Brian C. Veteran Bookseller
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chainborne.bsky.social
Brian C. Veteran Bookseller
@chainborne.bsky.social
160 followers 510 following 520 posts
Bookseller (British, bearded, bespectacled, bald). Fantasy-fan. Sci-Fi guy. Word-nerd. He/Him.
On a mission to read all the middle-grade science fiction books.
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chainborne.bsky.social
Vaguely reassured that even after taking dozens of selfies over the years, Google Photos apparently has no idea what I'll look like. 🤷‍♂️

In the picture are
1. Author Caim (C. K.) McDonnell
2. Actor Richard Dormer as Captain Vimes
3. Honestly not sure who that is, but it's not me.

(I did not tap)
A screenshot from Google Photos personalised round-up of 2025, inviting me to "Tap on your face to personalised your experience" with further text which reads "Not seeing you? [Show More]" Underneath are three roundels with cropped headshots from my gallery of the two men mentioned in the post, and a black & white headshot of an attractive brunette lady, possibly another author from a book jacket.
December 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
My collection (nearly forgot Fury Road). There's a lot of blu rays I ought to upgrade though.

...I'm not proud of the DCEU wall ok, but I'd already started before Suicide Squad came out and I'm a completionist. 🤷‍♂️

I'm just glad Excalibur got announced in time! (pre-ordered already).
A photo of my hand holding up a stack of Warner Bros. 4K UHD discs, which are from top to bottom: • The Steelbook cased Lord of The Rings trilogy • The Matrix • John Wick • Batman Returns • Batman (1989) • Batman: Mask of the Phantasm • • The Steelbook 4-film Christopher Reeve Superman case. A photo of my hand holding up the Mondo Steelbook edition of Mad Max: Fury Road, which features a tarnished gold finish with the Warboys emblem embossed within a circle, across the top of which are etched the words "What a lovely day" in all-caps. A photo of a wall display of the entire 15-film "DCEU" series in Steelbook edition, some of which (the early films) are not in 4K. I'm not going to list them all, but it's everything from Man of Steel to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
December 5, 2025 at 9:22 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
I just realised Mother Pontipee could've called him "Famine". I mean, that's a character from the Bible right?
A cropped image from Albrecht Dürer's "Four Horsemen" woodcut, focusing on Famine; here depicted as a well-dressed human man with medium length curly hair riding a horse at full tilt. One arm is outflung behind him, holding a balance scale, its cups swinging wildly.
November 26, 2025 at 3:53 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
This one from CooperLit comics has been stuck in my head for many years...
A four-panel comic strip by CooperLit comics, featuring Quasimodo caught in a double-standard. In the first panel, Quasimodo the hunchback is observing Esmerelda from a distance. The stitch bubble reads "Fair Esmerelda, she'll never love one such as me." In the second panel he continues his theme, seemingly alone, saying "Curse this world that sees beauty only in what it sees! My body is bent but my mind upright. My voice is obscene but my words are pure." In the third panel he is interrupted mid-soliloquy by a woman of similarly unconventional appearance. She is broad and squat, with a bent nose, mismatched eyes and an overbite. The speech bubbles read: Quasimodo: "My form is wretched but - " Woman: "... It's but a casing for a must worthy soul. Bravo, sir!" The fourth panel simply shows Quasimodo recoiling from the woman, with a silent thought-bubble that just reads "Ew!".
November 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Terry Pratchett had a bit about this in Witches Abroad, about the very Louisiana-coded city of Genua...
Text reads: "Genuan cooking, like the best cooking everywhere in the multiverse, has been evolved by people who had to make desperate use of ingredients their masters didn't want. No-one would even try a bird's nest unless they had to. Only hunger would make a man taste his first alligator. No-one would eat a shark's fin if they were allowed to eat the rest of the shark."
November 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Was curious about the book and did a little Googling, and this little bit of grammatical ambiguity from the acquisition announcement made me chuckle. 😄
A screenshot of text announcing the acquisition of "Fairylore" a book by Doctors Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman. The humour comes from a run-on sentence which in part reads "...from the shoe-mending fairies of Germany and the seductive Nikusui of Japan to the vampiric Bruxa of Portugal, to Kate Zimmermann at Sterling Ethos..." which would seem to list "Kate Zimmerman" as a type of fairy. The full text reads: FAIRYLORE by Sara Cleto, Brittany Warman sells to Sterling Ethos Doctors of folklore and founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman's FAIRYLORE, a guide to fae folk that captures the glamor of fairies from around the world through an in-depth exploration of their histories, traits, and tales--from the shoe-mending fairies of Germany and the seductive Nikusui of Japan to the vampiric Bruxa of Portugal, to Kate Zimmermann at Sterling Ethos, in an exclusive submission, for publication in fall 2025, by Adriana Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio (NA).
November 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Well the Ventress ones are are just my imaginary wishlist, but yes those 3 just got released last week or so. I think along with Tales of the Jedi Dooku and Blind Kanan (and a chase variant of Arc Trooper Jesse).

