Review: Doctor Who: Harvest of Time

By Alastair Reynolds
Available now from
Review copy
Read more Doctor Who reviews

I wanted to read HARVEST OF TIME, because terrible dick-shaped spaceship cover aside, it promised a team-up between the Doctor and the Master, his enemy and former friend.  I love their dynamic on the show and I was eager for more - especially since I'm familiar with Alastair Reynolds' terrific space operas.

Reynolds definitely takes advantage of the fact books don't have a special effects budget.  There are oil rigs and bits of ocean disappearing, a large-scale crystalline crab invasion, and more. Nor is the action limited to Earth.

The Doctor in HARVEST OF TIME is the third Doctor, accompanied by his companion Jo Grant.  I loved their relationship, as well as Jo on her own.  She's got her own ideas about the right course of action and isn't afraid to get involved when the Doctor isn't available.  I also liked Eddie, a woman caught between her company's secrets, the military, and another branch of the military.  She's smart and determined, two things I love in any character.

While I enjoyed HARVEST OF TIME, the ending drags quite a bit.  It cuts between two groups of characters, and the groups definitely don't have an equal amount to do.  Certain scenes at the climax are glacial when they should be propelling the action forward.  I did enjoy the characters and the promise of resolution enough to push through.  And the mysteries at the beginning of the novel are quite compelling.

HARVEST OF TIME isn't a perfect novel, and definitely not the best choice for someone unfamiliar with Doctor Who, but it is a fun novel for series fans.  Reynolds does not shy away from exploring the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, and that is how I was drawn to the book after all.

Doctor Who Series 3 Volume 1: The Hypothetical Gentleman

"The Hypothetical Gentleman" by Andy Diggle and Mark Buckingham (artist)
"The Nurse and the Doctor" by Brandon Seifer and Philip Bond (artist)
Available now from IDW Publishing
Review copy

I thought I was downloading Doctor Who Series 1: Winter's Dawn, Season's End from Netgalley, but the book that downloaded was Doctor Who Series 3 Volume 1: THE HYPOTHETICAL GENTLEMAN.  No problem.  It was just the eleventh Doctor instead of the tenth, and a partial comic book season instead of a full one.

THE HYPOTHETICAL GENTLEMAN contains two stories.  The first is the eponymous "The Hypothetical Gentleman," wherein the TARDIS takes the Doctor, Amy, and Rory to Victorian times.  The story involves con artists, a machine to the other side, and a few strange turns.  It's fairly similar to an episode of the series.  I wasn't a huge fan of Mark Buckingham's art.  He's a fine comics illustrator, but he just seemed to be trying to hard to match the appearance of the actors.  He did fine with the Doctor and Amy, but his Amy was never quite right.  And all the close-ups of the Doctor felt similar, instead of offering distinct emotion.

"The Nurse and the Doctor" involves a forced guys' night out, which turns into quite the adventure through time.  Meanwhile, Amy gets stuck in the Great Beer Flood.  I liked that Philip Bond went with a more cartoon-inspired style, like something from Young Justice.  It wasn't my favorite look, but I wasn't distracted by it.  This is a fairly lightweight story, a little mini-adventure that would never make it to the screen.  It was fun to visit the characters again, but nothing overly exciting.

All in all, this graphic novel will entertain fans between seasons, but certainly doesn't stand on its own.  Even for fans, it isn't essential reading.  I recommend just checking it out from the library if you're interested in it.

Review: Remembrance of the Daleks

Book Seven of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection
By Ben Aaronovitch
Available now from BBC Books
Review copy

For the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned a reprint of eleven novels to represent each of the Doctors.  I love that they chose to reprint beloved novels instead of publishing new ones, to show off the history of the character.  In fact, REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS is a novelization of Episode 152, also written by Ben Aaronovitch.  This was his first novel, something I didn't know despite casually enjoying his Peter Grant paranormal mysteries.

I'll admit to being unfamiliar with the Seventh Doctor.  But I know lots of people are fans of his companion Ace, and I knew Aaronovitch, so I decided to see if this book was a good introduction.  I think it was.  The Doctor is still the Doctor, with a plan he keeps to himself, but different from the Doctors I know better.  And I can see why Ace has a fanbase; after all, she likes to blow things up.  That's a good quality in someone being menaced by Daleks.

I liked the one-off characters too, particularly Professor Rachel Jensen.  She's a scientist who becomes embroiled in the goings on, and is pretty appalled.  It was a very realistic depiction of how a person might react to time travellers and aliens fighting each other and leaving a trail of casualties.  I think there is a tad too much head hopping, which is probably a result of following the beats of an episode where not all the same characters are onscreen at the same time.

REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS is rougher than ONLY HUMAN, the other anniversary collection novel I've read and reviewed.  Aaronovitch is clearly playing with style.  He's got a countdown, epigraphs, but little of it has enough purpose to really add to the story.  At the same time, I can see seeds of the writer Aaronovitch would become.  Perhaps most obviously in the passages dealing with race in England.  The action of the book takes place in the 1960's, which has its own problems in that regard.  But Aaronovitch definitely tackles that question as it relates to modern times in the Rivers of London series.

I wouldn't pick up REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS if I wasn't at least familiar enough with Doctor Who to know what a Dalek is, but you can read it if you aren't familiar with Seven specifically.  It's a straightforward adventure, with lots of action and short passages to keep the story moving quickly.  Plus, the retro cool cover of the special edition looks great on my shelf.

Thanks to BBC Books and TLC Book Tours, I have one book to giveaway internationally.  You can choose between ONLY HUMAN, REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS, or WHO-OLOGY: The Official Miscellany.  Giveaway ends June 30, 2013.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Only Human

Book Nine of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection
By Gareth Roberts
Available now from BBC Books
Review copy

For the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned a reprint of eleven novels to represent each of the Doctors.  I love that they chose to reprint beloved novels instead of publishing new ones, to show off the history of the character.  Books and radio plays have been as much a part of the series as the television show.

The book chosen to represent the Ninth Doctor is ONLY HUMAN by Gareth Roberts.  Roberts has written books covering both Classic and New Who.  He's also written a couple of episodes, including fan-favorite "The Lodger."  I had high hopes for ONLY HUMAN, given Roberts' pedigree and my love of Nine, and those hopes were not dashed.

The Doctor and his companions Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness are in modern-day London when they run across a Neanderthal, known as Das.  Soon enough the Doctor and Rose are going back in time to discover how Das ended up so far from home and Jack is attempting to help him blend in.  I particularly liked the parts about Das and Jack - they're both far from home (Jack is from the future), but have very different perspectives on the present.  Jack's bisexuality is just as matter of fact as always.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose have stumbled upon a research team from a dark period in human history/future, when emotions are controlled by chemicals.  Leader Chantal seeks to "improve" the human race, starting from the very beginning.  It's an idealistic motive twisted in monstrous ways.  This would be an episode to watch from behind the couch.

I'm not sure ONLY HUMAN would intrigue readers not familiar with the characters.  It's a fun adventure full of great personalities, but the book isn't concerned with introducing the Who mythology.  But it's a great choice for fans.  I'll admit to not being that excited about cavemen, but I was proved quite wrong in my estimation of the setting's potential.


Thanks to BBC Books and TLC Book Tours, I have one book to giveaway internationally.  You can choose between ONLY HUMAN, REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS (review June 20th), or WHO-OLOGY: The Official Miscellany.  Giveaway ends June 30, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Movie Monday: Doctor Who Series 7 Part 2

I am a big Doctor Who fan.  I come by it honestly; my dad was a fan as a child back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.  The show has a wonderful structure that allows the cast to rotate fairly frequently without majorly disrupting the show.

Series 7 Part 2  saw the introduction of a new Companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman).  Coleman has a wonderful sprightly energy that plays well off of Matt Smith's fast-talking Doctor.  At the same time, she's more vulnerable than most of the recent Companions.  She's brave, but she lets her fear show.

I was disappointed with the first part of Series 7.  I enjoyed it, but it felt like the character arcs for Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) were already finished, as much as I loved the characters.  Part 2 was a lovely bit of fresh air and one of the best runs of episodes the show has had in ages.  I think "Cold War" was my favorite - stylish and a touch creepy.

If you haven't seen an episode of Doctor Who, this isn't the best season to jump in.  Matt Smith's time as the Doctor is coming to an end, so his character arc is concluding.  But I think this is a season fans can be happy with.