Who Reviews Nuclear Time by DJ Forrest

Written by Oli Smith

For BBC Books

Published 2010

‘My Watch is running backwards’

Colorado, 1981. The Doctor, Rory and Amy, land just outside a 1950s style village out in the desert, called Appletown, where the neighbours have a touch of the Stepford Wives about them and just as the Doctor and his companions begin to figure it all out, a big nuclear bomb is heading their way.

You’ve heard me mention before, how certain books I’ve read have been absolutely brilliant, and I doubt a book can top the one I’m raving about, but Oli Smith’s Nuclear Time just did. There’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in this story, which keeps up the momentum. It begins with a scientist, (doesn’t it always) who creates a robot and promptly falls in love with her, who then sees his work go up in flames, is offered a new position within the military, creates more robots, but still favours his first creation over the others. So basically, it’s about a lot of robots who when reprogrammed cause a lot of mayhem for the military – but then, that’s what they were programmed for, but of course, now that they’ve caused the mayhem, costly mayhem, it’s what to do with them now they’re no longer of any use.

Nuclear Time for me, has to be one of the best Doctor Who stories for the Eleventh, because, for once, it doesn’t really require the help of the companions. Sure, they’re in their own little predicament, stuck in Appletown with a bunch of crazed killer robots, but it’s the Doctor who comes to the fore and causes a lot of disruption to time itself, when he captures within the Tardis, a nuclear bomb destined for Appletown.

Now I’m not going to give away too much from this story, and believe me, the bomb is only a small portion of the novel – there is way more story than that to keep you focused.

The story flicks from one year to another and back again, building on the relationship between the scientist and the soldier in charge of the new agenda.

The Doctor has his work cut out in this story because when he alters time, by trapping the bomb in a stasis field, life for him revolves around walking backwards everywhere, and talking backwards, because, let’s face it, his watch is going backwards too.

It’s an ingenious idea and works so fluidly that, this is my new No.1 favourite Who novel.

Thank you Oli Smith for the bicycle ride of my life, albeit backwards.

Who Reviews Death Riders by DJ Forrest

Written by Justin Richards

For BBC Children’s Books

Published 2011

You can tell pretty much from the off that this book is directed at children, as oppose to adults. The font is larger, it’s a shorter story in comparison to other novels, and much of the story telling is for a younger age group – but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. In fact, given that this is the 11^th Doctor, which appealed, I think, more to the younger groups, it’s Amy, and indeed Rory, that keep the story going with their ever-witty comebacks.

You can tell also by the names of some of the characters, that there’s a child feel to the story. Perpetual Pete, the health and safety guy, who from the outset put me in mind of Stinky Pete from Toy Story, and was probably crafted from that very character – who knows!

The story does have that grizzly Who factor about it. It’s set on an asteroid, and inside the mining tunnels lies creature’s hell bent on escaping their Perpetual chamber, by the music chords from a harmonica, but it’s certain musical chords which will release them.

To be honest, it’s a craft of engineering how this story comes together, and how in the final desperate attempts to ensure the creatures never escape that had me almost run late for work one morning, as Amy and Rory battled against the Drexxon (wiry wool creatures with savage teeth and claws, but look like soft space monkeys), as they climbed out of the rollercoaster ride about to plummet into the bright light from the chamber.

The Doctor, for all his wit and charm, didn’t own the story in perhaps the same way as he’s owned many of the other novels I’ve read over the past few months. It was the work of the companions that pulled the story together, only giving the Doctor one moment of triumph, when he realised who was controlling who – but I shan’t give everything away in this novel.

Justin Richards, has Who stamped right through the middle of him. He’s written so many novels and fact files, that I’d be pushed to list them all, and I’ve read a fair few of them. I’ve loved nearly all of them, and I’d probably admit that, despite there being a little bit of the Doctor involvement in this story, it was still an enjoyable story to read, even if the ending was a little cringy.

.

