Today I am discussing a selection of Doctor Who books which have been released recently.
The Silurian Gift by Mike Tucker (Quick Reads)
As a quick read, this is great! It sees the Doctor use his UNIT connections to investigate an Antarctic power station claiming to have a new fuel to solve all the world's energy problems (although why the Doctor doesn't just go in the TARDIS is beyond me). It soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems (it never is) and the Silurians are involved. As usual, there's conflict between the humans and the Silurians and some indivduals of each species just make matters worse. There's a nice surprise half way through and the return of the Myrka which is good fun.
This isn't that original but it doesn't need to be. It's action packed and almost feels like it could be a Second or Third Doctor story but for the presence of the Eleventh Doctor, who is characterised well here. As with most solo Doctor stories we get a temporary companion, in the form of a journalist called Lizzie. Lizzie is an interesting character who has some major flaws which the Doctor is very disappointed to discover.
As a full length novel this would be a disappointment but as one of the Quick Reads series this is excellent- lots for fans of classic Who, lots of action and some typical witty lines from the Doctor. A great and easy read. ★★★★★
The Dalek Project by Justin Richards
This Doctor Who graphic novel sees the Doctor comes face to face with the daleks in the middle of the First World War. Initially the story is not that dissimilar to the Series 5 TV episode "Victory of the Daleks" but after a while it does take a different direction as the daleks plan is much bigger than it first appears.
The daleks are at their manipulative best here and look brilliant, as does every part of the artwork. For some reason their speech just doesn't quite work the same in comic form- that feeling probably wasn't helped by the fact they do talk quite a lot. The Doctor's characterisation isn't great here, probably because it's quite hard to put the long speeches into speech bubbles so they are limited. Considering he is really supposed to hate the daleks, for the most part he here he doesn't seem that bothered.
It has fantastic art and some brilliant dalek moments but the relatively weak plots lets this down a bit. For the most part, it's just the same old threat that's easily beaten. ★★★☆☆
The Nameless City by Michael Scott (50th Anniversary E-short #2)
This is much better than the First e-short, A Big Hand For The Doctor. When Jamie brings the Second Doctor a book, he doesn't realise it will lead to terrible danger as the TARDIS is dragged to a glass city where the Archons want to get revenge on the Time Lords.
It's a great adventure which feels very much like it belongs in the Second Doctor era. Jamie is characterised well, and Scott uses the medium to share some of his thoughts and they feel right. The moment the Second Doctor arrives it feels just like Troughton is on screen. Scott is clearly a big fan of the era.
Scott does mess with a few things though, some of which is good and some not so good. The archons claim to be behind Time Travel which perhaps conflicts a little with "The Three Doctors" but is sort of acceptable. There's an appearance from (view spoiler) who of course never actually met the Second Doctor but only Jamie meets him here so it works rather well. Something that doesn't work so well is the TARDIS speaking records. The TARDIS has never ever done this and it doesn't fit very well in the book. There is also a link to the new series with there being a mention of a swimming pool somewhere in the TARDIS.
All in all a great adventure for the Second Doctor and Jamie, a little rushed perhaps but on the whole a great short read. ★★★★★
I’ll leave you with an exciting promo image for the new series (note the monsters shown in the shards of glass):
