It would be tempting to say you should donate and get this book just because it's a great cause. But actually the book itself is really rather good. Here's a little bit on each story:
Epilogue- Warsmiths by Matt Fitton: In typical timey-wimey fashion the prologue and epilogue are the wrong way round here. This story sees the War Doctor confront someone trying to stop the daleks from ever existing. It's set just before we meet the War Doctor in "The Day of the Doctor" and is an excellent start.
Karn: This tells the story of the War Doctor's first moments of life after his regeneration in "The Night of the Doctor". It's a bit bleak but pretty wonderful.
Crowsnest Past by Warren Frey: Not very war-y, this is the War Doctor doing a typical Doctor Who story involving banking-based monsters set in Canada. I wasn't too keen on this story. It's fine but I felt any Doctor could have been involved here, and the book is focusing on the War Doctor.
The Eight Minute War by Lee Rawlings: The War Doctor assembles an army on board his TARDIS but things don't work out too well. This is one of my favourites of the collection and is a story that only feature this incarnation of the Doctor.
Everything in its Right Place by J.R. Southall: A weird land of fiction type story that features Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I fear this type of story has been overdone in the written world of Doctor Who and there's little that makes this particular story any better than others.
Corsair: The War Doctor works alongside fellow Time Lord the Corsair. It's fun to see more of a character only mentioned in the actual show.
The Ambassador From Wolf-Rayet 134 by Kate Orman: An ambassador for an alien species that is time-sensitive visits Gallifrey. The War Doctor is on hand to ensure things run smoothly. An interesting alien species and interesting to see the War Doctor be war-like without having to be violent.
The Amber Room by Simon Brett and John Davies: A new room in the TARDIS! And a human soldier meeting the War Doctor. A really enjoyable tale.
The Celephas Gift by Andrew Smith: The War Doctor visits a new plan and sorts out a corrupt civilisation. Not directly connected to the Time War but Smith makes sure it is very much a War Doctor story.
The Girl with the Purple Hair (in three parts): The War Doctor is given a new companion, called Jenny Shirt. She's an interesting character who pops up in some of the stories. I quite like the idea but I never quite felt she was really used enough to give her reason to be here.
An Historical Curiosity by Matthew Sweet: An odd one this, a section from Shakespeare's Henry V changed to be about the War Doctor. I'm not entirely convinced it worked.
Here Comes the Doctor by Christopher Bryant: The War Doctor visits a neutral Time War hospital. One of those story that works well thanks to an utterly brilliant setting.
Your Move by John Peel: Told through a letter, this sees the War Doctor attempt to destroy a powerful computer made by the Movellans so it can't be used in the Time War. A neat idea which is well told.
Sonnet by Jenny Colgan: A Doctor Who sonnet! A bit strange but a decent poem, although I would have loved to see a story by Colgan in this collection.
Disjecta Membra by Elton Townend-Jones: A man waits for his wife to return home from a jog, but she doesn't. The War Doctor is involved and an ordinary human has been affected by the Time War. Not one of my favourite stories of the collection.
Loop: In which the War Doctor meets...the War Doctor. A well constructed little tale.
The Holdover by Daniel Wealands: The War Doctor visits a Time Lord refugee camp. But not everything is as it seems. Probably the darkest and most gruesome of all the stories here and explains how Rassilon was revived.
Climbing the Mountain by Lance Perkin: The War Doctor interferes on a Dalek planet. This feels more like the everyday life of the War Doctor rather than the unusual moments many of the other stories tell.
Gardening by Sami Kelish: Set on Gallifrey, this sees the War Doctor try to persuade a woman looking after all of the Gallifreyan plant species to leave her home and abandon the project. It's a different idea on the effects of war, the way it affects those not directly involved.
Sleepwalking to Paradise by Dan Barratt: The heart-breaking story of a young girl caught up in the Time War. Sort of.
Guerre by Alan P. Jack and Declan May: The War Doctor ends up on the edges of a different war- the First World War. Very appropriate for this version of the Doctor and grounds the character, making him more relatable.
Lady Leela: This tells of what happened to the Doctor's former companion Leela in the Time War. It's quite sad but very true to the character.
Making Endings by Nick Mellish: A woman is trying to survive the Time War, living a lonely and desperate existence. But when the War Doctor turns up she starts to realise life wasn't what she thought it was.
The Book of Dead Time by David Carrington: A Jenny Shirt story involving a magical library the War Doctor has created and it's mysterious staff. The War Doctor has yet another terrible decision to make.
Driftwood by Simon Brett: Like several modern Dalek stories, this features a Dalek which is rather different from the rest of them. A interesting idea but a little too similar to TV stories like "Into the Dalek".
The Ingenious Gentleman by Alan Ronald: The War Doctor meets Don Quixote! A typical celebrity historical story but this one really works with the War Doctor rather than any other incarnation.
Fall by Matt Barber: The Doctor teams up with the Brigadier one final time. The retired Brig works well with the aging War Doctor but it is heart-breaking as we know the Doctor will never see the Brigadier again, not properly anyway.
Always Face the Curtain with a Bow by Jon Arnold: The War Doctor is trapped and every day he is killed by a mysterious man wanting Time Lord secrets, in ever increasingly more bizarre ways. Very dark yet quite funny, my favorite of the collection.
Help a Stranded Time Traveller by Matthew Slyvester: A pretty nondescript story about some dodgy salesmen.
Storage Wars by Paul Driscoll: Doctor Who and Storage Wars finally cross-over. It's a story about a mysterious object found in a junkyard which links right back to the First Doctor. It sounds a silly idea but actually works rather well.
The Postman by John Davies: The War Doctor is given a break from fighting and delivers letters of condolence to families of fallen Time Lords. It's another story about how war affects more than just those fighting in it.
The Thief of All Ways by Elliot Thorpe: Claudia has spent her whole life being chased. And the chaser is the War Doctor, but just what does he want with an ordinary girl? Turns out, she's not as ordinary as she thinks she is.
The Time Lord Who Came to Tea by Paul Driscoll: A story from a child's perspective, this is the War Doctor being closer to the normal Doctor than we usually see. Despite everything, he is still the same man inside.
The Nightmare Child: This is an over-written story about the return of Davros. A nice idea but told in a style that is far too over the top.
Meals on Wheels by Paul Magrs: Rose Tyler's mum, Jackie, meets Davros, although she never knows it. A really fun story.
Time Enough for War by Simon Brett and Jim Mortimore: A comic strip, but unfortunately the formatting meant I couldn't read it on my Kindle.
Doctor Death by Barnaby Eaton-Jones: The Doctor meets Death, or at least that's what he thinks. There's also a few flashbacks to key moments in the War Doctor's Time War.
The Beach by Gary Russell: The War Doctor heads to Australia to meet an alien victim of the Time War. A normal human ends up witnessing the strange things that happen.
The Moments In Between by George Mann: Mann brings back Cinder from his book Engines of War, although I sort of wish he hadn't. Well written but not a great story.
Prologue- The Horde of Travesties by Declan May: The War Doctor meets the Chronosmiths to come up with an arrangement to protect the Earth from the Time War. But what will they want in return?
All in all, an excellent collection. It is steeped in Doctor Who mythology, especially that of the Time Lords and the Daleks. I also liked how the authors attempted to explain lots of things which changed between the Classic Series and the New Series. Lots of great stories and even the not-so-good ones are not awful. Well worth reading and helping a worthy cause at the same time!
No comments:
Post a Comment