The War Doctor Returns in a New Novel

[Timewalker]

But it has been an arguable point, championed by Moffat recently, that the Doctor did fency Jo. Which, while I doubt that the Letts & Dicks team had in mind, I wouldn't dimiss out of hand entirely.

That is utterly ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing in any of the Third Doctor/Jo stories that even hints of the Doctor having romantic feelings for Jo.

The closest Classic Who gets to romance between the Doctor and a Companion is in two stories: In City of Death, the Doctor and Romana II hold hands while running through the streets of Paris. They're not trying to escape from anything; they're doing that for the sheer exuberant fun of it. Later on, in State of Decay, the Doctor tells Romana, "You're wonderful." She's surprised, and shyly pleased that he would say that to her.

 

[Defcon]

Finished the novel earlier today.

Good novel, but for me the "War" Doctor wasn't distinctive enough. For a novel that has the tagline "War changes everyone - even the Doctor" on the cover he read to much like a pastiche of the following Doctors' personae for my taste.

 

[The Wormhole]

Just finished the book last night, really enjoyed it too. It's a really cool story which perfectly depicts the War Doctor in a way Day of the Doctor didn't. It all comes down to context, while we can compare the War Doctor to the other Doctors and notice he doesn't come off as that different in comparison, when we compare him to the other Time Lords he interacted with as this novel does, it's like day and night. Despite being embroiled in a war which they are losing, the Time Lords are still burying their heads in the sand and trying to ignore the war when convenient while still placing an idiotic amount of importance on their rituals and over-planning, while the Doctor accepts his place in the thick of things in the war and is a man of action with little use for the Time Lords pomp and protocol.

This is a really good book which offers a great look into not only the War Doctor, but the Time War itself and what it did to Gallifrey and the Time Lords. I'd recommend it even to those who weren't completely taken with the War Doctor as presented in Day of the Doctor.

 

[Defcon]

Finished the novel earlier today.

Good novel, but for me the "War" Doctor wasn't distinctive enough. For a novel that has the tagline "War changes everyone - even the Doctor" on the cover he read to much like a pastiche of the following Doctors' personae for my taste.

In case anyone is interested, my review is now online: http://unreality-sf.net/2014/09/12/doctor-who-engines-of-war-review/

 

[Allyn Gibson]

In case anyone is interested, my review is now online: http://unreality-sf.net/2014/09/12/doctor-who-engines-of-war-review/

I agree with all of that.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

For people who need more of the War Doctor, even unofficially, Declan May is editing a fanthology, Seasons of War, that's raising money for Caudwell Children.

Authors include Jenny Colgan, Paul Magrs, George Mann, David McIntee, Jim Mortimore, Kate Orman, Lance Parkin, John Peel, Gary Russell, Andrew Smith, and Matthew Sweet.

I've donated to get the ebook version, and I'm hoping to get a print version when that's offered in December.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Nice set of authors. I think the only ones I'm not familiar with are Jenny Colgan and Kate Orman, and I haven't read any of John Peel's work (I guess my Big Finish-only credentials are showing).

I'll have to think about donating because I just donated to a bunch of causes recently.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Nice set of authors. I think the only ones I'm not familiar with are Jenny Colgan and Kate Orman, and I haven't read any of John Peel's work (I guess my Big Finish-only credentials are showing).

Colgan, mainly known as a chick-lit author, also penned the novel Dark Horizons (the eleventh Doctor and some Vikings battle an alien invasion) and one of the Time Trips e-shorts. I loved Dark Horizons; it's not perfect (it needed another editing pass because there are some annoying glitches), but it's well-written, the eleventh Doctor is characterized very well, and the ending is downright moving.

Orman, of course, was one of the major (and beloved) New Adventures writers. I've only ever been meh on her work, to be honest.

 

[Lonemagpie]

And of course George Mann, who wrote the official novel, is a contributor.