Doctor Who: The Blood Cell by James Goss

"Release the Doctor — or the killing will start."

An asteroid in the furthest reaches of space - the most secure prison for the most dangerous of criminals. The Governor is responsible for the worst fraudsters and the cruellest murderers. So he's certainly not impressed by the arrival of the man they're calling the most dangerous criminal in the quadrant. Or, as he prefers to be known, the Doctor.

What does impress the Governor is the way the new prisoner immediately sets about trying to escape. And keeps trying. Finally, he sends for the Doctor and asks him why? But the answer surprises even the Governor. And then there's the threat — unless the Governor listens to the Doctor, a lot of people will die.

Who is the Doctor and what's he really doing here? Why does he want to help the Governor? And who is the young woman who comes every day to visit him, only to be turned away by the guards?

When the killing finally starts, the Governor begins to get his answers...

A very strange Doctor Who story, The Blood Cell is told entirely through the eyes of a secondary character – the Governor – who encounters the Doctor and Clara when a strange old man is incarcerated in the prison he runs. As strange things begin to happen and the prison turns against the inmates and the guards, the Governor is forced to turn to the Doctor for help…

As a Doctor Who story told through the eyes of a secondary character, The Blood Cell works. As a science fiction story disassociated from the Doctor Who franchise, The Blood Cell works even better.  The Governor is an interesting narrator, full of contradictions and secrets that beg to be revealed. The situation - an inescapable prison where prisoners are disappearing - dealt cleverly with some basic sci-fi tropes. As the story progresses and the stakes mount, I for one found the story gripping, wondering who was behind the prison's problems, who the Governor really was and how the whole thing was going to resolve itself. 

Unfortunately, as a Twelfth Doctor story, The Blood Cell fails at one vital hurdle – the Doctor himself. While I could definitely see the Eleventh or Tenth Doctors acting in the way this Doctor does, what we have seen of Capaldi so far just does not gel with this wise-cracking, pop-culture spouting character. This Doctor does not have the darkness that Capaldi has brought to the role and while his relationship with Clara does share some of the antagonism of the on-screen partners, there was definitely something essential missing. If you can tell yourself that this is a lost Matt Smith story, great. If not, you may have the same problems with The Blood Cell that I did.
 
I gave The Blood Cell 3 stars. 

Doctor Who: Silhouette by Justin Richards

 

"Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don't need to bother them. Trust me."

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra.

Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran.

The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers.

How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? This is where the Doctor and Clara come in. The Doctor and his friends find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem. Can they unravel the truth before the most dangerous weapon ever developed is unleashed on London?

When people start vanishing in the Carnival of Curiosities, a sideshow in London’s Winter Fair, Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny and the Sontaran Strax begin to investigate. As they look for connections between the disappearances, the Doctor and Clara arrive, drawn here by a strange energy reading. In the Carnival, though, no one is who or what they seem. And a mysterious industrialist is hiding in the background, threatening the entire world with a deadly weapon...

Silhouette is the second book in the New Adventures dealing with Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. I read – and enjoyed – the first, The Crawling Terror, last month. In that review, I mentioned that Mike Tucker had done a fantastic job of capturing the Doctor and Clara’s voices – you could hear the actors speaking the lines throughout. In Silhouette, unfortunately, I did not feel that Justin Richards managed the same feat. What he did manage, though, was to perfectly capture the voices of the Paternoster Gang. Already fan favourites, the three members of Madame Vastra’s gang stand centre stage in Silhouette – all three of them have important roles to play here, each of them with their own storylines. Considering how much fun these characters are, that is all to the good. The story itself works well, with some nice nods back to prior cannon (the Shadow Proclamation makes an appearance), and the threat is pure Doctor Who. If Capaldi’s Doctor and Coleman’s Clara had been more true to their character’s voices, Silhouette would have been almost perfect. As it is, this could almost have been a spin-off novel, involving only the Paternoster Gang, and it would have worked just as well.

I gave Doctor Who: Silhouette 3 stars.

Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror by Mike Tucker

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Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When a village finds itself overrun by giant insects and cut off from the outside world by a giant spider's web, the Doctor and Clara investigate. As the attacks grow more deadly and an army of zombie village people begin to stalk the survivors, the Doctor realises that no one may be safe. The only hope is to decode the symbols engraved on an ancient stone circle, symbols that are somehow linked to a mystery dating back to the Second World War... 

I have not read very many Doctor Who novels, beyond a couple when I was a kid that I picked up in a second hand book shop. Nevertheless, I am a huge Doctor Who fan and love the new shows, so I was extremely excited when the new Doctor was announced. After reading the War Doctor novel last month, I decided to give the new BBC novels based on Capaldi's doctor a try. Of those The Crawling Terror was the first I received via Netgalley and so I gave it a shot. 

The Crawling Terror turned out to be much better than I had expected. Tucker gets Capaldi's voice down perfectly, which is astonishing considering that when he wrote them the series had not even started yet. The same with Clara and the dialogue between the two reads perfectly following the first few episodes. Beyond that, The Crawling Terror turns a cracking story, involving alien invaders, Nazi experiments and ley-lines, as well as the eponymous giant bugs! I was quite surprised at what a visceral reaction I had - I mean nobody likes giant insects but the descriptions here were much more scary than expected. Once we get into the nitty gritty of the plot, the story becomes a standard Doctor Who adventure - lots of running, time travel shenanigans and an over the top enemy - but as a fan, that was fine with me. I really enjoyed The Crawling Terror and will definitely check out the others. 

I gave The Crawling Terror 3 stars.

New On The Library Shelves 14 09 14

AKA Showcase Sunday

A new segment here, participating in the Showcase Sunday meme over at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

Another Doctor Who book through Netgalley this month plus a biography of Napoleon - I've been looking forward to reading a biography of the Corsican for a long time now, so this will probably be going in quite high on my To Read List. In terms of bought books, can't wait to get stuck in to Perfidia and Sleeping Late on Judgement Day.  

 

For review:
Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror by Mike Tucker
The German Agent by J. Sydney Jones
Napoleon by Andrew Roberts
The Vines by Christopher Rice
Blood Aces by Doug J Swanson
The Ship by Antonia Honeywell

Bought:

Perfidia by James Ellroy
Seven Wonders by Ben Mezrich
Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by Tad Williams
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
The Lazarus Prophecy by F.G. Cottam
The Falcon Throne by Karen Miller
Extinction Game by Gary Gibson
Death of a King by Travis Smiley

 

So, what's new on your shelves this week?

New On The Library Shelves 07 09 14

AKA Showcase Sunday

A new segment here, participating in the Showcase Sunday meme over at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

 

Got a couple of Doctor Who books via Netgalley this week, which I'm excited about. Also bought the last VanderMeer book in the Southern Reach trilogy - wasn't hugely convinced by the second but am interested to see how he's going to wrap it up.

For review:
We Will All Go Down Together by Gemma Files
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill
Doctor Who: Silhouette by Justin Richards
Doctor Who: The Blood Cell by James Goss
The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones
The Distance by Helen Gitrox
The Lost Empress by Steve Robinson
Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd-Jones
Cosby: His Life and Times by Mark Whitaker

Bought:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan
Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer
 

So, what's new on your shelves this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite TV Shows

From the Broke and Bookish

Top Ten Favorite TV Shows

 

When I'm not reading and reviewing, I spend a lot of time watching TV shows, especially with my wife. Choosing just ten is difficult, but I managed to narrow it down to these, in no particular order...:

 

Lost

 

From the moment Jack woke up on that beach, I was hooked. Would I have preferred more answers in the controversial sixth season? Yes. Did I think that it did what I think a finale should do and wrap up the characters’ storyline? Most definitely.

Person of Interest

 

Probably the finest show on television at the moment, it is a hell of a lot more than an action adventure. Huge emotional punches in every season, fantastic characters, an absolutely enthralling sci-fi plot... Person of Interest has it all as far as I am concerned.

 

ST DS9

 

I love all Star Trek, but Deep Space Nine was the finest example of what this universe can do. Sometimes dark, sometimes funny, always full of the spirit of Roddenbery’s hopeful vision of the future, Deep Space Nine showed just how good sci-fi can be.

 

West Wing

 

If this list was in any kind of order, West Wing would probably be right up there at the top. I love these characters so much, I wish the show had continued on for a dozen more seasons. One of the few shows I watch religiously over and over again.

 

Friends

 

My wife and I’s go-to show when we’re feeling down (which happens a lot what with my son’s health issues) this always gives us a boost. We’re currently on our who-knows-how-many-eth rewatch of the show and we still laugh just as hard now as we did the first time we watched it.

Big Bang Theory

 

The second go-to show when we’re down, Big Bang Theory is so different from Friends and yet so similar in terms of how hard we laugh at every episode. Such a great cast, fantastic characters and too many geek references to mention. Love it!

 

Orphan Black

 

If you’re not watching this... Why not? Put down the blog and go and watch it now! One of the best SF series out there at the moment, Orphan Black is extremely addictive!

 

House of Cards (Netflix)

 

I watched Season 2 in a day. ‘Nuff said. Oh, and Kevin Spacey is awesome.

 

Doctor Who

 

I have vague memories of “Old Who” when I was a kid in the UK, but never really got into it, beyond reading a couple of the novelisations. Nevertheless, as soon as NuWho began, I became obsessed. David Tennant will always be ‘my’ Doctor, though I love Matt Smith as well. The recent anniversary episode and the reveal of the War Doctor was amazing, and I can’t wait to see what Moffat and co do with Peter Capaldi.

Fringe

 

Come back, Dr Bishop! Fringe is one of those rare shows – a sci-fi program that somehow survived on the Fox network. The cast were breathtaking and the storylines inspired (although the final season was a bit uneven at times) and my entire family were obsessed.

What are some of your favorite TV shows and why?