But I'm a Clone Wars purist, so the other two aren't on my list.
😊
A collage of 6 recent 2025 Star Wars Funko Pop! Vinyl figurines: Asajj Ventress, Young(ish) Count Dooku from Tales of the Jedi, Hondo Ohnaka, Arc Trooper Jesse and his Chase Variant, and Kanan Jarrus wearing his eye-covering half-mask after being blinded by Maul.
November 18, 2025 at 8:40 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Arrived just too late for #VentressDay, but nice to finally have a Funko of the (formerly) Hairless Harpy!

Of course now I want:
✓ Ventress without skirt
✓ Season 3 outfit
✓ Nightsister
✓ Nightsister with cowl
✓ Bounty Hunter
✓ Bounty Hunter with Helmet
✓ Bad Batch Ventress

@ohcatrina.bsky.social
A close-up photo of 3 newly-released Star Wars Funko Pop! Vinyl figurines, unboxed and posed on a wooden surface against a plain white wall. In the middle and foregrounded is an Asajj Ventress figurine, in her season 1 & 2 outfit from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with dual red lightsabers lowered and crossed at the blades. To our left is Arc Trooper Jesse, helmetless displaying his bold facial tattoo of the Republic symbol. To our right is TCW-era Hondo Ohnaka, wearing his flight goggles and accompanied by a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard, it's colouration mimicking that of a Blue-and-yellow Macaw. A collage of 7 mostly promotional and posed official CG artworks of Asajj Ventress, featuring all her 3D-animated outfits that I could remember. In the centre is the outfit briefly seen in the Season 3 episode of The Clone Wars, comprising a full-length black skirt and a mostly white top with horizontal ribbing and a high black neck. Clockwise from the top is her Season 1&2 outfit, sans skirt, her Bad Batch appearance, her Nightsister outfit complete with spiked flail, her Season 4 Bounty Hunter outfit, with full-face helmet, her Season 4 Bounty Hunter outfit without helmet, and her Nightsister outfit complete with cowl and facemask.
November 18, 2025 at 7:36 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Apparently this is a perk, not a threat.
A photo of a postal flyer for Vodafone UK's mobile data service "Voxi", promising "Endless Social Media".
November 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
A collage of two images, one above the other. The top image is a screenshot of a Google News headline from The Guardian, showing a picture of UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. The headline reads "Shabana Mahmood warns Labour MPs 'dark forces are stirring up anger' over migration". The bottom image is the "We're all trying to find the guy who did this" man-in-hotdog-suit meme from the TV show "I think you should leave".
November 17, 2025 at 11:48 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
Finally getting a Funko Pop! vinyl this year too!
Promotional image of the 2025 Asajj Ventress Funko Pop Vinyl figurine, which shows the character facing forwards in her early-season TCW outfit, with downward pointing lightsabers crossed at the blades.
November 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
I'm incapable of shelving, picking or handling a book by Friedrich Nietzsche without the words of Howard Johnson playing in my head...
November 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
Cannot get my head around the fact that he was the voice of Lumiere...
A still of Lumiere, the human-turned-candelabra from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
November 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Had an hour to kill before my train home, so I reported - via the customer contact form - the fact that the paperback of Harrow the Ninth weirdly appears to have been memory-holed by our web store. 🤔

Gideon and Nona are listed no problem. 🤷‍♂️
November 2, 2025 at 5:45 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
Me, watching The Rock in 1996 having read Asterix The Legionary...
A collage of two movie screenshots, one above the other. The top frame is from The Rock (1996) , and shows the bedraggled prisoner John Mason, played by Sean Connery, signing a criminal pardon. The caption reads "Timeo Danaos et Dona ferentes". The bottom frame is from Once upon a time in Hollywood (2019) featuring the well-known shot of Leonardo diCaprio pointing at the screenv in recognition, holding a beer & a cigarette in his other hand.
October 26, 2025 at 12:20 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
I had to watch the promo reel before I found an image of anyone actually sitting on one. With good reason as it turns out...

I'm 6'3", so I genuinely assumed you were supposed to kneel on the bottom cushion and sit on the backrest. 😅
A cropped screenshot from a YouTube video showing a ginger-haired man in yellow short-sleeved overalls sitting on a very impractical chair, disappearing very bad posture; his back curved forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
October 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
The headline immediately brings to mind this old meme about the Muslim boy who brought a homemade clock to his school science fair.

