Doctor Who & Torchwood Novels

[Just Jeans]

This is a thread to discuss the various Doctor Who novel lines that have been published over the years -- Target novelizations, the Missing Adventures, the New Adventures,the Eighth Doctor Adventures, the Past Doctor Adventures, the Ninth Doctor Adventures, the Tenth Doctor Adventures, et cetera.

It seems I need to get on the ball picking up the Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor books. I need one more NDA to finish my collection of Ninth Doctor stories. I managed to pick it up in flimsy paperback, but I have to get it in hardback. I e-mailed WHO NA and they said the latter three books from the NDA line are no longer being sold by American distributors, but they're going to try to stock them next time they get books. I really hope they can -- I seriously need The Stealer of Dreams in hardback.

I hope the same thing doesn't start happening to the Tenth Doctor Adventures just yet. I've only managed to pick up The Stone Rose and The Nightmare of Black Island.

What is it with Doctor Who books getting hard to find after a couple of years? I was hoping with the new franchise going they would stay in circulation a little longer. :misery:

[Alex DeLarge]

Damn! I was hoping on making this thread. I've been reading a lot of DW books and am making a big long list (in order of the Doctors) of the books and reviews (when I'm done, it should be 12 books).

[Just Jeans]

I own more than a couple of the books from across various lines -- I've got a stack of the Target novelizations, I've got a stack of NAs, a stack of MAs, I've got all of the Ninth Doctor books (more or less) and I've got two of the Tenth Doctor books. I've also got the 2007 Storybook. I was going to read and review one story a night from the Storybook, but I got sidetracked.

I'm doing an odd job for a friend and he's going to pay me $50.00. I was going to save it to buy the second series box set, but I'm thinking of dumping it all into buying Ninth and Tenth Doctor books. I reckon the second series box set will still be around in a couple of years, but these books are pulling a runner. :meh:

[Alex DeLarge]

EXTREMELY shockingly, Borders had two Tenth/Martha books (Sting of the Zygons and the Last Dodo) in stock yesterday! :eek: I picked 'em up ASAP and will read 'em soon.

[Just Jeans]

Those are brand new. They just came out earlier this year. The books from last year and the year before are the ones that are getting hard to find. As I said, the 9th Doctor books aren't being distributed in America anymore.

[Just Jeans]

I just found out that my sister ordered The Feast of the Drowned for me from WHO NA. Hooray! That's another early 10th Doctor novel I don't have to worry about vanishing. :box:

Apparently she was also going to get me The Resurrection Casket, but she couldn't afford it because she also ordered me a Patrick Troughton bust. :shock: That is so cool, a little statue of Patrick Troughton's upper body! Marvelous! :D

[FinalBeyond]

Oddly enough, my local Borders has none of the new books, but shelves of the first three waves of books.

[Scarecrow]

Not quite the thread title, but I'm currently also reading "Torchwood: ANother Life". Sadly, so far, it's only about average and I'm kind of pushing to get through it.


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

The Torchwood novels are proving difficult to find in America. They've not been distributed state-side like some of the WHO novels, so WHO NA only offers them as imports, and they currently only have Slow Decay in stock.

I'm getting through The Nightmare of Black Island pretty slowly (because I'm reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as the 7th Doctor novel Sanctuary, all at the same time) but I've already got The Feast of the Drowned on my shelf, and I've got The Resurrection Casket on the way. Now I just need to get The Stealers of Dreams in hard back, and I'll have the first 12 books of the series.

[Just Jeans]

I just ordered the two quick read books -- I Am a Dalek and Made of Steel -- from The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/homepage.php). I got them both together for £4.90 (came out to $10.00 USD). The best thing about The Book Depository is they ship internationally for free, so I didn't have to pay shipping charges. :funky:

I also ordered The Stealers of Dreams through them (because they've got it in hardback for certain, according to the e-mail conversation I had with them), but I ordered it through Amazon.com's marketplace, so I ended up having to pay $3.99 for shipping. If the order hadn't already good through, I'd cancel it and re-order the book directly from The Book Depository.

I can't complain, though. I got The Stealers of Dreams, I Am a Dalek and Made of Steel for about $13.50 USD. Not a bad deal at all, especially considering the Quick Reads are $6.95 a piece through WHO NA (when they're in stock, and then there's shipping to consider).

So when these three books arrive, I will now own The Clockwise Man, The Monsters Inside, Winner Takes All, The Deviant Strain, Only Human, The Stealers of Dreams, The Stone Rose, The Feast of the Drowned, The Resurrection Casket, I am a Dalek and Made of Steel.

My New Series Adventures collection is finally beginning to get somewhere. :funky:

[Just Jeans]

The 2008 Doctor Who Annual has been recalled, and all recalled copies are to be destroyed. :eek:

Booksellers across the globe are currently pulling copies of the Offical Doctor Who Annual 2008, following a recall. There is no information as to why this title has been recalled, or if there will be a replacement issue. Retail chain W.H. Smiths are putting it to a "printing mistake", and that the copies must be destroyed once pulled. There has been no official statement from the BBC regarding this issue.

[Just Jeans]

I just finished reading The Nightmare of Black Island. It was a good little book. Apart from some glaring typographical errors in the Prologue, it flowed rather smoothly, and I really liked the way the Doctor turned Balor into a rambling mess of adult problems before it finally blipped out of existence.

Mike Tucker is a pretty good writer. It's odd to read a novel written by one of the special effects supervisors for the television show. :X

[Just Jeans]

I just opened my copy of The Resurrection Casket to take a look at the title page, and I noticed something -- Justin Richards, the author, signed the title page. Is it like this in all of them, or did I somehow get a signed copy?

