What do you think?
Rate this book
Iris Wildthyme books
Wildthyme Beyond!
TIME AND SPACE. GOOD AND EVIL. GIN AND TONIC. He's great novelist, clever and ironic -- Russell T. Davies Iris Wildthyme, Panda and Simon are back in this rip-roaring sequel to Paul Magrs' bestselling novel Enter Wildthyme
Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 31, 2026
I listened to this as an audiobook read by Katy Manning.
This is the concluding part of the lengthy story which began in "Enter Wildthyme". It contains broadly the same set of characters as the first book, but adds a few more including Fenster (a kind of cyborg dragon) and a collection of alternate universe versions of characters we have already met.
At the start, this story seemed especially confusing, as it weaves multiple threads of storyline, often threads with different versions of the same characters, in different universes, at the same time. Stick with it, though, and these wild and seemingly unrelated plot lines do (mostly) come together.
Just as with the first book, the story is chaotic, but (by the end, at least) largely satisfying. Unlike the first book, however, this one makes quite a lot of use of first-person narration by some of the characters to "fast forward" over sections which I guess were deemed to complicated or dull to write out in the same level of detail as the rest of it. This change of pace was occasionally jarring, especially at the end which (for me) didn't quite pay off on its build-up.
This is the concluding part of the lengthy story which began in "Enter Wildthyme". It contains broadly the same set of characters as the first book, but adds a few more including Fenster (a kind of cyborg dragon) and a collection of alternate universe versions of characters we have already met.
At the start, this story seemed especially confusing, as it weaves multiple threads of storyline, often threads with different versions of the same characters, in different universes, at the same time. Stick with it, though, and these wild and seemingly unrelated plot lines do (mostly) come together.
Just as with the first book, the story is chaotic, but (by the end, at least) largely satisfying. Unlike the first book, however, this one makes quite a lot of use of first-person narration by some of the characters to "fast forward" over sections which I guess were deemed to complicated or dull to write out in the same level of detail as the rest of it. This change of pace was occasionally jarring, especially at the end which (for me) didn't quite pay off on its build-up.
January 2, 2020
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3315860.html
Middle volume of a trilogy published in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and so I missed out on both the set-up and the conclusion. It's interesting enough that I will seek out the others; the concept is that Iris and her peculiar friends are trapped in a parallel universe while on our Earth fans and pro writers of her adventures are uneasily interacting with each other and with her story.
Middle volume of a trilogy published in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and so I missed out on both the set-up and the conclusion. It's interesting enough that I will seek out the others; the concept is that Iris and her peculiar friends are trapped in a parallel universe while on our Earth fans and pro writers of her adventures are uneasily interacting with each other and with her story.
June 10, 2021
I managed to get all the way through Wildthyme Beyond, even though I can’t say I really enjoyed it very much. It was a fragmented, incoherent story with one dimensional characters in odd (and I don’t mean odd not in a good way) settings. There were some really lame attempts at what I can only assume were supposed to be puns or jokes. It still might have gotten two stars if not for the stupid ending, which did little to explain or even properly connect all storylines.
March 15, 2018
Just like the first it was quite strange and odd but in a good way. All the different dimensions and stories were maybe a bit too much. It felt like I was reading episodes if that makes sense, like in a tv episode you only see most that is exciting or relevant and here you also had some holes in the story because they did not show them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2013
*Special Content only on my blog, Strange and Random Happenstance during I ♥ ♥ The Doctor (October-December 2013)
The journey to Hyspero of Iris Wildthyme and her compatriots isn't going exactly to plan. Not only have they spent too much time driving across the desert, but now they are separated. Iris and Panda have ended up with a dragon in an underground city that eerily links to Iris's past, while everyone else, including their nemesis Anthony Marvelle, has ended up in the clutches of the Scarlet Empress. Yet all these setbacks are nothing compared to the fact that their journey has the unexpected consequence of knocking them a few degrees into fictionality. Back on Earth, Simon and Kelly are no longer real people just characters being written about by the writer Terry and devoured by fans such as Sammy. From Iris's long forgotten past to Panda's future, Kelly's musing as a little girl, and the fandom that has built itself around Iris, life is going to get far more complicated before it can get back to normal... whatever that is. Hopefully there will be a bar stocked with gin and tonic to get them through it all.
While a book about a transdimenisal adventuress is perhaps not the most straightforward of narratives, with time and space in flux, the interweaving of the stories, while at times confusing, was still able to cut to the quick of the matter and through everything form this nostalgic bond that had me thinking about books I read as a kid and all the different worlds I imagined. Iris's past as Lilith in the Clockworks and Kelly's childhood stories are this amazing mash-up of Oz and Narnia with a bit of Edward Eager and some Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was instantly transported back to daydreams of travelling to other worlds and places, many of which I believed to be behind my parents bedroom mirror. But Paul is able to take these memories and add an edge, a little something other that appeals to the slight bitterness that memories get over time. It isn't pure nostalgia, which is there, but nostalgia plus. Like when they made Return to Oz into a slightly darker fairy tale with inserting the fact that Oz is perhaps all in Dorothy's mind and she needed a little electroshock therapy.
