Who Reviews The Last Dodo Book Review by DJ Forrest

Written by Jacqueline Rayner

For BBC Books

Imagine visiting a museum with over three billion exhibits, and realising you’re going to need a bigger butty box and flask! It puts the Natural History Museum to shame, that’s for sure.

Jacqueline Rayner’s imagination certainly suggests she knows her natural history, especially the creatures and animals in the I-Spyder guide, and it’s great to read about the Now or Soon to be extinct creatures that roamed planet Earth. However, it’s not just planet Earth, MOTLO collects, or the Museum for the Lost Ones, it collects creatures from all over the universe. Eve, the curator knows when each animal is about to become extinct, and quickly sends out her bands of men and women to collect the specimens and store them in suspended animation for, well, forever.

When the Doctor and Martha arrive at the museum, several of the larger animals have been taken from their suspended animated states, and of course, it doesn’t take a genius to know that they’ll be blamed for it. Of course, the Doctor offers his assistance in finding the creatures and bringing them back to the museum, despite his reservations of captive animals.

The Doctor and Martha are issued with blue pendants which enables them to teleport to various locations on Earth where the creatures were last reported. Meanwhile, Eve discovers that the Last One she’s been searching for, for an entirety is flashing on the switchboard, signalling her opportunity of completing her life’s work. Of course, when Martha discovers this, she causes catastrophic mayhem by using the sonic screwdriver and a blue pendant. Then it’s back to Earth once more to locate the missing creatures.

Of course, there’s a lot more in this story than Eve’s desire to collect the Last of Everything across the Universe, and then just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse, along comes Eve with the answer to all her stress and worry, at her fingertips.

Eve, is a surprising figure, and it’s only at the end do we find out her sole purpose, and who can make good her bad decisions. Great bedtime reading.