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/30/1227484/Pictures/signature.jpg

[sickboy]

Here, for those who are interested is why the "Offical" annual was pulled here's an image of the problem: http://Annual2008.notlong.com

Seriously, this is a highly unprofessional mistake. You would think at least someone would have noticed the great big text on the cover was wrong before it hit the shops- it's not like it's tucked away somewhere subtle. Dumbasses.

[Just Jeans]

Well it's only a dropped I, innit. I know people who own the Annual who couldn't figure out why it was being recalled and pulped, so it's not just the distributors who missed it. It could have been worse -- I read a couple of days after the recall announcement that the mistake was that Doctor Who was spelled "Doctor Hwo" on the cover. Now that would have been an extremely hilarious oversight, in my opinion.

[FinalBeyond]

I just opened my copy of The Resurrection Casket to take a look at the title page, and I noticed something -- Justin Richards, the author, signed the title page. Is it like this in all of them, or did I somehow get a signed copy?

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/30/1227484/Pictures/signature.jpg

Well, mine didn't have that. :p Pretty cool piece of luck there.

[Just Jeans]

Assuming that series 4 begins in March/April of 2008, I find it odd that Donna Noble appears to be missing in action. This annoys me a bit, as I was looking forward to seeing her in the books (I was expecting her to feature in Revenge of the Judoon as well, which appears not to be the case).

It just seems odd to me that Martha appeared in the first line of books to be released alongside series 3, but Donna won't be getting the same luxury in the first line of books that are released alongside series 4. The only reason I can see for this is that they're desperate to keep the kids from forgetting about Martha before she returns, but I feel that not including Donna is unfair to fans of the character.

If only they'd continued publishing 9th Doctor novels after Chris left.

[Spade]

James, do you own Price of Paradise?

[Alex DeLarge]

Assuming that series 4 begins in March/April of 2008, I find it odd that Donna Noble appears to be missing in action. This annoys me a bit, as I was looking forward to seeing her in the books (I was expecting her to feature in Revenge of the Judoon as well, which appears not to be the case).

It just seems odd to me that Martha appeared in the first line of books to be released alongside series 3, but Donna won't be getting the same luxury in the first line of books that are released alongside series 4. The only reason I can see for this is that they're desperate to keep the kids from forgetting about Martha before she returns, but I feel that not including Donna is unfair to fans of the character.

If only they'd continued publishing 9th Doctor novels after Chris left.

Don't worry, Donna will be in a lot of books for sure (depending on whether she's in the specials or not may give her even more). Series 1 got 6 books, Series 2 got 6 books and 1 Quick Read, Series 3, however, is getting double that, 12, plus TWO Quick Reads. These NSAs are being produced more and more as they get more and more writers to do it. I'm not worrying about Donna. If these are successful, then we'll be getting 12 (maybe more!) Donna books too. And I have a feeling they'll release more books during the "break year" to keep kids reminded.

Why Martha is in Revenge of the Judoon, instead of Donna, is because of the reasons you stated and a few more. One, a constant complaint (ESPECIALLY about the character of Captain Jack) about the books I heard is that the characters are sometimes in character. The Doctor sounded like the Doctor, but not the Ninth. Martha sounded like a companion, but not the one we met in Smith and Jones. The later they produce these books, the longer the authors have to get in their voices, instead of just the scripts to Smith and Jones and the Lazarus Experiment (like Terrance Dicks did for Made of Steel). Two, one thing about Made of Steel was it was released before the first episode was even aired and spoiled some about Martha's character, her relationship with her family, the "Adeola" joke, etc. Now, obviously, the kids have seen Donna, but still, how she arrives on the TARDIS, how she's changed, etc. are shrouded in mystery. Maybe they wanted to keep it that way this year.

ANYWAY, here's the new books news.

Revenge of the Judoon
Revenge of the Judoon
Popular monsters return for new Quick Reads adventure.

BBC Books has announced details of it's next Doctor Who Quick Reads novel.

Written by former Classic Series script editor Terrance Dicks, Revenge Of The Judoon sees the TARDIS bringing the Doctor and Martha to Balmoral in 1902.

Here they meet Captain Harry Carruthers – friend of the new king Edward VII. Together they head for the castle to see the king – only to find that Balmoral Castle is gone, leaving just a hole in the ground. The Doctor realises it is the work of the Judoon – a race of ruthless intergalactic mercenary space police.

While Martha and Carruthers seek answers in London, the Doctor finds himself in what should be the most deserted place on Earth – and he is not alone.

With help from Arthur Conan Doyle, the Doctor and his friends discover a plot to take over the world. With time running out, who will fall victim to the revenge of the Judoon?

Revenge of the Judoon will be published by BBC Books as part of the Quick Reads range on 6 March 2008, priced at £1.99.

Click below for a larger version of the cover.

Three more novels announced for 2008.

Details of the Spring 2008 stand-alone Doctor Who novels have been announced by BBC Books.

All three will feature the Tenth Doctor and Martha.

Martha in the Mirror - by Justin Richards

Castle Extremis - whoever holds it can control the provinces either side that have been at war for centuries. Now the castle is about to play host to the signing of a peace treaty. But as the Doctor and Martha find out, not everyone wants the war to end.

Who is the strange little girl who haunts the castle? What is the secret of the book the Doctor finds, its pages made from thin, brittle glass? Who is the hooded figure that watches from the shadows? And what is the secret of the legendary Mortal Mirror?

The Doctor and Martha don't have long to find the answers - an army is on the march, and the castle will soon be under siege once more.

Snowglobe 7 - by Mike Tucker

Earth, 2099. Global warming is devastating the climate. The polar ice caps are melting.

In a desperate attempt at preservation the Governments of the world have removed vast sections of the Arctic and Antarctic and set them inside huge domes across the world. The Doctor and Martha arrive in Snowglobe 7 in the Middle East, hoping for peace and relaxation. But they soon discover that it's not only ice and snow that has been preserved beneath the Dome.

While Martha struggles to help with an infection sweeping through the holidaymakers the Doctor discovers an alien threat that has lain hidden since the last ice age. A threat that is starting to thaw.

The Many Hands - by Dale Smith

Edinburgh, 1759.

The Nor' Loch is being filled in. If you ask the soldiers there, they'll tell you it's a stinking cesspool that the city can do without. But that doesn't explain why the workers won't go near the place without an armed guard.

That doesn't explain why they whisper stories about the loch giving up its dead, about the minister who walked into his church twelve years after he died.

It doesn't explain why, as they work, they whisper about a man called the Doctor. And about the many hands of Alexander Monro.

All three novels will be published on 1 May 2008. we'll reveal the covers just as soon as we get them.

In other news, I'm thinking of buying some NAs or EDAs (I'm borrowing the NSAs I don't have from a friend) on eBay in the next few days. Just War by Lance Parkin sounds really good and I ADORED the Dying Days (from the BBC website). Damaged Goods by Russell T. Davies is a shoe-in, if for no other reason than to see RTD's prose. Love and War by Paul Cornell is a definite possibility. On the EDAs side, Father Time by Lance Parkin sounds extremely interesting. The Crooked World by Steve Lyons is another shoe-in. The Adventuress of Henrietta Street by Lawrence Miles sounds VERY interesting, given that it's written as history book, not prose. Anyone else have any suggestions for cool ones?

[Just Jeans]

Regardless of the speculation surrounding why Donna isn't in the three books coming out in May '08 -- I've heard a lot of different ideas on OG -- I'm still not pleased. :meh: And I'll be in no hurry to pick them up (I was thinking of skipping the books currently featuring Martha just so I'd have a bit of money to pick up the Donna novels, that's how keen on them I was, but I may as well go ahead and pick up the first run of Martha's books).

Frankly I can't be fussed about the Quick Read, but the series will have been on air for at least a month by the time Martha in the Mirror (and the other two NSAs) hit shelves, so there's no excuse as far as I'm concerned for the books not to feature the current companion.

[Alex DeLarge]

Hmm, Martha's getting 12 books, if Donna's as popular, I expect she'll get 12 books as well. Possibly even more, as I said, I expect 2009 will release A LOT more books. Maybe even kid-oriented Doctor 1-9 books! Again, Jeans, patience is a virtue...

The official answer, courtsey of The Many Hands author, Dale Smith.

They are NSAs (not Young Who) but it is just the Doctor and Martha in these ones: probably the timescales were a bit too tight for us to really get to grips with Donna, and everyone was worried we'd have her running around in a wedding dress for 50,000 words

So no NAs or EDAs, Jeans?

[Just Jeans]

...probably the timescales were a bit too tight for us to really get to grips with Donna...

...but the time scales weren't too tight to get a handle on Martha last year? Whatever. I'm almost surely wrong, but it smack of just plain laziness to me -- they're familiar with Martha, they know she's coming back mid-way, so they said piss on Donna. :meh:

[Alex DeLarge]

Eh, to tell you the truth, no. They DIDN'T get a handle on Martha last year, IMO. I've read two Martha books, Sting of the Zygons and the Last Dodo. Sting... wasn't my cup of tea and I loved the Last Dodo, but neither seemed like Martha (that was my biggest Dodo complaint). They were both just generic companion (and Donna cannot fit into "generic companion" AT ALL; it's like Captain Jack as generic companion, which I've read the Deviant Strain did). Again, it's not like these are last books ever made, Jeans. We'll get Donna books soon enough and when we do, they will be accurate Donna, not fake Donna just to get "Donna books out on time."

[Just Jeans]

They honestly can't be any worse than the first three 9th Doctor NSAs... mind you, despite the fact that the 9th Doctor is pretty generic for the first three novels, I still really like The Clockwise Man.

But given all that's going on in the world of WHO lately, I wouldn't be the least bit shocked if Donna never turns up in the novels. Disappointed, sure. But not shocked (I got way excited thinking we'd get Mickey in the novels as a companion during series 2, seeing as there's a gap between The Girl in the Fireplace and the Cybermen two-parter, and I was left cold on that one, too.)

I just hope the boys at Character Options release a 12 inch Donna figure. I was gutted when we got the Empress of the Racnoss but no Donna... unless I just missed a 5 inch Donna.

I thought Jack was a bit generic in The Deviant Strain, but he was written very well in Only Human. It's a shame he was hardly in the book. I'm about to read The Stealers of Dreams after I've finished the third Harry Potter book.

[Alex DeLarge]

Mickey was a companion for a 3 story long arc; Donna is the major companion for an entire season, played by one of the UK's biggest actresses. There's no way they'll put out ZERO Season 4 novels, especially with the big break coming. I refuse to believe they'll put out no books in the latest season, that's preposterous. They're only waiting until they get a better grasp of the season, in order to make sure they have the best quality possible for them.

[Spade]

Look up in the thread... it's a bird... it's a plane... no it's an unanswered question from Spade :lmao:.

So James, do you own the Doctor Who book Price of Paradise?

[Just Jeans]

Look up in the thread... it's a bird... it's a plane... no it's an unanswered question from Spade :lmao:.

Dunno how I missed that. :X

The Price of Paradise is book 12 in the NSA line. I don't have it yet. I've got The Clockwise Man through to The Nightmare of Black Island (books 1-10).

[Spade]

Well you got it now. I'll send you it sometime after the weekend.

[Just Jeans]

:o Sweet! New WHO book! Thanks, Spade. :bow:

Where'd you stumble upon that at? I can't find WHO books in the shops around here at all. I generally have to give a bit of money to a friend, have him pick me up a Gift Card at the mall, and order the books online.

[Spade]

How about Art of Destruction?

[Just Jeans]

The Art of Destruction is book number 11. I don't have it yet. It's next on my list of "to buys" from the NAs. Once I get The Art of Destruction and The Price of Paradise, I'll have all of the 9th Doctor/Rose and 10th Doctor/Rose novels.

Incidentally, here's a current list of all the books in the current Doctor Who and Torchwood range. I've got books 1 through 10 of the WHO range:


Doctor Who: The New Series Adventures
01 The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
02 The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole
03 Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner
04 The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards
05 Only Human by Gareth Roberts
06 The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons
07 The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner
08 The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole
09 The Resurrection Casket by Justin Richards
10 The Nightmare of Black Island by Mike Tucker
11 The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole
12 The Price of Paradise by Colin Brake
13 Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole
14 The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner
15 Wooden Heart by Martin Day
16 Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
17 Sick Building by Paul Magrs
18 Wetworld by Mark Michalowski
19 Wishing Well by Trevor Baxendale (27 December, 2007)
20 The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier (27 December, 2007)
21 Peacemaker by James Swallow (27 December, 2007)
22 Martha in the Mirror by Justin Richards (1 May, 2008)
23 Snowglobe 7 by Mike Tucker (1 May, 2008)
24 The Many Hands by Dale Smith (1 May, 2008)


Torchwood
Another Life by Peter Anghelides
Slow Decay by Andy Lane
Border Princes by Dan Abnett

[Spade]

Well mark off number 11 as well.

Oh and I didn't find them at any store. I was just doing some shopping for myself at Amazon and thought I'd pick up a couple gifts for friends. So I'll have Amazon ship them directly to you. I get free 2 day shipping so they should get their fast.

Take care and God bless.

Spade

[Alex DeLarge]

I saw both the Art of Destruction and Price of Paradise at Barnes and Noble the one day but only had enough for two, so I picked up Sting of the Zygons (bad choice, blech) and the Last Dodo (luckily) instead.

[Just Jeans]

I keep hearing about these mystical Barnes and Noble/Books-A-Million discoveries vis-a-vis Doctor Who novels. That just doesn't happen around here. I'm more likely to see the face of the Virgin Mary on a bit of toast than find a Doctor Who book in the shop. :lol:

[Alex DeLarge]

If you're ever come to Indiana, go to Evansville's Borders (not Barnes and Noble; sorry, was confused). They usually have at least 3 and one of those "Monsters and Villains" books.

[Just Jeans]

I might go to Indiana just to pick up some WHO books. :lol:

Wish I could find the 2006 Annual somewhere. :shifty: I think I can get it at The Book Depository, it's just none of the cards I've tried using to order from their site works.

[Spade]

If you're ever come to Indiana, go to Evansville's Borders (not Barnes and Noble; sorry, was confused). They usually have at least 3 and one of those "Monsters and Villains" books.

Yeah the Indiana Borders stores are pretty good. You can usually find whatever your looking for. Although recently when I went to Borders and Barnes and Nobles (which I prefer) I noticed they're selection for the books I like (Buffy and Angel books) were getting smaller and smaller. And the last few times I went to Barnes and Nobles and Borders on the same day (I would go to two different locations of each store = 4 stores) I noticed they had zero and I mean zero Buffy or Angel books. I knew they were getting fewer and fewer of the books each time I went but zero is just plain ridiculous. I had to buy what I wanted from Amazon. If I didn't already own practically all of the ones available I'd be pissed.

Oh and James, both books are the hardback versions. And they will come in two seperate shipments. And should arrive around the 18th.

Maybe I should start buying hardback versions of Buffy books... I've got a few hardback versions, but most of my collection is paperback.

Take care and God bless.

Spade

[Just Jeans]

Oh and James, both books are the hardback versions.

That's my favorite thing about the current run of Doctor Who novels -- hardback is the standard. That paperback copy of The Stealers of Dreams that I ended up with was actually an oddity (a certain company published books 1-10 in a paperback box set. They were never meant to be sold individually outside of the UK.) They're beautiful little books.

I didn't even know the Buffy line was published in hardback. That's awesome. Speaking of Buffy, I need to get the first two books in the Dark Willow trilogy. You sent me book three through the mail, but just reading the back of the book tells me that reading it without first reading books one and two would be a mistake.

Incidentally, do you know where I can find a list of Buffy novels, Spade? I'd like to arrange those books you sent me in chronological order, but I've no clue how to do that.

And they will come in two seperate shipments. And should arrive around the 18th.

Okie-dokie. Thanks again for these, Spade. Generally I try to convince people not to buy things for me unless it's my birthday/Christmas, but I've got a weakness for WHO. I'm always grateful for (and willing to accept) a bit of Doctor Who goodness. :)

[Spade]

I didn't even know the Buffy line was published in hardback. That's awesome. Speaking of Buffy, I need to get the first two books in the Dark Willow trilogy. You sent me book three through the mail, but just reading the back of the book tells me that reading it without first reading books one and two would be a mistake.

I don't think the whole line is in hardback (very few actually), but I'm thinking about checking and seeing how many books are actually are in hardback. I think I have two or three in hardback, I can't remember the exact numer I know that Heat and Book of Fours came in hardback.

Yeah you might want to get the first two books in that trilogy. It's a what if story and you'll need to read parts one and two. Another good what if Buffy series is The Lost Slayer.


Incidentally, do you know where I can find a list of Buffy novels, Spade? I'd like to arrange those books you sent me in chronological order, but I've no clue how to do that.

Here's a list of most of the Buffy novels, in order of release. It doesn't have the Buffy/Angel crossover novels on the list though.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/3I4580MHNJAR8/ref=cm_srch_res_rpsy_alt/104-3583126-5013551

Let me know which ones I sent you, because most of them don't go in any certain order. Some books made last happen in highschool years etc. Most Buffy books are stand alone and not connected to the rest of the books.

Okie-dokie. Thanks again for these, Spade. Generally I try to convince people not to buy things for me unless it's my birthday/Christmas, but I've got a weakness for WHO. I'm always grateful for (and willing to accept) a bit of Doctor Who goodness. :)

Your welcome.

Take care and God bless.

Spade

[Alex DeLarge]

Jeans, if you'd like as well, I could send you Sting of the Zygons and the Last Dodo, as long as you send me a NA or NSA or two. ;)

[Spade]

Well James, I think they should be arriving sometime today. Let me know if they get there.

[Just Jeans]

That's tempting, Alex. I'm desperately trying to collect the NSAs... But the NA's are extremely hard to find, and I'm clingy to them. Decisions, decisions. :o

On the other hand, you're probably just trying to pawn Sting of the Zygons off on me 'coz you hate it. :p

Spade -- I got The Price of Paradise in yesterday, and The Art of Destruction came in today (they shipped from opposite ends of the country). Thanks a bundle, man. They look great with the rest of my stack. :D

Incidentally, you should be getting a package from me soon. I'm going to have to get in touch with Adam and ask if he's shipped it out to you yet. He finally took the stuff off my person late last week, so if it hasn't gone out just yet, it should soon.

[Alex DeLarge]

No worries. I'll send 'em anyway if you want. I'd like 'em back, eventually, but you can keep them as long as you like. The only NSAs I have are Feast of the Drowned, I Am A Dalek (you have both of those, correct?), Sting of the Zygons and the Last Dodo, but EVERYONE is raving about the new 3 that came out recently and so I'm planning on buying all 3 on Monday.

I actually, to tell you the truth, haven't even finished Sting. I'm 2/3 through. I hear it gets better towards the end, but it's just so boring, storywise and prose wise (it reads simpler than a novelization). There's nothing that has jumped out at me like the million awesome moments in the Last Dodo (there's a flashback to the War Games! for Christ's sake: yes, I repeat: the War Games!).

[Just Jeans]

Seriously? A flashback? Or is it just a callback? I can't imagine a flashback, but I could imagine the Doctor mentioning events from the story. Given that Troughton is my favorite, and The War Games is the largest of his serials, that's a nice idea. Still waiting for that one on DVD, damn it.

As for the books -- don't worry about sending them to me, Alex. I'm liable never to return them out of sheer laziness (ask Blake -- I had his copy of the second season of Chappelle's Show for over a year). I'd end up having to order you new copies on Amazon.com because it's easier than hitching a ride to the closest post office (which is nearly 10 miles away). I appreciate the offer, though. :)

[Alex DeLarge]

Basically, the Doctor is at MOTLO, Museum of the Last Ones, and we go into his mind and go into some first person prose. There he gives us a recap of the end of the War Games and a summary of the Pertwee era. It's a comparison between what he went through and what the animals did (it's also interesting, it's the first inclination in the new series materials that the Doctor didn't really like the Time Lords and despite the fact that he misses them, he STILL has yet to truly forgive them). The last line is: "I was a Time Lord in exile... Or was I an animal in a zoo?"

[Spade]

Spade -- I got The Price of Paradise in yesterday, and The Art of Destruction came in today (they shipped from opposite ends of the country). Thanks a bundle, man. They look great with the rest of my stack. :D

Your welcome. I'm just glad they got their in good time. I checked amazon tracking thing and it said it tried to deliver one of them to an address in Longview TX, but you were not home. LOL I wonder how they got mixed up and sent it to Longview first.


Incidentally, you should be getting a package from me soon. I'm going to have to get in touch with Adam and ask if he's shipped it out to you yet. He finally took the stuff off my person late last week, so if it hasn't gone out just yet, it should soon.

Cool. I'll be sure to let you know when it arrives.

[Alex DeLarge]

Looking for new DW books, I instead found the Torchwood books at Borders, yay! Since I had no idea about the order, I used the wise and age-old tradition of "eeney-meeny-miney-mo" to pick and got Border Princes (my grandparents are going shopping around there for Christmas next week and I'll be sure to put both of the other two on the top of my list). I'll tell you all how it is.

[Just Jeans]

...so I take it you didn't notice that you can tell which book comes first by lining them up and looking at the spine. The spines create an single image when all three books are set on a shelf together. :D

[Culp]

I managed to find a box set done up with all (or most, anyway) of the novels featuring Rose. I have only read the first two

01 The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
02 The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole

I'm now currently reading the Deviant Strain which I thought was book 3. Are they all linear? If so I'll have to stop now and read the other instead.

[Just Jeans]

List of New Series Adventures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Series_Adventures_%28Doctor_Who%29#Novels)

The above link has the books listed in the correct order, although to be fair it doesn't really matter what order you read them in. I just prefer to read them "in order" (the book number is printed on the spine, albeit in Gallifreyian.)

Culp, is the box set you got the one that's comprised of the first ten books in paperback? I accidentally purchased The Stealers of Dreams in paperback, and I was gutted (because I own the rest in hardback). I ended up having to re-order it.

[Alex DeLarge]

...so I take it you didn't notice that you can tell which book comes first by lining them up and looking at the spine. The spines create an single image when all three books are set on a shelf together. :D

The books were on the top of the shelf, cover facing us, not spine. I checked the spine for numbering, but I didn't check them all for a picture. Should have thought of that, hmm...

[Culp]

Culp, is the box set you got the one that's comprised of the first ten books in paperback? I accidentally purchased The Stealers of Dreams in paperback, and I was gutted (because I own the rest in hardback). I ended up having to re-order it.

Yep, that's the one! I got it fairly cheap too at an ABC store here (Doctor Who is aired on ABC here in Australia as are most BBC productions, so the stores sell all of the books, audio, figurines etc etc. Makes it handy to have it all distributed in the one place).

[Scarecrow]

Have the latest Doctor Who books and plan to start them as soon as my essay is complete.


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

I'm disappointed that the books coming out in a couple of months won't be featuring Donna. I hope we get some books with Donna in them before her single series run is finished.

[Alex DeLarge]

Well, we know she'll be in an audiobook by Peter Anghelides and a few others and then in physical books later that year.

I've been reading a bunch of Doctor Who and Torchwood books recently, I'll have reviews shortly!

[Scarecrow]

Read "Sting of the Zygons" and it was anopther excellent novel.

Stephen Cole seems to really grasp the ideaology of the new series well and writes books that could easily be TV stories but of course do things only a novel could do. Some fantastic ideas and nice twists. The Doctor vanishes a couple of times, leading me to susoect he was a Zygon at first.... he wasn't. But later on they caught me out. Clever writing. Some great amusing visuals and a nice riff on the concept with them disguised as animals as well as people. Martha weas well written and used her medical knowledge well whislt the Doctor had some genius lines.

One of the best.


- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

Here you go, Jeans, your greatest wish!

http://doctorwhoforum.com/showthread.php?t=165903

Ghosts of India by Mark Morris

India, 1947. When the Doctor and Donna arrive in Calcutta, they are swept up in violent events. They discover that the city is rife with tales of 'half-made men', who roam the streets at night and steal people away. With the help from Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi, the Doctor and Donna set out to investigate these rumours.

Shining Darkness by Mark Michalowski

From the desert world of Karris to the interplanetary scrapyard of Junk, the Doctor and Donna discover that the centuries long peace between the humans and the machines may be about to end.

The Doctor Trap by Simon Messingham

Sebastiene might look like a nineteenth century nobleman, but in truth he is a ruthless hunter. And he's caught them all - from Zargregs to Moogs, even the odd Eternal. In fact, Sebastiene is after only one more prize. He's brought together the finest hunters in the universe to hunt for the last of the Time Lords...

Gandhi? AWESOME. :D

[Just Jeans]

I somehow missed that there had been a new post here. :eek:

Indeed, new Donna books are imminent. I'm so pleased! :D

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/ghosts-of-india.jpghttp://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/shining-darkenss.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/doctor-trap.jpg

I might skip the other books I don't yet have just to get those.

Incidentally, I just finished Sting of the Zygons recently. Isn't that the one you hated, Alex? I thought it was pretty decent. Not the best of the lot, but certainly not the worst of them, either.

[Alex DeLarge]

Eh, I didn't hate it. I liked it more the second time I read it. I just felt it was... boringly average. Which to me is worse, for a Doctor Who story, than outrageously over-the-top terrible. It just felt like Cole wasn't even trying. He was just ticking all the boxes to a "classic Who," and not really caring how he put them together. As it was his 4th New Series Adventure, I'm not surprised. But still, I just felt like there was no over-whelming imagination or anything. I don't, not bad, it just feels to me like they didn't try anything that wasn't done before.

The best NSA I'd say is Wetworld, though I still have Forever Autumn and Wooden Heart on my shelf, both of which got pretty excellent reviews, so we'll see. That reminds me, I really need to read those, but I have SO many DW books and such I own and need to read (not even counting the spin-offs I own like Torchwood and Faction Paradox).

[Scarecrow]

Those covers look gorgeous!


- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

Well, we got information on the next three after the ones with covers. Very interesting. It seems like they're finally doing something different with the NSAs (only one of them has Donna).

First is Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell and the one with Donna, via a bit of deductive reasoning.

Next is The Eyeless by fan-favorite (including me) author, Lance Parkin. He had this to say about it:

The Eyeless doesn't feature Donna, although that's absolutely not a season four spoiler
or anything. My understanding is that at least one of the others in this batch does
have Donna.

There's no prior continuity in the sense of old monsters or EDA stuff or what have you
in The Eyeless.

It's a perennial discussion here, so I want to make a couple of things clear: of all the
Doctor Who books I've written, this is the one with the *shortest* brief I've ever had
from an editor and there was precisely one change made by 'Cardiff' - they didn't like
my original title, The Hidden Fortress. Secondly ... while the books have a larger audience
than the NA/EDAs and that audience has a lot of children in it, I've written the Doctor
Who book I wanted to write. Kids should find plenty to enjoy in it, but this is a Doctor
Who book that *I* would enjoy reading, written in the same style and spirit as all
my previous Doctor Who books. If you liked those, then there's a very good chance you'll
like The Eyeless.

I delivered the book a couple of weeks ago, I'm very proud of it. So proud, I've broken
the habit of a lifetime and set up a blog to talk about it. More details soon.

Lance

Finally, we have The Story of Martha which is said to be written by Dan Abnett. But according to his blog, that's not STRICTLY the case... He's not the only writer...

For all of you out there in TV land, you may be interested to know that in the coming months, I will be penning a 'Primeval' novel (it's called 'Extinction Event'), and a Doctor Who book which will recount the exploits of Martha Jones during the year when the Master held the Doctor captive and she roamed the Earth (ie, the end of season three). The latter will not be all my own work, as I am writing the framing sequence and story into which other stories, by other hands will be set. I'm looking forward to it. I have a soft spot for Martha.

Using the NSA format to do a short story collection about the Year That Never Was is... a bit surprising. In a good way though. For the most part, the NSAs have been pretty traditional adventures, slotting between random adventures. This is quite out there, but not in a bad way, at all. Still, wonder what other authors will try their hand out.

[Alex DeLarge]

Some more Lance Parkin posts on the news, all from the Doctor Who Forum.


Quote:
Originally Posted by DrAndreq View Post
I wonder if one will feature the 9th Doctor or 10 & Rose?

Tenth Doctor (and just the tenth Doctor!) and not Rose.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by hotmissile View Post
Some kind of permutation of Parkin, Huxley and Kurosawa?

Um ... yes. 'Some kind of'. Very, very loosely indeed, though. We don't all team up or
anything.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian08 View Post
I don't read the New Series novels much, but now that Lance is writing one, I think I will.

While you should, of course, buy all of them, the day they come out, twice, the advantage of
them all being standalone is that you can just pick one and read it without having to pick up
any of the previous ones.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by drakyndra View Post
Hmm... in the gap between series 2 and 3, or between 3 and 4?

'Just the tenth Doctor' in the sense of 'it's not a multi Doctor book'.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence Conquest View Post
I dont know if I can work that much excitement up - it seems that regardless of the author's name practically all of these new series books seems to be very shallow, lightweight runarounds, presumably due to the length and 'young adult' target age. At best they are mildly diverting entertainment for an hour or two. Fingers crossed Lance or Dan can prove me wrong this time!

Well, fingers crossed.

The length ... they're a little shorter. The EDAs were meant to be about 80,000 words, these are
about 55,000. That's the length of War of the Worlds, The Great Gatsby, Lucky Jim and Goldfinger ...
as I've said before, those authors managed to fit stuff in their books.

Having now written one ... the challenge is to fit as much (more) adventure and introspection into
the (slightly) reduced word count. Not to write in the same style but on fewer pages. Do that, you'd
end up with something that felt like a 'light' PDA, I'm sure. The Eyeless certainly doesn't sprawl, but
I think it feels very 'novelistic'. It feels like a book, not two thirds of one. I think. What's great is that
you really can't have an ounce of padding. It's more like a script in that sense - you end up really
concentrating on what a scene is for and what it's doing there.

The audience. I've said this before ... there is all the difference in the world between 'aimed at kids'
and 'suitable for kids'. Doctor Who, particularly now, now more than ever, appeals to kids. It would be
crazy if the books didn't. But kids love Blink, too. And my guidance on this - because I did ask - was that
I could do anything the TV show could do, and that the same Taste and Decency stuff applies now
as applied in the EDA days.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by Garstansinilliam View Post
Now that's interesting... So, if you wanted to, you could have something on the scale of, say, the Dalek massacre of Floor Zero? Halpen pulling his face off and spitting out his brain?

It's not an exact science. I think the key with violence in Doctor Who is that it crosses the line when
it becomes human-on-human, imitable or sadistic. That's pretty much always been the case. Having
the Daleks shoot a load of people is what Daleks do.

And it's different rules in books - back in the day, Terrance Dicks used to have Dalek gun make people
writhe and leaving a smoking corpse in books. *Showing* someone's head split open isn't the same
as writing 'and then his head split open'.

I think this is the problem with discussions like this ... it inevitably ends up about 'what' you can't do,
rather than 'why' you'd want to do it. In practice, it's a lot more ... well, I was going to say 'suck it and
see', but possibly that's not the best way of putting it.

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by liliacea View Post
Can you tel us what the tv show can do, or rather can't do?

Well, I'm not writing for the TV show. But it's in the same timeslot as Emmerdale, which I worked
on a long time ago. There, the main thing viewers complained about was bad language. We had
a general responsibility not to mislead people or exploit the vulnerable - apparently every time a
soap has someone attempting suicide, there's a spike in young people committing suicide, and that,
to put it mildly, is a rather sobering thought.

As I just said ... you don't sit around writing something with a set of very strict dos and don'ts
in your head. With Doctor Who, you can get away with the filthiest innuendo imaginable ('you
could splash out on a taxi or ... whatever') but you'd get complaints for the mildest swear word. But ...
why would people be swearing in a Doctor Who story anyway?

Lance


Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence Conquest View Post
The word-count is obviously part of the issue, but I presume a lot of the difference between the old full-length Virgin/BBC novels and the new series hardbacks is in the approach.

All I can do is speak for myself and say that I approached this like I approached all my others.

Lance

So a Tenth/Donna, a solo Tenth and a Year That Never Was anthology. Sounds like a very interesting batch...

[Scarecrow]

Brilliant to see the time has come, as we always knew it would, for the NSA's to start branching out and exploring new ways and stories within with format. Hope the antholog will be longer, brilliant news!


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

Blurbs about the new books:

Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell

The Doctor and Donna battle an ancient force from the Dark Times - the latest in the bestselling Doctor Who fiction range from BBC Books. Donna Noble is back home in London, catching up with her family and generally giving them all the gossip about her journeys. Her grandfather is especially overjoyed - he's discovered a new star and had it named after him. He takes the Doctor, as his special guest, to the naming ceremony. But the Doctor is suspicious about some of the other changes he can see in Earth's heavens. Particularly that bright star, right there. No not that one, that one, there, on the left... The world's population is slowly being converted to a new path, a new way of thinking. Something is coming to Earth, an ancient force from the Dark Times. Something powerful, angry, and all-consuming...

The Eyeless by Lance Parkin

In the latest of the bestselling Doctor Who novels, the Doctor battles a mysterious weapon on a barren, war-torn planet - and this time he's all on his own. At the heart of the ruined city of Arcopolis is the Fortress. It's a brutal structure placed here by one of the sides in a devastating intergalactic war that's long ended. Fifteen years ago, the entire population of the planet was killed in an instant by the weapon housed deep in the heart of the Fortress. Now only the ghosts remain. The Doctor arrives, and determines to fight his way past the Fortress's automatic defences and put the weapon beyond use. But he soon discovers he's not the only person in Arcopolis. What is the true nature of the weapon? Is the planet really haunted? Who are the Eyeless? And what will happen if they get to the weapon before the Doctor? The Doctor has a fight on his hands. And this time he's all on his own.

The Story Of Martha by Dan Abnett

The full story of Martha Jones' 'lost year' helping defeat the Master - the latest in the bestselling Doctor Who Fiction range from BBC Books. For a year, while the Master ruled over Earth, Martha Jones travelled the world telling people stories about the Doctor. She told people of how the Doctor has saved them before, and how he will save them again. This is that story. It tells of Martha's travels from her arrival on Earth as the Toclafane attacked and decimated the population through to her return to Britain to face the Master. It tells how she spread the word and told people about the Doctor. The story of how she survived that terrible year. But it's more than that. This is also a collection of the stories she tells - the stories of adventures she had with the Doctor that we haven't heard about before. The stories that inspired and saved the world...

I'm particularly interested in Beautiful Chaos and The Story of Martha. It's a pity that Donna is only going to be in the one... I've got the feeling she's going to get short-shafted the way the 9th Doctor has -- one series = one run of books.

[Scarecrow]

Sounds better and better! :D


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

Cover art has been released:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/beautiful_chaos2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/eyeless2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Story_of_Martha2.jpg

[Alex DeLarge]

Blurbs about the new books:



I'm particularly interested in Beautiful Chaos and The Story of Martha. It's a pity that Donna is only going to be in the one... I've got the feeling she's going to get short-shafted the way the 9th Doctor has -- one series = one run of books.

Nah, I personally don't think it's a pity at all and this is coming from someone who now considers Donna his favorite new series companion. I think it's fantastic that the NSAs are branching out. Solo Doctor, a short story anthology about the Year That Never Was (though I'd have preferred it if the stories were ALL Year That Never Was oriented), etc. I actually hope this leads to some more Ninth (solo or with Rose or Rose/Jack) or Tenth/Rose/Mickey books, if these sell well. The more variety in the cast line-up, the better. Remember, we have the entire Gap Year for Donna books! Until the "new" companion comes on, I suspect they'll have at least one Donna book in the set.

A little bit of information from Rob Shearman from LiveJournal:

It's mostly a novel - the majority of it is written by Dan. But the book gets hijacked every now and then by other writers, including me. Poor Dan. I'd bite back if I were him!

[Scarecrow]

I adore the cover of The Story of Martha and can't wait to read it myself, it sounds really great! I wonder if it will be longer than usual?


- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

I'm a quarter of the way through "Sick Building" and so far it's brilliant. The Craw is a freakish creation...

- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

My brother phoned me today, and over the course of the conversation he said, "Hey, I recently found a Torchwood novel at Books-A-Million." Well that never happens, so I had him come pick me up and we rolled on up there.

Novels are sorted alphabetically by author rather than by series, so I had to hunt for a little while, but eventually I managed to find two of them on the shelf -- Something in the Water and Trace Memory. I hadn't really heard anything about either book online, so I ended up getting Something In the Water (I picked that one because Owen was featured so prominantly on the cover).

I also had the lady at the counter order The Twilight Street for me, because I'm really interested in that one. It should be in sometime in the next two weeks.

[Scarecrow]

I just can't afford to keep uyp with these at the moment, but may pick and choose a few as times goes by!


- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

Bought Shining Darkness and The Doctor Trap at Border's today and just finished ordering Beautiful Chaos off the Book Depository (UK site but free worldwide shipping) and I just realized... I now have bought all but one of every book Donna Noble appears in! I almost forgot how short her run was (a shame, but there's also the audiobooks featuring Tenth/Donna, one read by Tennant, one read by Tate). I almost feel obligated to get Ghosts of India after the Eyeless/Story of Martha so I'll have "the complete Donna set."

[Scarecrow]

Recenelt y discovered I own "Wetworld" but hadn't read it yet. For some reaosn got it in my head "Sick Building" was the last Ihad but now I have a new DW book to read. Great! :D

- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

Oh, Wetworld is FANTASTIC. One of my favorite NSAs. The NSA I'm reading Shining Darkness is by the same author.