In Iris's youth in the scary house in the wasteland where she is held by three aunts is the perfect example of this enhancement. Instantly the gardens and the remoteness bring to mind The Secret Garden, a book I have a bit of a love hate relationship with, yet Paul goes beyond this. The aunts and the deadly wasteland make it a dystopian world where the aunts, who I envision as the three bitter Bronte sisters, sit up in their room while their ward is only allowed outside if covered from head to toe in protective gear, like Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau. Just this imagery makes me want this small section of the book filmed as a short by Tim Burton. I connected so deeply with this backstory that I was more then a little disappointed when it ended on a rooftop in New York city... but at least Andy Warhol was there to comfort me and Iris.
Though it was the Iris fandom that I think perhaps I relate to most in the here and now. With the theme of nostalgia so strong in Wildthyme Beyond! I started to ask myself what exactly is the reason we become part of a fandom. The answer is nostalgia in many cases. I became a Whovian because not only is the show an amazing show but I have history and a connection to it. I seriously get sentimental even thinking about Doctor Who! The same happens when I think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Firefly... I come over all wistful. Yet again, Paul doesn't sugarcoat it. While it's a parody in a sense of his own life and his own interactions with fans and the Whoverse, there is also a love there. This is the fandom, warts and all, and more then a little meta. The uber fan Sammy and his mint copies who geeks out at the smallest thing, the writer in it just for the money... the Iris Wildthyme convention! Paul gets us fans because he is one of them, one of us.
The journey to Hyspero of Iris Wildthyme and her compatriots isn't going exactly to plan. Not only have they spent too much time driving across the desert, but now they are separated. Iris and Panda have ended up with a dragon in an underground city that eerily links to Iris's past, while everyone else, including their nemesis Anthony Marvelle, has ended up in the clutches of the Scarlet Empress. Yet all these setbacks are nothing compared to the fact that their journey has the unexpected consequence of knocking them a few degrees into fictionality. Back on Earth, Simon and Kelly are no longer real people just characters being written about by the writer Terry and devoured by fans such as Sammy. From Iris's long forgotten past to Panda's future, Kelly's musing as a little girl, and the fandom that has built itself around Iris, life is going to get far more complicated before it can get back to normal... whatever that is. Hopefully there will be a bar stocked with gin and tonic to get them through it all.
While a book about a transdimenisal adventuress is perhaps not the most straightforward of narratives, with time and space in flux, the interweaving of the stories, while at times confusing, was still able to cut to the quick of the matter and through everything form this nostalgic bond that had me thinking about books I read as a kid and all the different worlds I imagined. Iris's past as Lilith in the Clockworks and Kelly's childhood stories are this amazing mash-up of Oz and Narnia with a bit of Edward Eager and some Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was instantly transported back to daydreams of travelling to other worlds and places, many of which I believed to be behind my parents bedroom mirror. But Paul is able to take these memories and add an edge, a little something other that appeals to the slight bitterness that memories get over time. It isn't pure nostalgia, which is there, but nostalgia plus. Like when they made Return to Oz into a slightly darker fairy tale with inserting the fact that Oz is perhaps all in Dorothy's mind and she needed a little electroshock therapy.
In Iris's youth in the scary house in the wasteland where she is held by three aunts is the perfect example of this enhancement. Instantly the gardens and the remoteness bring to mind The Secret Garden, a book I have a bit of a love hate relationship with, yet Paul goes beyond this. The aunts and the deadly wasteland make it a dystopian world where the aunts, who I envision as the three bitter Bronte sisters, sit up in their room while their ward is only allowed outside if covered from head to toe in protective gear, like Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau. Just this imagery makes me want this small section of the book filmed as a short by Tim Burton. I connected so deeply with this backstory that I was more then a little disappointed when it ended on a rooftop in New York city... but at least Andy Warhol was there to comfort me and Iris.
Though it was the Iris fandom that I think perhaps I relate to most in the here and now. With the theme of nostalgia so strong in Wildthyme Beyond! I started to ask myself what exactly is the reason we become part of a fandom. The answer is nostalgia in many cases. I became a Whovian because not only is the show an amazing show but I have history and a connection to it. I seriously get sentimental even thinking about Doctor Who! The same happens when I think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Firefly... I come over all wistful. Yet again, Paul doesn't sugarcoat it. While it's a parody in a sense of his own life and his own interactions with fans and the Whoverse, there is also a love there. This is the fandom, warts and all, and more then a little meta. The uber fan Sammy and his mint copies who geeks out at the smallest thing, the writer in it just for the money... the Iris Wildthyme convention! Paul gets us fans because he is one of them, one of us.