Who Reviews The Glamour Chase by DJ Forrest

Written by Gary Russell

For BBC Books

Published 2010

Seeing is not believing

Bigger hardback novel than previous 9^th & 10^th Doctor adventures. Larger font. New Doctor and companions. Still with the same thrills and excitement of travelling in the Blue Box and not landing in Rio but in England in 1936.

It takes a while for the Doctor and Co to make an appearance but Gary sets the scene and in some small back of the mind thought, I debated if there was a need for them at all. But of course we do, it wouldn’t be a Doctor Who adventure otherwise. The final part of the story relied upon human and alien minds working together to save planet Earth from the Tahrns.

When we meet the Doctor he is in deep conversation with a sheep after plummeting down a hillock the moment he stepped from the TARDIS.

This is a human story of lives torn apart by the violence of an alien race desperate to remove the existence of another from the Universe and caring not for those caught up in the middle. Snuffing out the lights on many innocent souls, in much the same way as the aliens in ‘War of the Worlds’ starring Tom Cruise. (only way I could picture it).

Who Reviews The King's Dragon by DJ Forrest

Written by Una McCormack

For BBC Books

Published 2010

The Doctor, Rory and Amy are in what appeared throughout the story to be a medieval city bathed in gold. From the city council building dome to the cutlery and clothing of the residents of Gaeth.

At first glance it seemed as if the people wanted for nothing, but unlike the stories of Gaeth, where folks were hospitable beyond measure, these people were suspicious of their neighbours and rarely left their homes, afraid that they would be looted for their treasure.

In the past they were ruled by a councillor, but now, since the last election, they were ruled by Beol – King Beol He was a fearless fighter, although whether that were true, would be tested when two warring aliens appeared, desperate for the gold, kept by the simple folk of Gaeth.

The gold was bewitching, it altered a person’s perception, and before long the residents of Gaeth were unsure if giving up the ‘gold’ to an alien was the right thing to do. It required a little of the Doctor’s timey wimey know how and the device held inside the King’s Dragon to turn the heads of the residents in order to save them from certain death.

It’s an interesting story and one – apart from the alien interaction that you’d expect to find in any medieval storybook. Una plays the characters of the Doctor and companions well and you do have to feel sorry for Rory – he is treated rather roughly by the Doctor – but then in much of the stories read thus far, Rory is the accidental hero much of the time.

Amy is captured perfectly and as she’s often the most adventurous of the three of them, she’s given some great dialogue.

This is a great story and reminds me a lot of certain other aliens throughout Who’s history, from the Gelth to some classic warriors.

Definitely one to put on the ‘Might Read Again’ pile.

Who Reviews Autonomy by DJ Forrest

Written by Daniel Blythe

For BBC Books

Published 2009

There is something very cold and unfeeling, as there is for much of the Whoniverse baddies, and none more so than the Autons. First crashing onto our screens wearing nylon shirts, a throwback of the 70s charity and thrift shop. They returned in 2005, with much more plastic and a far better wardrobe, but equally as scary.  And not even the 80s film Mannequin could convince us that you could fall in love with them.

In Autonomy by Daniel Blythe, the Nestene Consciousness is but a small green glowing blob, and it's dying. But with new support from Miss Elizabeth Devonshire, a business woman who rescued the blob about 30 years ago, the new age of Plastinol is setting its sights well and truly on Earth, starting with Hyperville - a 24 hour shopping city with theme parks for all enthusiasts.

This story brought to mind all the scary things I dreaded as a child. Walking and talking plastic dolls, with glowing eyes and repetitive speech patterns and scary ass laughter that chilled you to the core. Dolls that given as a child, were found months later in the bottom of a wardrobe buried under layers of clothing, and books and anything that would stop it from coming back into my room, scaring the b'jezus out of me.

Despite it's scariness, as with many horror films, you want to know that by the end of the story, the evil is defeated and the Time Lord is victorious. Yet, glancing around my room, my car, my neighbourhood, it wouldn't take much for the Nestene Consciousness to return to Earth, and take back control...

