This book follows Bob Fischer as he spends a summer trying to get back in touch with his SF roots by attending a string of conventions.

It's very funny - a look at fandom by someone coming to it fresh and getting totally hooked. It's full of cheerful descriptions in which I recognise either people I know or people very like them. Some of the writing is an absolute hoot. I particularly like the description of my son carrying a supersoaker the size of a small Shetland pony!

From which you may gather that I and my family make an appearance... Bob came to last year's supersoaker fight at Winspit and we all had a great time.

The book alternates between past and present as Bob talks about how he first encountered shows like Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, Robin of Sherwood, Monty Python, James Bond and Dr Who, then visits conventions for the different shows.

It's hard to give a full flavour of the book without extensive quoting as the appeal is as much in the writing style as in the events themselves, but imagine the effect of too much alcohol combined with too much travel and not enough sleep and if you've been to a convention, you'll probably recognise yourselves somewhere in the mix.

He's accompanied on his later travels by his partner Sorcha, whom he first dated after he saw her wearing a Red Dwarf T-shirt many years before. Towards the end, Sorcha turns out to have plenty of fannish roots herself, especially Discworld. (In fact, I was to meet them again at Discworld, where in my capacity as a member of the Priest's Guild, I was able to grant them an indulgance for drinking alcohol.) (I may have granted them one for fornication as well, but that isn't in the book...)

In a nutshell, it's funny, I laughed out loud. Anyone who goes to media cons will probably find something in this book to amuse or bring back memories.

Recommended - and not just because Bob describes me as 'tall and slim with a warmly academic air'! ( )

I loved this book. I haven't laughed this much in years, and I'm pretty sure I didn't get nearly all the jokes, not having grown up in England in the 1980s. Following Bob Fischer's trek to revisit his childhood TV heroes by attending conventions celebrating his favourite shows was a great way to revisit some of my favourites too. I especially enjoyed the "Bluffer's Guide to..." section for each show, wherein Bob recaps the important points of each show. Recommended for anyone who spent a childhood glued to SF on the tube. ( )