Who Reviews The Story of Martha by DJ Forrest

 

"I told a story, that’s all. No weapons, just words. I did just what The Doctor said. I went across the continents, all on my own. And everywhere I went I found the people and I told them my story. I told them about The Doctor. And I told them to pass it, to spread the word so that everyone would know about The Doctor. ‘Cause I gave them an instruction. Just as The Doctor said. I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time, right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment, but with fifteen satellites.

The telepathic field, binding the whole human race together. With all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is “Doctor.” 

The Story of Martha runs from the moment she used Jack's VM and her perception filter key and teleported out of the Valiant. It told her story in a way I didn't think would work and at first, I wasn't entirely sure it did. Back in the early days of Doctor Who (the Classic era) a series of Target novels told of the episodes of Who, and in much the same way as that, this book began. It didn't feel as if it was narrating the story but giving a blow-by-blow account of the episode thus far. But as I worked my way through the pages, it settled. The book became interesting. The stories engrossing, and I finally engaged with the book, and realised just what Martha was doing. 

I did wonder where Martha had travelled to and what she had imparted to the people of the world, for all of them, at the exact moment, to say the Doctor's name, and for the whole perception filter to expose Harold Saxon for who he was - The MASTER! 

To defeat someone like the Master, you need more than physical weapons, like guns and lasers. Although, to be fair, when the mask slipped... but to initially bring down the might of the Master, you needed to enforce the might of the Doctor. 

There were some interesting stories in amongst those that Martha told, and I liked the Pierre Bruyere story along with the one at the end which reminded me of the film Passengers starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. 

Martha told stories wherever she was, and no matter how tired she became during her shifts working in one of the Labour camps she found herself in, after being captured when the perception filter failed to protect her. There are stories within stories and when I discovered this was the real weapon against the Master. The Power of the Word. Much stronger than any weapon could ever inflict, I too began to remember the Doctor, and wish he were here, saving the Day. 

The book is written by Dan Abnett, with David Roden, Steve Lockley & Paul Lewis, Robert Shearman and Simon Jowett. In other words, huge fans of the Doctor Who series. Often during each chapter, you had a feel of different writing techniques, whereby some were easier to read than others. Some you could really engage with, others were pages you wanted to speed through. But diligently, I worked my way through each page, soaking up the words as I went. 

It’s a great book and it was the final 10^th Doctor story in my collection. So, should I start to collect the 10^th Doctor episode novels? 

Hmmm, what would the Doctor do?