Who Reviews The Krillitane Storm by DJ Forrest

Written by Christopher Cooper

For BBC Books

Published 2009

The Krillitane Storm is one heck of a story, which takes you back in time to the 1100s and Worcester Cathedral and castle. It's full of fearful peasants, scared of the urban legend of the Huntsman, who takes people in the night. But it's far from scary ghost stories that terrorise the neighbourhood. As the name would suggest, it is the winged creatures from another world that are causing havoc in the simple English town.

As with many of the Whoniverse creatures, such as there are with humans, there are different factions of Krillitane. There are those who would rather stick with their wingless features, whereas others wish to gain an advantage on their own predators, and take to the skies. So, with this in mind, the Krillitanes in this story are as much a captive as they are hunted by their own people!

It's a fascinating story too, as there is a history of Worcester to take into consideration here, and whether much of it is fiction, there seems a good enough portion of it to be believable. There are also different stories here, that tie them all together, which is what makes for a good Who story.

This, as well as Autonomy is a stand alone Doctor story - he is without his familiar companion, but gains two as the story progresses. It's so well put together that I punched the air when the final piece of the story was revealed.

Forget the 'shooty dog thing', the Doctor can tackle these Krillitane without his valiant K-9 at his heel, plus the stairs would bugger the dog's chances anyway. There are some unusual alliances, and some downright scoundrels. Well worth a read, and if you've a long boring tiresome day ahead of you, then this book fills in the dull spaces.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

Who Reviews Judgement of the Judoon by DJ Forrest

Written by Colin Brake

Published 2009

This story was better than I thought it would be, given the fact that a Judoon was going to figure quite heavily in the story. It was great. It had a kind of Blade Runner feel to the story, where mob fathers were fierce in the lower end of the city, but with a new face, unknown to all of them, was out to take Uncle for all he was worth.

There were alien twins, and a detective agency run by a girl who was keen to find her Dad, and taking any case to keep her business afloat, but which all tied in with the same thing the Doctor and the Judoon Commander were investigating.

You saw a different side to the lumbering rhino boy, where 'Justice is Swift', you saw something quite elegant and sweet and bloody hilarious, that you're smiling and really wish that, should they ever bring the Judoon back into play on the tellybox, that they introduce this Judoon, because, he was funny. I mean, not slapstick funny, but funny in the sense that he could take a joke, which you need, when you're dealing with all manner of aliens, and you're with the 10th Doctor.

A definite must on any Who bookshelf.

Who Reviews The Slitheen Excursion by DJ Forrest

Written by Simon Guerrier

For BBC Books

Published 2009

Starring 10^th Doctor

‘1500BC – King Actaeus and his subjects live in mortal fear of the awesome gods who have come to visit their kingdom in ancient Greece. Except the Doctor, visiting with university student June, knows they’re not gods at all. They’re aliens.’

The Slitheen Excursion has been one of the better Simon Guerrier novels starring the 10^th Doctor – mostly because The Pirate Loop, in my opinion, was catered towards a much younger audience. It was sweet and enjoyable, but it lent towards a far younger age group than the Slitheen novel.

It took me a while to get my head around the ancient Greek background, given that during school history lessons, we covered barely, nothing of that era, and I had to pull in what I’d seen of slaves versus masters in films, from Ben Hur, Spartacus and Gladiator to get a feel of the actual era and the arena with which the Doctor and June found themselves in, in the novel. Once this was visualised, the story played really well, and I only wish, June had been a regular character travelling with the Doctor. She had none of the clingy love interest, but she did depend upon the Doctor during the novel, if only for the sake of him helping her get back to her own time.

Of all the eras to find yourself in, it was perhaps not facing other Gladiators in a ring, entertaining the lords and masters high above in the balconies. Then I was reminded of The Hunger Games, when Katniss was entertaining in the arena and harpooned the apple from the pig’s mouth, so that was another visual.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I’m not totally a fan of the Slitheen but they do make such interesting enemies. They do enjoy a good hunt.

There were several elements to this story. You had the Doctor, who was doing his usual ‘not getting involved’, but getting involved anyway. There was June, who saw something unusual before she was heading back home after her holiday, and spotting the Doctor, equally another unusual sight. There are the Slitheen. There’s the multitude of alien species, like happy snappy tourists, with tales to tell and see humans displaying behaviour in the arena as if this is typical human behaviour throughout the eras.

Then you have the human element, the ancient Greeks which the Slitheen are manipulating in order to alter human history, forever.

There are different alien characters, some you’re sure you’ve heard of in other worlds and realms, and some you know you’ve read about in other novels. They’re an interesting bunch of creatures, whose feelings move back and forth like a ball in a tennis match. They’re always swayed by the bigger argument – or who shouts the loudest!

This story is an interesting read, and one that kept me hooked while I worked through several lunch times, sat in my car, for ultimate peace and quiet.

The 10^th Doctor stories, of which I only have a few more to read, have been an enjoyable journey so far, and I’m going to miss reading about his adventures.

Who Reviews Shining Darkness by DJ Forrest

Written by Mark Michalowski

For BBC Books

Published in 2010 

Shining Darkness is very much a ‘cat and mouse’ story. It’s the Doctor with Donna, who for the most part is without Donna. A piece of art is suddenly transmatted away with Donna, and the Doctor for the most part of the story, is trying his hardest to catch up with her, then when he catches up with her, he trades places with her, and so Donna spends the other half of the time chasing after him.

The story is about two teams of creatures, one hell bent on stopping the other, finding pieces of another mechanical, that could unleash all kinds of madness and mayhem, and it’s an ingenious idea and I’m still reading the novel to discover how the Doctor is going to fix the problem, now that both he and Donna are without the Tardis, and that Donna has the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, and the Doctor is travelling with three mad men hell bent on destruction of all robots. And here is where the problem lies, which I’m sure the Doctor has already thought about.

It’s very difficult to work without the use of mechanicals. Robots. Droids, etc. As Donna discovered, that it’s also difficult to explain to another creature, that she feels more for the robot with the human face, that was attacked in the tunnels of a planet, than she feels about Mesanth, the lizard with multiple limbs who kicked at a mechanical door. Although she vehemently refuses to believe she can be a racist, it’s difficult for her come up with a reason why. Can you be racist over different types of mechanicals?

The Doctor as usual worries for the safety of his companion, who rarely travels with him when they’re out of the Tardis. That’s what makes the story all the more interesting. That’s how we find out so much more about the characters of the story. If they travelled together, how much enjoyment would we get from the pair? Would they be bickering towards the end of the story? Would the Doctor wish Donna had been transmatted to another ship, to give his head some breathing space?

Donna is not my favourite travelling companion, I’d much rather have Martha Jones travelling with the 10^th, but what I’ve come to realise, is that, when a character doesn’t really ‘do it for me’ in a television episode, the books certainly help bring the companion into their own, and I’m sure, just like Ianto Jones came into his own in The Undertaker’s Gift, that I’ll feel a little more sympathy towards Donna Noble, when I once again delve into the series with her and the 10^th.

There are some interesting quotes within the novel, some which are relevant to the world today, with the varying differences of cultures and genders, and most coming from the Doctor to another. When you look at it like that, it takes it away from being just a children’s novel, to being a message for the whole of mankind.

When Donna asks the Doctor about the Cult of the Shining Darkness, wondering if that’s the end of them, he replies, “It’s a state of mind, more than an organisation. There’ll be millions more like them out there. Thinking the same, mean-spirited, tiny-minded thoughts. Scared of anything that’s different, that they don’t understand. And they’ll always be there, ready to blame someone else for the state of the universe.”

Who Reviews Forever Autumn by DJ Forrest

Written by Mark Morris

For BBC Books

Published 2007

Forever Autumn by Mark Morris has sat on my bookshelf for ever such a long time. I had this idea to read them all once I’d purchased every single 10^th Doctor novel. However, there’s been a considerable number of books published involving the 10^th Doctor, with the varying companions and there are still a few I don’t as yet own, and because of this, I decided I wanted to read them all in order. That’s not as easy as it sounds, and so it sat there, and waited. Until eventually, when I stared at the considerable array of novels on several shelves, that, I needed to read them, review them, and then decide which ones deserved to remain on the shelf, or go to the auction site.

I have a few favourite authors, and I’ve kept a few of the novels because I like the structure of them, the writing of them, and the humour within, and those who seem to connect with the 10^th that others seem to lack. And you notice that within the story – which ones have the 10^th pegged perfectly. Which ones can write about the companions and ‘get them’ before they become immortal, or before they grew a brain and became less of the temp from Chiswick but a companion you’d warm to.

I’m aware that the novels are aimed at a younger reader than myself – although in some ways, some of the novels don’t make it as obvious as others.

Forever Autumn never has that feeling that it’s aiming its story at a much younger audience, but I guess it is. One reader pointed out recently, one tiny flaw with the story, in that the author had slipped up in writing about a character’s back yard, calling it a ‘garden’. A minor detail when you think of the bigger picture that the story conveys.

I was quite taken by the alien content in the story, continuing with the Halloween feel to it, by having wraith like creatures that reminded me of the Silents in a dementor costume, with swirling green mists making life difficult for the locals to do much, other than run when scary ass clown suits chase them down the street, hell bent on wreaking destruction wherever they go.

I liked, no, I loved this story. It’s a Keeps for sure. Mark Morris is a fantastic writer, who knows how to scare the crap out of you. If this is a book for young children, then I am surely a wimp. Hell, I know I’m a wimp. I only have to look at Mark Morris’ Facebook profile to remind myself of a childhood fear, and one that I’m now hoping I’ll not have etched on my mind when I go to sleep tonight.

Halloween is a time of monsters and aliens, of rocket ships and spirits, of pumpkins and graveyards, of Time Lords and Drs, and things that go mwhahaha in the night. Be sure that cushion is big enough to hide behind, that you’ve checked the strength of those torch batteries – because when the lights go out, you’ll want to be sure you’ve got a safe place to hide.

Well I’m spooked already!

Who Reviews Martha in the Mirror by DJ Forrest

Written by Justin Richards

Published 2008 for BBC Books

Castle Extremis – whoever holds it can control the provinces either side that have been at war for centuries.

I can never fault the imagination of Justin Richards. Not once. Ever. And once again he proves the point. I enjoyed this story from the very beginning to the very end – even if I did have to read the beginning in daylight because from the very first page, I had a feeling I was going to have nightmares.

The story has that kind of feeling you’ve read something similar before, and from the instant the man is shot in the first paragraph, to Janna and Tylda, and the goings on within the castle grounds, I had the feeling, it was very Harry Potter-ish. But that’s not a bad thing, because if you can recall something familiar, as it paints a picture in your mind of castle interiors and strange goings on, then it helps.

I also enjoyed the goings on of the two robots that I couldn’t help but imagine were the android versions of the Chuckle Brothers, and if I heard either of them saying ‘To Me’ ‘To you’ I’d have died laughing.

The 10^th Doctor has brought Martha Jones to an adventure theme park, or an adventure theme park before it was even considered to be one. It’s at the very early stages of a peace treaty between the Zerugians – a reptilian race, not unlike a crocodile in features, and the Anthiums who seemed humanlike. The castle itself is at the ‘head of the Sarandon Passage. If either side (the Zerugma’s or the Anthiums) wish to rule over the other, they have to take the Castle first.’

So, someone did, very secretly, with a mirror that nobody thought existed. That everyone thought had been banished into deep space and destroyed.

It’s a really clever idea, and somewhat familiar if we think back to the girl with the red balloon in the Family of Blood story some time ago, with Martha and the 10^th. It’s mentioned in the book.

The Mortal Mirror is meant to be a fake. A replica of the old. Merely just a one way mirror, nothing creepy about it at all. I like the idea behind the mechanics of the Mortal Mirror. It again reminded me of another Harry Potter scene in a later book. But again, this is a good thing as it builds on the imagination further.

I did get a little confused over the little girl Janna, but that was answered towards the end of the story.

And the very end of the story, there’s a little gem of a chapter that takes you by surprise, and leaves you wondering – did he really plan that? Wow!

Martha in the Mirror is an ingenious idea, and the fun and games within the pages, and the amount of thought that has gone into the story, the ideas, deserves the highest award. It’s fantastic, brilliant and I can’t wait to read another. Although, I’ll have to wait until the 11^th incarnation for that to happen.

Who Reviews Snowglobe 7 Book Review by DJ Forrest

Written by Mike Tucker

For BBC Books

Snowglobe 7 is not for the faint hearted. It’s also not for anyone who has a phobia of 8 legged scary ass spidery creatures either. However, putting that aside for the minute, the novel is a brilliant story and one I found yet again, that I couldn’t put down. The thrilling ride through the icy blizzard was exhilarating, but imagine if you couldn’t see those black shapes hunting you as you struggled through the wintry weather, desperately searching for a way in, or out of the icy blast.

The 10^th Doctor and Martha Jones were meant to be on a holiday, of sun, sea and Saudi Arabia, instead they were met with blizzard like conditions that were just a little too cold for beach wear. Disappointed, but not intending to head off somewhere else instead, as much as Martha hoped they would, the Doctor wanted to discover WHY there was snow and not sand.

The Doctor discovers that Snowglobe 7 is protecting the last of the ice caps, and that buried deep within the ice, is a creature that is millions of years old and not from this earth. It’s a predator like no other, and it takes him till almost the end of the novel to work out what they are, and then almost to the absolute end to find a way of saving the planet from the carnage that will happen if he can’t find a way of stopping the creatures in their tracks.

Putting aside the itchiness I feel when I read about any spider like creature, and thank Gallifrey that Doctor Who novels don’t have colour pages of graphic creatures, I pushed on with the story.

If like me, you watched a lot of B movies as a kid, then the Giant Ants films were an absolute belter of a story, so much so that, although I knew it was spider like, the clicking of its mandibles and the hissing made me think of Ants long before I considered a spidery creature.

And what a clever idea to make it telepathic, so that instead of going out to find its food, it could order in Take Away!

Martha finds herself back in her usual guise as a doctor, gleaning as much information as possible about the patients lying comatose in the beds, eyes flickering madly beneath the eyelids. All having fallen ill after coming into close contact with eggs which have toxic dust caused by the egg’s decomposition. When the creature makes contact with the patients, they all turn into crazed zombies and take down anyone in their way.

In amongst all of this, there is a billionaire business man who is keen to buy the Snowglobe 7 site from Director Cowley, and goes to see the site which is currently overrun by the eight legged freaks. His associate, Rabley, a reformed thief, who after witnessing his boss being trapped inside the building, heads for the money in the safe and makes his getaway. What I enjoyed was the fact that, despite the story of the monsters with the Doctor and Martha, the writer also thought it interesting to add Rabley’s story into the mix, and what a great idea this was.

Mike Tucker never dips in the thrills of every chapter. The conversation pieces between the 10^th and Service Robot 12 and many of the other characters the Doctor comes into contact with, are brilliant, and you can envisage Tennant reacting to them all quite vividly. I like that. Not everyone can get it exactly right, but Tucker nails it every time, in every novel I’ve ever read of his. Sheer brilliance.

Will I be keeping this novel?

Probably not.

This novel is as fantastic as many others I’ve read, but The Nightmare at Black Island was possibly the best of the two, if I’m honest. 

Who Reviews The Many Hands Book Review by DJ Forrest

Written by Dale Smith

Published in 2010

By BBC Books

A 10^th Doctor and Martha story

There’s nothing scarier than reading a horror story about zombies and dismembered body parts late at night, in a room where the radiator breaks the silence with gurgling sounds usually only reserved for people with a dodgy belly.

Dale Smith’s story reminds me a lot of a Mary Shelley novel, and to an extent, it pretty much is, but with a Who twist, that kicks off from the very first chapter, with the 10^th Doctor riding on the roof of a runaway stagecoach, doing battle with a zombie. It’s all very exciting and one I couldn’t put down till I’d at least found a ‘save place’, to close for the night.

I’ve an idea that Dale knows his way around Edinburgh, or at best, knows someone else who does. I’m keen to explore much of the olde Edinburgh streets in order to locate at least some of the places mentioned. He gives the place such a vibrant, yet Dickens appeal all in one chapter, from modern day to 1700s, when the story begins.

Edinburgh is steeped in history, and a bloody one at that, so finding out about a loch that was filled full of creepy creatures that could walk under the water, well, of course, I’m going to think twice before I ever push a small row boat out in any loch from now on.

The hands themselves reminded me of many a B movie horror flick, and I’m sure you could think of a few, including perhaps The Addams Family, where a dismembered hand scuttles across the floor. They do say, many hands make light work, although I’m not sure if that also means in ‘monster’ terms.

The Many Hands involve the Monro family, and although there were a few times I had to flip back to see what year the story started from, and which Monro we were reading about, this story never dipped once. I positively loved it. I may even keep this book on my shelf, purely for the nostalgic trip around Ye Olde Edinburgh.

Who Reviews Peacemaker Book Review by DJ Forrest

Written by James Swallow

Stars 10^th Doctor and Martha Jones

From the very first word of Chapter One, I read the novel, to myself, in the voice of Andrew Garfield, as he was in Daleks of Manhattan, when he played Frank. Why? Well, for the simple reason that Swallow had written the story in such a way that my own voice sounded, well, alien!

Peacemaker as the front cover would suggest is set in the ‘rootin’ tootin’ Wild West of America, with clapboard buildings, a saloon where music from a piano can be heard, and those ‘reach fer yer guns, ye varmint’ characters at every turn.

Redwater is a mining town, just getting over a smallpox epidemic, which was recently cured by Alvin Godlove, a passing pedlar of wares and potions that would cure all ails, and his travelling companion, a disgraced Pawnee by the name of Walking Crow.

Although, as you read through the story, it’s not the potions that healed the folk taken with the sickness. Kept hidden in a locked metal box in his wagon, lies an alien device, which becomes more apparent the further into the novel you go, and things begin to control Alvin Godlove.

When Martha and The Doctor arrive, a young boy called Nathan has just broken into the school house, alerting Miss Forrest, the school teacher, assuming it’s bandits come to steal whatever is available to steal in the building. When she finds Nathan, scared out of his wits from the nightmares he’s been having, the Doctor is concerned – because as the boy tells them of the iron machines and the guns that fire lightning bolts, both he and Martha know that what he’s seeing are things, a boy from the 1800s shouldn’t be seeing.

The Doctor’s suspicions that something alien is afoot, is validated when two longriders called Tangleleg and Kutter come looking for Alvin Godlove, and when the townsfolk lie about his whereabouts, they raze the buildings around them to the ground, killing the local sheriff, Nathan’s father, in the process.

It’s a race against time itself when Martha is mortally wounded, and the only one who can save her is Godlove. You do wonder if the Doctor will find him in time, but knowing only too well, that the fate of Godlove is at the hands of an alien device, you do wonder if Swallow can maintain the pace that has kept you on the edge of your car seat throughout your lunch break.

Of course, knowing that rarely any companion of the NuWho Doctor (10^th) ever actually dies, it’s still pretty edge of the seat kind of story, wondering how The Doctor will achieve his goal when the odds are stacked against him.

I love this story, and it will be one I will be keeping on my shelf, and probably never parting with. It’s the first James Swallow novel I’ve read, so I’m unsure if he writes in the same style for all, or if he varies his narrative. I have to admit to liking Andrew Garfield and should this novel ever become an audio story, then who better to narrate it than good old Spiderman himself.

Who Reviews Wishing Well by DJ Forrest

Written by Trevor Baxendale

For BBC Books

Wishing Wells date back to a time before colour TVs, automobiles and electronic gadgets. They were a means of making wishes come true, with a toss of a coin, and with eyes tightly shut, but in most cases, they were a glorified hole in the ground where spring water could be found, and with a bucket attached, could get a good drink on a hot day, or for whatever other purpose. However, Baxendale doesn’t write about a good well with a good dose of water at the bottom, or where wishes may be granted.

Down in the depths of the deep chasm are the sounds of a cat, calling to its owner, raggedy old tramp Barnaby, and deeper still, lies the treasure from a highwayman. And again, as we know Baxendale’s work, there won’t be a random cat roaming the levels desperate to reach freedom, and the treasure won’t just be highwayman loot, will it, Trevor?

Down in the tunnels is something far more terrifying, something that has been waiting and growing, and impressing on the very person that holds a part of it, to return and return soon. The raw power of the thing can be felt in whom-so-ever possesses it.

On the surface however, the Well is as harmless as a cricket ground on a cold, wet afternoon. The well itself is in a state of disrepair, and it falls to stalwarts of the little village to save it. Stacy and Angela, who I can only picture as two characters from a cross between Miss Marple (of the Joan Hickson era) and To The Manor Born, with Tweed, Land Rovers and Hunter wellies.

Gaskin from the Manor, who Angela blames for the death of her husband many years previous, is angered by their interference and tries to put a stop to it. Unbeknownst to them, Gaskin has an interest beneath the Well, plus the discovery of the loot would patch up the weary state of his abode, and put coffers back in the kitty. Obviously not the kitty currently mewing for all its worth in the deep dark well.

There are some interesting key characters within this story. You have the three uni students who are in search of Gaskins treasure, Nigel, Ben and Trevor, following a map and plan of dig by Nigel, head of the group, who doesn’t like getting his hands dirty, you’ll find out why, when you read the novel. The two ladies who I have already spoken about. Stacy does remind me of Angela Thorne from To the Manor Born come to think of it. But the Angela with the Land Rover is far from Penelope Keith, but has the outspoken attitude of the character she plays – anyway, as you read the story, you’ll probably know who she reminds you of.

Gaskin is an idiot, as most of them are, in their big estates, born into money, squandered most of it on things of little relevance to the real world, or is it my own dislike for the gentry? Gaskin however is a key figure in the story, and not in the direction you’d like to believe. Towards the second half of the story you kind of understand a little of his behaviour, warm to him slightly because of it, but still regard him as an idiot for his lack of belief.

Oh, I’m almost forgetting, this is a Doctor Who story, with 10^th and Martha riding the storm. Martha the gentle human and the Doctor, in like Flynn, again, but this time, he has his work cut out, and you often wonder if he will conquer the threat in the story. It certainly doesn’t look like it as you’re turning the pages – but rather than skim to the end of the book to find out if he does succeed, read the novel intently, because, what I’ve noticed in all the books I’ve read, from any range of genres, is that, unless you read Every. Single. Word, you’ll miss out on tiny nuggets of information. And as to prove this, upon reading the novel again, I found portions I’d missed, I’d forgotten, about Gaskin, the manor, the ladies, the danger and indeed the boys in the tunnel.

This is a cracking adventure, great bedtime reading, and one for keeps.

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.