Doctor Who: Myths And Legends

You guys know I like my Doctor Who, so when this one came up on Netgalley it was another no brainer... of course I was going to request it.



Doctor Who: Myths And Legends by Richard Dinnick


For thousands of years, epic stories have been passed down from Time Lord to student, generation to generation. The truth of these tales was lost millennia ago, but the myths and legends themselves are timeless.

These are the most enduring of those tales. From the princess Manussa and her giant snake Mara, to the Vardon Horse of Xeriphin, these stories shed light on the universe around us and the beings from other worlds that we meet. Myths hold up a mirror to our past, present and future, explaining our culture, our history, our hopes and fears.

A collection of epic adventures from the Time Lords’ mist-covered past, Myths and Legends is an unforgettable gallery of heroes and villains, gods and monsters.



I was really excited by this one. The contents page was encouraging, with tales based on familiar myths and legends from our own world, so it was looking promising as a good read.

Here are the titles of the stories so that you can see what I mean:

The Mondas Touch - Based on the story of King Midas
The Terrible Manussa - Based on the story of Medusa
The Unwanted Gift Of Prophecy - Based on the story of the Cumaean Sybil
The Evil And The Deep Black Sky - Based on the story of Cylla And Charybdis
Jorus And The Vogonauts - Based on the Argonauts' encounter with the clashing rocks of Symplegades
The Vardon Horse - Based on the story of the Wooden Horse Of Troy
Defiance Of The New Bloods - Based on the story of Prometheus
The Kingdom Of The Blind - Based on the Argonauts' escape from the Cyclops
The Labyrinthine Web - Based on the story of Theseus And The Minotaur
The Angels Of Vengeance - Based on the story of the three Furies and Orestes
The Jeopardy Of Solar Proximity - Based on the story of Daedalus And Icarus
The Multi-Faceted War - Based on the story of Hercules and the Hydra
The Enigma Of Sisterhood - Based on the lesser-known second riddle of the Sphinx
Pandoric's Box - Based on the story of Pandora

Out of the fourteen stories I read six. I normally wouldn't review a book if I haven't finished it, given more time I'm usually able to get through the whole thing and do it, but this book really had me conflicted.

The first story was a fun tale of Cybermen, and while it didn't feel fantastically written, it was entertaining. Story number two seemed short, but still made for an interesting read. In story three we get a bit of "behind the scenes" on the Saxons and a story line that you'll be familiar with if you're into modern Who. These three got me into the swing of the whole compilation and I was fairly confident that after this boost I'd be able to take on the rest without any trouble.

But from there things took a downward turn. At the beginning the writing style didn't really feel fantastic to me, but the stories were interesting and with familiarity in each of them there had been something to help me through to the end. The next few though we're based on slightly more obscure tales, and didn't have much from the Whoniverse that I could identify with, this made them incredibly difficult to follow.

With so many new things to try and understand in the very short space of a story you're left confused if you don't have prior knowledge. All it would take to eliminate this issue would be a short, half page "recap" of the race/civilisation before the story that gives a little background to help you make sense of things so that it doesn't need to take up valuable space in the story.

I will at some point go back and try a couple more of the stories, in particular ones that have characters I already know. As it is though I'm hard pressed to say who I'd recommend this book to. It may be better for fans that know more of the background, but I'm not really sure that the writing style makes it very readable, it feels very... unfinished.

The description itself is probably slightly misleading too, it does make it sound like you're going to experience tales that involve Time Lords in some way, and they are in there, but not as much as you'd like.

There's some potential in this book, and as I said above, there are some stories that I couldn't get to that I feel might be easier to read.

★★☆☆☆


I'm actually feeling guilty marking it this low, as I did enjoy the first three stories. But when a book takes such a nosedive while reading it I can't really give it any more than two stars. With a compilation of short stories this does at least give you the benefit of skipping to the next one without missing anything on the way.

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