October 13, 2012
Inter-dimensional adventuress Iris Wildthyme had ended up on the bizarre and dangerous planet of Hyspero along with a whole host of her friends and enemies: Panda (the sentient stuffed toy), Jenny (secret agent and Head of MIAOW Darlington), Barbra (the walking & talking vending machine), best friends and Darlington residents Simon and Kelly, Ephemia (the most ancient and pickled in a jar empress of Hyspero, malevolent poet Anthony Marvelle and his evil alien poodle Missy.
Not only do the friends soon find themselves split up, with groups of them facing a host of different dangers, but we also see different versions of them as the effect of them being on Hyspero fractures reality. We also get introduced to a new cast of human characters who only know Iris and her friends from their fictional adventures on TV and in books.
This is a complex and dense read due to trying to keep a track of all the plot threads, but Paul's prose keeps the characters interesting and the adventure moving. It's metafictional nature and commentary of the nature of fandom will either amuse or confuse (in my case amuse).
One for Iris or Magrs fans, or those that like madcap intricate madcap adventure.
Not only do the friends soon find themselves split up, with groups of them facing a host of different dangers, but we also see different versions of them as the effect of them being on Hyspero fractures reality. We also get introduced to a new cast of human characters who only know Iris and her friends from their fictional adventures on TV and in books.
This is a complex and dense read due to trying to keep a track of all the plot threads, but Paul's prose keeps the characters interesting and the adventure moving. It's metafictional nature and commentary of the nature of fandom will either amuse or confuse (in my case amuse).
One for Iris or Magrs fans, or those that like madcap intricate madcap adventure.
December 29, 2013
An easy read which in places was very funny. The author is clearly very conversant with the world of 'fan fiction writing' and has some surprisingly jaundiced insights about the people who produce it. This was the first of his Wildthyme books I had read so maybe it was not the best place to begin,but I have to say there were too many threads going on for my poor little brain to cope with, each as equally unlikely and fantastical as each other. By having them all running simultaneously, I was soon lost in being able to maintain continuity with any of them. I'm also not convinced that they were all resolved or justified at the end of the book which left me thinking, 'Is that it?'
It is a good read in a blurry, unfocused sort of way and does make you wonder at the possibilities of having a middle-aged housewife play Dr.Who the next time a regeneration is deemed necessary.
It is a good read in a blurry, unfocused sort of way and does make you wonder at the possibilities of having a middle-aged housewife play Dr.Who the next time a regeneration is deemed necessary.
December 11, 2013
I have to wonder if some of the reviewers here were reading the same book that I tried. They hint at its many faults but still describe it as "a good read". For me, the multiple threads and feeling that there was no coherent story gradually became irritating. Initially I stuck with the book, hoping that it would all come together. I eventually got more than halfway through and, still with no clear idea of what was happening, I ran out of patience and gave up.
I'm sorry to have to give this such a negative review as I've enjoyed some of Paul Magrs' other books. His Brenda and Effie novels have been entertaining and I found Enter Wildthyme at least readable. However, this book struck me as annoyingly self indulgent and really not worth the reader's effort.
I'm sorry to have to give this such a negative review as I've enjoyed some of Paul Magrs' other books. His Brenda and Effie novels have been entertaining and I found Enter Wildthyme at least readable. However, this book struck me as annoyingly self indulgent and really not worth the reader's effort.
October 29, 2013
Iris and her various friends are stranded on the perplexing and magical world of Hyspero. Rules over by the all-knowing and all-powerful Scarlet Empress, this is a place where seemingly anything can happen. As Iris and her faithful companion, Panda, are drawn into a nightmarish subterranean adventure, their friends are captures by the guards of the Empress herself for nefarious reasons of their own. Iris descends into memories of her bizarre childhood in a universe far from here... a dreadful place that the despicable power Anthony Marvelle is trying to unleash, convinced that great riches lie in that mythical region known only as the Obverse.
a confusing read, to begin with, this book (like its predecessor) required some patience and perseverance though the multiple threads.
a confusing read, to begin with, this book (like its predecessor) required some patience and perseverance though the multiple threads.
December 31, 2013
I have listened to and adored all the Iris Wildthyme audios but this was the first book I've read about her. I really enjoyed it though I think it could have done with a little more Iris and a little less fantasy. But it was lots of fun and all the meta jokes about fandom were brilliant. I loved how Iris fandom included goth girls and middle aged women! The ending was just perfect. Will definitely be reading more of the Iris books. But now I must go in search of a gin and tonic...
November 20, 2014
Crazy is the word that comes to mind after reading this Iris Wildthyme adventure. And, that's exactly the way I like it. Magrs has a mind like no other author I've come across. I am constantly surprised by his work. Who else would make a vending machine likable and an integral part of the story? You can read other reviews that discuss the quirky and fun plot. I found it a great romp across the multiverse and I hope more are forthcoming.
June 27, 2014
This is brilliant, so funny. I split my sides so many times. Fantastic stuff. What's next!
May 24, 2013
Excellent and more than a little confusing! Fabulous read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews