How to use this Page

I've been spending so much time *writing* fiction of late (I began a series of Tenth Doctor/Martha Jones short stories last week - I didn't mean to, of course - a plot bunny came bounding into my head and wouldn't leave !), that I've not been writing any reviews of the fiction I read, and although I've just re-read Linda Buckley-Archer's Gideon the Cutpurse and The Tar Man (still brilliant on a third and second reading, respectively), I owe you reviews of about six other books. So I'm combining quick reviews of the latest three Doctor Who novels featuring the Tenth Doctor and Doctor-in-Training Martha Jones. All these books feature the Doctor and Martha Jones as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

The first of these is Stephen Cole's Sting of the Zygons which brings back Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant's favourite monster from the Classic Who series, the Zygons.

The TARDIS lands the Doctor and Martha in the Lake District in 1909 (although he'd been aiming for Russia), where a small village is being terrorised by a gigantic scaly monster. All the local huntsman are taking part in the search for the elusive "Beast of Westmorland" as it's been dubbed, and a number of explorers, naturalists and hunters from across the country are descending on the area. Even King Edward VII is on the way to join the search, offering a Knighthood for whoever can find the Beast. But there is a more sinister presence at work in the Lakes than a mere monster on the rampage, and the Doctor and Martha soon become embroiled in the plans of an old and terrifying enemy of the Doctor's. As the hunters find themselves becoming the hunted, a desperate battle of wits begins - with the future of the entire world at stake.

There is also an Audiobook available, read by Reggie Yates (who played Martha's younger brother Leo in the TV series).

* * * * * *

The second book is Jacqueline Rayner's The Last Dodo in which the Doctor and Martha set off in search of a real live dodo and find themselves transported by the TARDIS to the mysterious Museum of the Last Ones (MotLO). In the Earth section there they discover one specimen of every extinct creature up to the present day; there are billions of them, from the tiniest insect to the biggest dinosaur, all of them still alive, kept in suspended animation. The Museum's only job is to preserve each species by collecting the last surviving specimen of wach creature from all over the universe.

This book is particularly interesting in that Rayner does something that "Doctor Who" authors seldom dare to do - she writes sections of the story from Martha's perspective, in the past tense. Not only does this make a refreshing change, style-wise but it's also fascinating to experience first-hand Martha's thoughts about events, including an accidental genocide that she perpetrates (which, fortunately, the Doctor is able to reverse), as well her larger feelings about the Doctor and their travels together.

Unfortunately these passages have clearly been written with a younger audience in mind so they aren't as detailed as they might have been. Pleasingly whilst Martha's television story arc concentrates a lot on her unrequited feelings for the Doctor, Rayner makes only fleeting references to this in the story. The book also features the amusing device of the "I-Spyder Book of Earth Creatures Guide" which the Doctor gives to Martha before they arrive at the Museum, and which underpins the whole novel in a very humorous Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy manner.

There is also an Audiobook available, read by Freema Agyeman.

* * * * * *

Martin Day's Wooden Heart features the "Castor", a vast starship which is apparently deserted and has been left drifting slowly in the void of deep space. Martha and the Doctor explore the ship and discover that they may not be alone on board it after all. It appears that someone has survived the disaster that overcame the rest of the crew. The pair try to discover what continues to power the vessel - and why a stretch of wooded countryside has suddenly appeared in the middle of the ship. As they journey through the forest, the Doctor and Martha find a mysterious, fogbound village that is traumatised by some of its children going missin and by tales of its own destruction. The Doctor and Martha find themselves in separate races against time to save the village, Martha from with the forest and the Doctor from outside in the ship.

There is also an Audiobook available, read by Adjoa Andoh (who played Martha's mother Francine in the TV series)

Jacqueline Rayner's Winner Takes All is one of the first New Doctor Who Adventures novels and features the Doctor and Rose as played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. It's also one of the funniest, yet it also has some very dark moments. It borrows the plot device "What if the video-game you're playing is actually real?" used by Terry Pratchett in Only You Can Save Mankind and in the movie The Last Starfighter where a video game called "Death to Mantodeans" isn't nearly as harmless as it seems. On another world, an alien war is raging: the Quevvils (who look like giant porcupines)need to find a new means of attacking the ruthless Mantodeans (who look like giant praying mantises). The Quevvils search the galaxy for a cunning, warlike, but gullible ally, and find the ideal soldiers on Earth. Rose and the Doctor finds themselves caught up in the game, literally, as they're taken to the home planet of the two alien races. Rose finds herself participating in the game, with her nervous system wired up to a control device which is linked to a game controller, which the Doctor is forced to use to ensure that Rose wins the game, and destroys the Mantodeans. In case he feels inclined to refuse to play, the various people who've supposedly won a free holiday (but have instead been transported to the alien planet) are threatened, including teenager Robert, whose single mother is also somewhere inside the "game".

Interestingly, of the handful of New Doctor Who Adventures books I've read featuring the Ninth Doctor, I think Rayner's book does the best job of depicting him. Winner Takes All is also available from Amazon.com.

Jacqueline Rayner's The Stone Rose features the Doctor and Rose as played by David Tennant and Billie Piper in the hit series from BBC Television.

Whilst Rose and the Doctor are off, travelling Time and Space, saving people and fighting off bad guys and monsters, Mickey has decided to do some good on his own patch of London and he's been volunteering at the British Museum. Imagine his surprise when one day he finds a statue of Rose in the museum - a statue that is 2,000 years old. The Doctor quickly realises that this means the TARDIS will shortly be taking him and Rose to Ancient Rome, but when it does, they soon find they have more on their minds than sculpture. Whilst the Doctor gets caught up in a search for a missing boy named Optatus, Rose befriends a 16 year old girl named Vanessa who, it is claimed, knows the future - and her predictions are surprisingly accurate. But then the Doctor meets the man responsible for creating the statue of Rose that they saw at the British Museum and he is very interested in sculpting Rose. But why are his tools so well maintained, and why doesn't he have a stack of marble at hand in his studio ? The Doctor soon realises the hideous truth behind the statue of Rose - and in the meantime Rose herself learns that you have to be very careful what you wish for. The Doctor and Rose soon find themselves apparently locked into a series of pre-ordained events that ultimately lead to Rose's disappearance, and the Doctor's false imprisonment then fight for freedom in the Flavian Amphitheatre (aka the Colosseum). Also involved in this story are Roman gods with mystical powers and a very advanced piece of technology which doesn't belong to the Doctor and certainly doesn't belong in Rome in AD120 !

Author Jacqueline Rayner has a degree in Ancient History, so it's a fair bet that Ancient Rome is described with historical accuracy. This was a fun book - I especially liked the final plot twist concerning the statue of Rose, and I thought Rayner has done a good job of portraying Mickey, as well as the Doctor and Rose.

It's also possible to buy The Stone Rose Audiobook, read by David Tennant, and to buy The Stone Rose from Amazon.com.