War Doctor

Today's read was Doctor Who Engines of War by George Mann.

Cinder has engage a Dalek hunting party on her planet, Moldox, and things were getting a little bit dangerous until a strange wooden blue box fell from the sky crushing one of the last two mutant Daleks. As she approaches she's greeted with coughing and spluttering from inside as a grumpy old man appears over the edge. She's not convinced that a man who's fallen from the sky can be trusted, but when the remaining Dalek appears and he tells her to get in the blue box that's laying on its side in the rubble, she does.

"Bigger on the inside. Yes I know."

"It's the right way up."

"Hmmm, I wasn't expecting that one."

As Cinder and The Doctor explore her ruined planet they discover how low the Daleks will stoop to get the upper hand. As well as their plan to eradicate the Time Lords, that could crumble to entire universe.

I have never read a Doctor Who novel before, and I was surprised when I started this one. Making the fatal error of judging a book by its cover I had assumed that all of these books were aimed at children/teens. On reading Engines Of War though I was surprised that it was still a complex story that wasn't dumbed down.

Where this book stands in the Doctor Who universe is very interesting. When we encounter the War Doctor in the series there is very little learnt about him apart from the fact that future hims are ashamed and would rather forget. This book gives us the background into his character and shows us how he got to where he was in the 50th anniversary special. There are some very strong scenes where you can see his changing attitudes towards his own people and some of the things that help to shape his future.

Now, as you may know I'm a bit of a nerd. I have a nerd room and within those walls I have wind-up Daleks, a sonic screwdriver and shortly a life-sized cardboard cut out of the hero himself... But I personally don't think I'll be adding the Doctor Who books to my shelves. While I loved this book for the insight, storyline and loyalty to the universe I can't say that it hit the right spot for me. I could visualise it all perfectly, which is a credit to the author, but I guess I just prefer my Doctor in pixels rather than on pages.

That being said, it wouldn't stop me from recommending it to people to read, it was a very enjoyable story and is perfect for fans of the show who can't get enough.