Doctor Who: The Nameless City by Michael Scott

Doctor Who meets Lovecraftian horror – though not quite as unspeakable horrifying as that sounds. Michael Scott perfectly understands the Second Doctor and Jamie – both as individual characters and as a truly dynamic duo. Here, he crafts this deliciously dark tale featuring the Necronomicon, a nameless city, and unknowable masses of swirling darkness that prove difficult to even look at. It’s quick-paced, perhaps a bit too quickly-paced at times. But it’s a thrilling read, and a lovely “what if” scenario imagining the Second Doctor in a very modern kind of Doctor Who episode.

Also, Frazer Hines (Jamie himself) reads the audio version of this story, and he does an absolutely remarkable job.

4 out of 5 wands

Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick

Of the three I’ve read so far, this one’s easily the best. It’s the first of the bunch that’s made good use of the relatively short page count, getting to the point quickly enough that it actually has a bit of time to play around with its ideas. This story meshes the Third Doctor and Jo Grant with Norse mythology. And, put simply, if “The Girl Who Died” was half as fun as this story was, we’d all remember that episode far more fondly than we do.

The pacing continues to be a bit of a challenge for these short stories. Once again, the premise is good enough to support an entire 45-minute episode – if not more. But Sedgwick has to rush through some of the most fun stuff to leave enough time to properly explore the bigger ideas. And to be fair, I think he finds the best balance so far. But it’s easy to see how a longer story could’ve been even more fun. That being said, the plot’s great, Sedgwick captures the Third Doctor and Jo’s voices and dynamic perfectly, and the inclusion of a Villain I Won’t Spoil proves as delightful as you’d hope it would be.

All in all, a really solid outing and my favorite so far.

4.5 out of 5 wands

Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve

“The Roots of Evil” is a very quintessential Fourth Doctor story. The Fourth Doctor and Leela arrive on a space station made entirely out of a special kind of tree used for terraforming, and are immediately captured. Throughout the story, we learn this civilization has an axe to grind against the Doctor – for something he did in their past but in his future. Plus, there are creepy tree monsters and a general sense of dread. Pretty typical Fourth Doctor fare.

Reeve crafts a story that feels both of its time and quite modern. He plays around with the idea of the Doctor’s actions having consequences – one of my favorite recurring motifs in Doctor Who expanded media. While it’s not quite as in-depth a look at how the Doctor can so radically impact a society as Juno Dawson’s “The Good Doctor” is, it’s still an interesting read nonetheless. The compacted page count definitely hurts the story some. By nature of it being a short story, everything moves far too quickly for Reeve to really dig into any of his ideas. So, while there are a lot of truly interesting ideas at play here, the story never goes below the surface.

Still, it’s a deeply enjoyable read for what it is. Fast-paced, action-packed, and a total thrill ride. Reeve perfectly captures the Fourth Doctor and Leela’a voice and delivers a story that feels right at home alongside any of their TV outings.

3.5 out of 5 wands

Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness

On the one hand, I really appreciated that Ness decided to focus not on the Doctor and Nyssa, but on two teenagers in 1940s America. That ground-level kind of storytelling always works as a nice contrast to the eccentricities of the Doctor. And Jonny and Nettie certainly make for great characters, too. But that being said, the Doctor and Nyssa’s absence throughout the story was quite palpable. They really only come into focus in the climax, and I would’ve liked to have perhaps seen more of them figuring out what, exactly, was going on before they turned up to save the day.

I love the idea behind the story, though. Weaponized truth is always such a fascinating concept for science fiction, and it’s a trope Doctor Who’s played with before (most notably in Matt Smith’s final episode, “The Time of the Doctor”). Here, it feels like Ness could’ve pushed it even further, though. He flirts with the prejudices of the time, but I wish we’d gotten to hear from more normal people, rather than the alien antagonists at the heart of the story.

At the end of the day, “Tip of the Tongue” is a lovely little tale. It’s well-paced; not too short and not too long. Jonny and Nettie are well-developed as characters, immediately endearing and sympathetic. And the central story is well executed, too. Ness crafts an engrossing, deeply enjoyable tale here, and it’s well worth a read even if the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa frequently fade into the background.

3.5 out of 5 wands