprising that Brenda doesn't make an appearance in here; almost everyone else does as Magrs pulls off the clever trick of introducing a plethora of new characters to first time Iris readers, while making their various introductions intetesting for more seasoned dabblers in the Magrs' universe.
Like one of those Hollywood spectaculars of the fifties and sixties, if you name a star from a previous Magrs' book he or she probably makes an appearance (even if only in cameo) in 'Enter Wildthyme'. Unlike those movies, however, I was never left thinking 'why the hell is John Wayne playing a Roman centurion?' Here everyone has a part to play and so, rather than over-filled or gratuitous, this book feels like a party to which we've all been invited by Iris, the reader included.
It'd be a bit pointless to go into detail about everyone who turns up and what role they play, but I can't let pass the opportunity to mention that Barbra the Vending Machine from 'Sick Building' and 'The Dreadful Flap' returns in all her stale-crisped glory. Even if the rest of the book were rubbish (which it isn't - it's great!) it'd be worth buying this just to see Barbra on the Bus.
They should invite Paul Magrs to write for Doctor Who on telly. This is the one sort of story missing from the series since it came back, a proper, mental, funny, sometimes sad, often daft extravaganza.
But not at a bit of it, as this new Iris novel proves. True, Iris has recreated herself again, but that's part of the charm of the character as well as the perfect way to keep things fresh. Paul Magrs is incapable of writing dully and Iris, Panda and the Bus are the ideal foil for him, even more I think than his other fabulously mad series with Brenda and Effie. Actually, it's a bit surprising that Brenda doesn't make an appearance in here; almost everyone else does as Magrs pulls off the clever trick of introducing a plethora of new characters to first time Iris readers, while making their various introductions intetesting for more seasoned dabblers in the Magrs' universe.
Like one of those Hollywood spectaculars of the fifties and sixties, if you name a star from a previous Magrs' book he or she probably makes an appearance (even if only in cameo) in 'Enter Wildthyme'. Unlike those movies, however, I was never left thinking 'why the hell is John Wayne playing a Roman centurion?' Here everyone has a part to play and so, rather than over-filled or gratuitous, this book feels like a party to which we've all been invited by Iris, the reader included.
It'd be a bit pointless to go into detail about everyone who turns up and what role they play, but I can't let pass the opportunity to mention that Barbra the Vending Machine from 'Sick Building' and 'The Dreadful Flap' returns in all her stale-crisped glory. Even if the rest of the book were rubbish (which it isn't - it's great!) it'd be worth buying this just to see Barbra on the Bus.
They should invite Paul Magrs to write for Doctor Who on telly. This is the one sort of story missing from the series since it came back, a proper, mental, funny, sometimes sad, often daft extravaganza.
amandawillimott's review
4.0
Delightful. I'm not a science fiction reader or a Doctor Who watcher but I loved this book and that's thanks to Paul Magrs's great writing.
Set in the same universe as Doctor Who (or so I'm led to believe) this book introduces Iris Wildthyme, adventuress, explorer, eccentric and all-around wonderful woman. She travels around Time and Space in a double decker bus with a sentient stuffed toy named Panda, a sentient vending machine named Barbra and a human man named Simon. It's a light read, fast-paced, with several hidden pop culture references, and a cast of very likeable characters.
Set in the same universe as Doctor Who (or so I'm led to believe) this book introduces Iris Wildthyme, adventuress, explorer, eccentric and all-around wonderful woman. She travels around Time and Space in a double decker bus with a sentient stuffed toy named Panda, a sentient vending machine named Barbra and a human man named Simon. It's a light read, fast-paced, with several hidden pop culture references, and a cast of very likeable characters.
veronique5199's review
1.0
Not a lot happens in this book
you are waiting for some epic battle or plot twist and you think you get there and then the book ends
you are waiting for some epic battle or plot twist and you think you get there and then the book ends
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