2015 Reviews, Books, Geeky, Paperback

Onto Adventure: A Review of Doctor Who: Deep Time

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I’ve reviewed a few Doctor Who books previously, so when Broadway Books (the paperback subsidiary of Crown Publishing) gave me the opportunity to read a new book featuring the 12th Doctor in exchange for my honest review, I jumped on the chance. Thank you, Crown/Broadway books.

It is the far future. The Doctor, and his ‘associate’ Clara are working with a team of explorers who are on a new-top-of-the-line ship, ready to travel and explore the vestiges of an old, rumored set of wormholes known as the Phaeron road. As the journey progresses, and as darker elements of human behavior (and the ghosts of the Phaeron road), the team has to work together to survive—on a planet long forgotten by most, that was never really inhabited. Separated, the groups realize that they are not alone on the planet, and one of their very own could be their worst enemy. But, will the Doctor and Clara reunite in time to find the sinister element, or if separated, are they both fodder for evil?

I really enjoyed the story, as part of the Glamour Chronicles of this newly-launched book series. It felt a bit like reading the treatment for a larger movie (similar to Tennant’s Waters of Mars) and I felt like there were a few characters that needed just a little more characterization to really feel invested in the characters. Jem was great, and I loved the robot, Trugg. I felt like the less humans (apart from Clara) were just window dressing for the most part—it would have been nice to get a little more snippets about the other characters.

Immediately, I was suspicious of Spritt and Balfour, based on the fact they were given a bit more characterizations within the novel. This made me question everything they did throughout the entire novel. It colored my entire reading experience.

I loved that the Doctor knew about the history of the wormhole clusters (similar to trade routes) and was honest about the Time Lord’s experiences with the extinct Phaerons. It was also nice to get the full range of emotion from the Doctor—I spoke with someone at work about how HUMAN Capaldi’s Doctor is, so it was good to have this reinforced in Doctor Who: Deep Time. I look forward to reading more from Trevor Baxendale in the future—he also wrote some Torchwood novels.

Doctor Who: Deep Time is available in paperback and ebook format from your favorite retailer today!

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3 Comments

  1. Thiago

    October 2, 2015 at 1:10 am

    Whoa, nice review!
    I still have to read Shada (which I already own), and Silhouette, that I need to buy asap.
    But anyway, one can’t complain about more good Doctor Who books, right?

    1. gothamgal

      October 2, 2015 at 4:19 am

      Thank you so much for your comment, Thiago. I am really enjoying this new Doctor and I should have another review in the trilogy soon. Have you been keeping up with the series?

      1. Thiago

        October 2, 2015 at 3:50 pm

        Yeah, I’m watching and liking it 🙂
        For me, Capaldi is a great Doctor, and the stories are good too. And I can’t wait to see who the next companion will be. 😀

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