Weekly Round-up Monday 11th August

When you read this I'll have just finished having an incredibly geeky weekend at Nine Worlds Geekfest in Heathrow. If you want to know more about my convention adventures you're in luck as I'll be bringing you my Nine Worlds convention diary next week. However, today it's time for a weekly round-up and in honour of Nine Worlds I'm going to be looking at some of the conventions coming up soon which you should be looking at going to.

1. Loncon 3 (World Con)
   On Thursday World Con, the world science fiction convention, comes to London in the form of Loncon3. Loncon will be celebrating all kinds of science fiction and fantasy works from TV to tabletop board gaming with a strong focus on literature. Some highlights include George RR Martin and Robin Hobb's readings and panels. Attendees will never be stuck for something to do that's for sure.
2. Sheffield Film and Comic Con
   The first ever Sheffield Film and Comic Con will be taking place later this month at the Sheffield Arena! So far guests include Burn Gorman, Eve Myles, Paul McGann and John Rhys Davis to name but a few. As it's so close to home for me it would be rude not to go and I wouldn't be taking full advantage if I didn't use it as a fantastic shopping opportunity either!
3. MCM Expo
   I've never been to an MCM Expo, something which I'm planning to change in the next year. MCM run a pretty packed program of conventions all over the country, so there's bound to be one relatively close by (normal venues include Manchester, London and Birmingham). The only downside is that guests are often not announced to the last minute so you don't always know who you're going to be seeing.
4. Nine Worlds 2015
   Should you be going next year? Definitely! Ok maybe wait until you read my diary,  (I'm writing this before the convention so you never know, it might not have been good this year) but then get your tickets booked at the super early bird rate. Nine Worlds is one of the more expensive conventions on this list, but it is also one of the ones with the most to do, so it all balances out.

And finally, it's slightly old news by now, but the season 8 premier of Doctor Who will be streaming to cinema's around the country, along with bonus content and a live Q and A from London's Leicester Square Odeon. Also, tickets are now on sale for the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, a concert celebrating the music of Doctor Who, conducted by the amazing Ben Foster, which should be coming to an Arena near you.

Currently Reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, so I'm behind the times, but I'm very much enjoying catching up on this excellent book. If you like Brent Weeks or GRRM you'll love this!
Currently Playing Dungeons and Dragons 5E, I may not have known what to expect at first, but I really love 5E so far and I can't wait to get my hands on the players handbook later this week. If you want to get into Dungeons and Dragons and don't know where to start the D&D Starter Set is a great place to begin your quest.