"They never thought he had a bomb"...
A screenshot of an old Facebook post or something, in response to a news story about a young Muslim boy who brought a homemade clock to his school's science fair I think. The post is credited to "Andy Iles", and the text reads: "I said: it's sad they thought that kid had a bomb. She said: they didn't think he had a bomb. I said: yes, they thought he made a bomb and even called the police. She said: They just wanted to humiliate a little Muslim, African boy. They didn't think he had a bomb. I said: Don't be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I'm sure they thought he had a bomb. She said: Ok. But they didn't evacuate the school, like you do when there's a bomb. They didn't call a bomb squad - like you do when there's a bomb They didn't get as far away from him as possible like you do when there's a bomb. Then they put him and the clock in an office-not like you do when there's a bomb Then they waited with him for the police to arrive. Then they put the clock in the same car as the police. Then they took pictures of it. I said: Damn They never thought he had a bomb
October 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
One of the stops on my commute is called "Mauldeth Road", and every time it's announced I think...
A screenshot of the Star Wars: Rebels episode "Twin Suns", showing (former) Darth Maul dying in the arms of the white-haired Ben Kenobi under the night sky of Tatooine.
October 12, 2025 at 6:46 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
A screenshot from the final scene of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", showing Lt. Aldo Raine & Sgt Donowitz looking directly into the camera, being crouched over the Nazi "Jew Hound" Hans Landa, having just carved a swastika into his forehead. Lt. Raine is holding up a massive Bowie knife.
October 12, 2025 at 5:40 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
About a decade ago I told my mum I'd found & ordered a copy online of my most fondly-remembered book from my childhood, Usborne's "Stories for Young Children", she went to a box in the spare room and said "You mean this one?".

So now I have two copies! 😁

(And I discovered the original was a gift!)
A photo of my hand, holding up two different editions of the Usborne "Stories for Young Children", illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, who's work to me is iconic of Usborne's whole brand. The covers of each are different illustrations by Cartwright, featuring a medley of Dragons, Giants, Witches, Wizards, Princes & Princesses, and Gnomes, Goblins & Fairies. The book is a compendium of the Usborne "Stories of..." those subjects respectively. A close-up of the inside front-cover of my childhood copy of Usborne's Stories for Young Children, which reveals an inscription from my aunt, which reads: "To Brian, With lots of love from Auntie Anne, Uncle Mike, Michael, Katie and John Paul."
October 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
Fantasy is my bag. 😊

Can't imagine it's anything that I don't already own on DVD at least, but I can't place the image snippets. 🤔 Fingers crossed for an upgrade or two!

Hoping for the Ator series, Barbarian Queen 1 & 2, The Warrior & The Sorceress, Gor 1 & 2...
A cropped photo of my Fantasy Blu-ray/DVD shelf, in alphabetical order, with way too many titles to list. The Arrow Video 4K Conan collection is missing because it's too big to fit on the shelf.
October 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
I mean, they're very different films to be fair, but yeah the Rotten Tomatoes Audience Scores are pretty conclusive...
A collage of two screenshots from the Rotten Tomatoes website, of the summaries for the 1998 movies "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon". The critics scores (Tomatometer) are 45% and 43% respectively. Both "Rotten", but giving Deep Impact the slight edge. The audience scores (Popcornmeter) however are 43% for Deep Impact, and 73% for Armageddon, making Armageddon "Certified Fresh". 🤷‍♂️
October 9, 2025 at 5:56 AM
chainborne.bsky.social
Upgrades! 🤩
Long overdue...

Doug McClure, newly arrived in 1080p courtesy of @imprintfilms.bsky.social
A photo montage of my left & right hands holding up some blu ray & dvd boxed sets against a plain white background. In my left hand is "The Doug McClure Fantasy Adventure Triple Bill" DVD boxed set, comprising "The Land that Time Forgot", "Warlords of Atlantis" and "At the Earth's Core", as well as a single blu ray copy of "The People that Time Forgot". In my right hand is a copy of Imprint Films' "Tales of Adventure: Collection 9" blu ray boxed set containing all four aforementioned films in a shiny laminated-cardboard presentation box.
October 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
This headline confused me for at least 30 seconds; I was like, "Uh, the Queen is also dead??" 🤨
A screenshot of a Google News feed headline from the BBC. The caption reads: "Queen pass tribute to 'legend' July Cooper after author dies aged 88"
October 6, 2025 at 4:38 PM
chainborne.bsky.social
I thought for a second each line was a separate quote.
A screenshot of a Google News headline from BBC News. The main image shows a close-up of JD Vance, seated and speaking into a microphone. The text below is split across two lines. The first line reads: "Report those who celebrate Charlie Kirk" and the second line reads "Death to employers, Vance says".
September 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM