78) Jacqueline Rayner — Doctor Who: The Stone Rose

78) Jacqueline Rayner — Doctor Who: The Stone Rose

Seventh of the tie-in novels to go with New Who, and the first featuring the Tenth Doctor. Mickey finds a Roman-era statue of Rose in the British Museum, so Ten and Rose go on a trip to make sure she’s around to act as the model. But the first thing that happens when they arrive is getting mixed up in a missing persons case. A wealthy man is searching for his son, who was last seen going for a appointment to put the finishing touches on a statue of him.

It’s not hard for the reader to guess how the sculptor is achieving his astonishing output of exquisitely detailed statues, but that’s not the point of the story. The real meat of the story is in the Doctor’s quest to find the source of the sculptor’s powers — and, of course, rescue a few people along the way. There are some good plot twists, and nice handling of time travel paradoxes in this story. Raynor does a good job of bringing ancient Rome to life in this book.

One of my favourites of the new series tie-ins so far, and the second of Raynor’s which I’ve enjoyed. I’ll have to look out for more of hers.

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book log: 72) Steve Lyons — Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams

72) Steve Lyons — Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams

Sixth of the tie-in novels for New Who, and the last to feature the Ninth Doctor (and thus also pre-immortality Jack). Nine, Rose and Jack find that their latest stop is a world where fiction is outlawed, and those who indulge in it are regarded as having a dangerous drug addiction that must be treated, by force if necessary. Naturally, the Tardis crew end up interfering. But it gradually becomes clear that on this world dreams really are dangerous, and the Doctor’s usual tactics may be more harmful than helpful.

Good writing, nifty concept, a solid plot, and some excellent secondary characters, with a nice twist at the end. And the monster isn’t overly familiar from tv episodes before or since, which is a problem I’ve occasionally had with coming to the books relatively late.

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book log: 63) Gareth Roberts — Doctor Who: Only Human

63) Gareth Roberts — Doctor Who: Only Human

Fifth of the New Who novels, with Nine, Rose, and Captain Jack. A Neanderthal turns up in 21st century Bromley, and the Tardis crew turn up to investigate why someone is using a particularly primitive, and stupid, method of time travel in the area. It transpires that there’s no way to take Das the Neanderthal home without killing him, so Jack gets detailed to teach him how to survive in present-day Bromley, while the Doctor and Rose go back 28,000 years to find the source of the problem. What they find is a historical research project by a group of humans from Rose’s future, and some very nasty things hiding in the project’s storeroom…

It’s an engaging enough story with some good one-off characters, although the Big Bad feels a bit cardboard to me. One of the best bits for me was the sequence of paired diary entries from Das and Jack, showing their very different perspectives on 21st century humans and each other. Often very funny, and occasionally poignant, and while I don’t think they’d have supported a full story in themselves, I would have been glad to see more of them.

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book log: Jacqueline Rayner – Doctor Who: Winner Takes All

40) Jacqueline Rayner – Doctor Who: Winner Takes All

Third in the New Who novel line. Now this was a definite improvement over the previous title in the series. It’s a revisit of the Last Starfighter scenario, but with some nasty twists, and not just the one you find in Ender’s Game. Rose and Nine drop in to the Powell Estate to visit Jackie, and find that there’s a new video game being promoted by people in porcupine costumes, using scratchcards given away with any purchase at local stores, no matter how small. Mickey is one of the people who’s won a console, and as he explains, the console has only one game, but it’s still good value, because it’s so realistic, and complex enough to be a little different every time you play. Of course the Doctor can’t resist showing off and beating Mickey’s score, doing so thoroughly that he becomes number one on the aliens’ list of useful humans to acquire.

The plot’s interesting and the characterisations for Nine and Rose are good. But where the story really shines for me is in one of the one-off characters. Robert is a young teenager, complete with young teenage boy anxieties and fantasies, and his interior monologue is wince-inducingly realistic. He’s someone a lot of fans will be able to identify with.

Enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. This one I’ll probably re-read.

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