Review: Doctor Who: Into The Nowhere (Time Trips) by Jenny T. Colgan

Title: Into the Nowhere
Series: Doctor Who: Time Trips

Author: Jenny T. Colgan

Publication Date: January 16th, 2014

Publisher: BBC Digital

Genre: Sci Fi

Pages: 49

ISBN13: 978-1448141838

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara land on an unknown alien planet. To the Doctor's delight and Clara's astonishment, it really is unknown. It's a planet the Doctor has never seen. It's not on any maps, it's not referenced on any star charts or in the TARDIS data banks. It doesn't even have a name. What could be so terrible that its existence has been erased?

A | B&N | Gr

Jenny T. Colgan was born in 1972 in Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. After studying at Edinburgh University, she worked for six years in the health service, moonlighting as a cartoonist and a stand-up comic, before the publication of her first novel Amanda's Wedding in 2000. In 2013, her novel "Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweetshop of Dreams" won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is now working on her next novel. 

She is married with Andrew, a marine engineer, and had three children, Wallace, Michael-Francis, and Delphie. She mostly lives in France, with frequent visits to London. She occasionally writes for The Guardian newspaper, as well as a TV series.

Her Doctor Who novel Dark Horizons is published under the name J.T. Colgan.

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          Doctor Who: Into the Nowhere is the eleventh doctor’s turn to be captured in print by the Time Trips series.  He and Clara stumble upon a mysterious planet with no name or known history.  Not even the TARDIS knows where they are.  Not long after they leave the safety of the TARDIS, they realize that the world might not want its secrets uncovered and it seems as if the elements themselves turn against the Doctor and his companion.  

      The Doctor and Clara encounter a dizzying number of obstacles from the get-go in this fast-paced mystery.  At times there was so much being thrown at them that it seemed chaotic, in a nail biting and enjoyable sense.  For instance, at one point they escape a moving forest closing in on them, run into a conflagration of sorts, jump through it and almost fall off a cliff with a valley full of huge maggots beneath and an animated skeleton on the other side. Then they get attacked by a giant snake, all without catching their breath. Whatever forces exist on this planet, mean business. 

     All the authors that write for this series have done an exceptional job at writing their characters into some original and entertaining circumstances. The same can certainly be said for Jenny Colgan in this story.  What has consistently amazed me with every installment in this series, is the way the authors are able to replicate the mannerisms and details from the characters we know and love from the television show, and make them believable. The eleventh doctor is full of quirk and insanity, energy and goofiness.  Jenny has done Matt Smith proud with her installment, just as she has done a service for Whovians by creating this wonderfully diverting short story. Clara seemed to be a bit angrier than usual, and maybe a tad whiney at times but such is the lot for a Doctor Who companion. I didn't feel that her character was as believable as the Doctor for most of the story but that doesn't hurt things too badly. 

     As long as you don’t expect to have all the answers by the end, you won’t be disappointed by Into the Nowhere.  It’s funny and action packed and it’s chocked full of timey-wimey adventure that any fan would enjoy.  In looking back, the fact that there were still questions at the end didn’t detract from my over-all enjoyment of the story.  The missing pieces add to the story and I hope one day to read (or possibly see) more from this story-line in the future. 

Review: Doctor Who: Keeping Up With the Joneses by Nick Harkaway

Title: Keeping up with the Joneses
Series: Time Trips

Author: Nick Harkaway

Publication Date: February 6th, 2014
Publisher: BBC Digital

Genre: Sci-Fi
Pages: 51
ISBN: 1448141877

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating: 

Synopsis (from Publisher):

Deep in the gap between the stars, the TARDIS is damaged by a temporal mine. It's not life-threatening, but the Tenth Doctor will need a while to repair the damage. But he's not alone. The strangely familiar-looking Christina thinks the Doctor has arrived in her bed and breakfast, somewhere in Wales. In fact, the TARDIS seems to have enveloped Christina's entire town - and something else is trapped inside with it. A violent, unnatural storm threatens them all and - unless it's stopped - the entire universe.

A | Gr

Nick Harkaway was born in Cornwall, UK in 1972. He is possessed of two explosively exciting eyebrows, which exert an almost hypnotic attraction over small children, dogs, and - thankfully - one ludicrously attractive human rights lawyer, to whom he is married.

He likes: oceans, mountains, lakes, valleys, and those little pigs made of marzipan they have in Switzerland at new year.

He does not like: bivalves. You just can't trust them.

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 For the next installment in the Doctor Who: Time Trips reviews, I chose Nick Harkaway’s, Keeping Up With The Joneses. For this Time Trip short story, we accompany my personal favorite, the tenth doctor on an exciting romp through the TARDIS (the doctor’s trusty time machine and space ship that is bigger on the inside).  After hitting a temporal mine (a time machine trap) that shouldn’t exist anymore, the TARDIS gets damaged and systems start going haywire all over the place.  Time starts moving differently in different parts of the ship and a Welsh village appears inside the TARDIS.  Inside this village the doctor finds a very familiar looking woman and no shortage of danger and intrigue. The Doctor and his new companion must navigate dangers in both the mysterious village and the TARDIS to figure out how to fix the damage before the TARDIS is destroyed, taking a big chunk of the universe with it.

                Out of all of the Doctor Who stories I have read, this one is easily my favorite. From the first page to the last it is chocked full of the whimsy, intrigue, mystery and fun that I have come to expect and love from Doctor Who.  Maybe that is partly due to the inclusion of my favorite doctor, but the way he was written was absolutely flawless.  The decision to include the banter the Doctor has with himself in his mind was perfect, and the execution was right on.  From his hilarious paranoia to his childlike wonder and excitement, the Doctor’s personality and character could not have been written better.  The story itself was very well-written and captivating, with its fair share of wibbly revelations and danger.  The characters were all fleshed out perfectly, and the ending was brilliant.  If any of the Doctor Who written material that I have read should be turned into an episode, I would choose for this one to be it.

                For any fans of Doctor Who, Science fiction, comedy or light reading in general, I would absolutely recommend picking up a copy to enjoy.

Review: Doctor Who: A Handful of Stardust (Time Trips) by Jake Arnott

Title: Doctor Who: A Handful of Stardust
Series: Time Trips

Author: Jake Arnott

Publication Date: April 3rd, 2014

Publisher: BBC Digital

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 45

ISBN13: 1448141850

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
The TARDIS is diverted to England in 1572, and the Sixth Doctor and Peri meet John Dee - 'mathematician, astrologer, alchemist, magician, and the greatest mind of our time'. ('Only of your time?', the Doctor asks, unimpressed.) But what brought them here? When the Doctor discovers that Dee and his assistant have come across a 'great disturbance in the cosmos, in the constellation of Cassiopeia,' he realizes that they are all in terrible danger.

A | B&N | Gr

Jake Arnott was born in 1961 in Buckinghamshire, England. He is best known for his trilogy of crime novels, which recreate the post-war heyday of the London gangland scene and its attendant ‘showbiz’ associations, brilliantly evoked and by turns glamorous or seedy.

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  A Handful of Stardust is a short story in the Time Trips series from BBC books.  I have taken a keen interest in these Doctor Who stories as of late.  I will be doing a review on a different short story every Wednesday until the month of the premier of the new season of Doctor Who.  A Handful of Stardust was the first in this string of reviews and the first Doctor Who short story I have ever read.  Going into it I didn’t quite know what to expect but I found that the short story format lends itself more readily to the Doctor Who Universe because it follows the same rhythm as the episodes.  Every page is action and no filler, just like a short story should be.

A Handful of Stardust follows the story of the 6^th Doctor and Peri as they get pulled out of time and space by John Dee and his assistant Thomas.  It doesn’t take long before he realizes there is something dark afoot in post Dark-age England.  Someone has given John Dee futuristic technology and is manipulating his thirst for forbidden knowledge.  Someone who is described as being in between a bachelor and a doctor... In case you hadn’t guessed, the Doctor’s old nemesis, “The Master” has come back to play and the fate of the world (as usual) is in the balance. 

Jake Arnott was successful in dealing with some pretty heady issues in a very interesting way.   Imperialism, human nature and even the church are some of the topics discussed.  There’s an especially interesting scene where the master and Peri and Thomas (John Dee’s assistant) argue over the imperialism of England and the settling of the Americas.  The Doctor and John Dee also have some lively debates that I thoroughly enjoyed.  The plot itself was inventive and engaging but could have used a couple more pages of fleshing out.  I know that it is difficult to do in a short story format but I would have enjoyed a little more conflict and character interaction.  Over all, I would re-read this book in the future.  I would recommend it to any Doctor Who fan or sci fi guru and I am looking forward to reading more in this series.

Review: Doctor Who: Touched By An Angel by Jonathan Morris

Title: Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel
Series: Doctor Who Monster Series #46

Author: Jonathan Morris

Publication Date: June 23, 2011

Publisher: BBC books

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 237

ISBN13: 978-1-84990-234-2

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
 "The past is like a foreign country. Nice to visit, but you really wouldn’t want to live there."

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. Her husband Mark is still grieving. He receives a battered envelope, posted eight years ago, containing a set of instructions with a simple message: "You can save her."

As Mark is given the chance to save Rebecca, it’s up to the Doctor, Amy and Rory to save the whole world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using Mark himself as a weapon to change history. Will the doctor stop mark or will the angels feast?

A | B&N | Gr

Jonathan Morris is a prolific writer of Doctor Who fiction. He has contributed to many ranges, in every medium except television. His style has often been compared to that of Douglas Adams, perhaps in part because he dedicated The Tomorrow Windows to Adams.

 Indeed, this dedication was discussed at length in at least one prominent interview about the book, in which the interviewer's questions and Morris' answers left readers with the impression that the book was in fact "set in the Douglas Adams universe"

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  Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel is an entry in the new monster collection of books from BBC books.  It was written by Jonathan Morris who is experienced at writing Doctor Who Spin-off material.  I have been a fan of Doctor Who for a while now and as such, was worried about reviewing any sort of spin-off material.  The Doctors all possess a very unique style and voice that would be difficult to copy.  It would be so easy to make any attempt laughably horrible.  One quip in the wrong place, or one too many, “allons-y!s” and the whole thing would be ruined.  The miracle of Touched by an Angel is that it actually worked! 

                Jonathan Morris spins a tale about the 11^th doctor, complete with Rory and Amy.  During their travels they meet a man named mark, grieving from the death of his wife in a car accident.  He receives a letter from 8 years prior saying, “You can save her!”  He is given this chance by the touch of a weeping angel sending him back in time to his college days to re-engineer his life, and save his future wife.  The Doctor, Rory and Amy have to save the world from the resulting paradox, save mark from him-self and save themselves from the Angels.  The story follows Mark as he observes his younger self through all the stages of his life, intervening when he can to change his future.  The Doctor and his companions intervene whenever there is a risk of paradox and help Mark to cleverly avoid paradoxes while still being able to change his history. 

                I was impressed at how well Morris was able to take such a convoluted sounding plot and make it simple and entertaining.  The angels were creepy as ever and received plenty of page time.  The action wouldn’t lull for long before picking back up.  In my opinion, the most impressive aspect of the book was how well Jonathan Morris captured the voice and energy of all the characters, including the Doctor.  His quips and quirks were right on and quite funny.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading the plot for a full-length feature-film, replete with Matt Smith and his charm. 

                I would recommend this book to any fan of the Doctor Who series.  Fans who are waiting intently for the new season and need their “Who” fix would be especially remiss to pass it up.  Even if you aren’t acquainted with the lore, this would still be a very enjoyable read for any fan of quirky science fiction.  I intend to read the rest of the books in the monster collection to keep me from getting too forlorn at having to wait until the new season airs.