Doctor Who Club of Australia

charlie · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: New BBC novels

I've now read two of these anout the 10th doctor with rose and martha.
To me they seem very much aimed at kids and feel exactly like the show. And I've never heard of any of the authors.
Are they all like this or are there unique ones somewhere?
Has anyone read them all?
I guess Ill have to stick to the older novels for now.

Greg · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:11 pm Post subject:

The new series novels have been deliberately written to be read safely by younger readers.

The main authors (Justin Richards, Stephen Cole and Jac Rayner) have all written Doctor Who and related books and audios, and both Richards and Cole have other books out there as well. All three have been employed or worked as contractors for the BBC and were hence more trusted to be given insights into the new series than other authors. Their books do range in quality a bit (in both the new series novels and other Who and related books and audios).

The other authors of the new series novels are also known for writing other Who novels and audios, but aren't big name authors to any extent - essentially they are safe choices.

The most 'out-there' choice, and the one who has a substantial non-Who catalogue of work, is Paul Magrs. Magrs is an academic in the field of literature, and has a whole swathe of novels for readers of various ages (ranging from books for young children through to adults) published - some winning awards. He's usually known for his introduction of the character of Iris Wildthyme into the Who universe - although Iris is a character that he has used outside of Who as well.

If you were to ask me to pick one of the new series novels, to recommend, I'd pick Only Human by Gareth Roberts. Roberts wrote The Shakespeare Code on TV. It's a 9th Doctor novel. (I have yet to read Sick Building by Paul Magrs, which might be the one I'd recommend more - depending on how the Magrs-style fits with the new series novel requirements...!)

However, if you want books that aren't written with the readers as young as the new series novels are aimed for, you are better off with the Who books published by Virgin, and then those published before the new series by BBC. If you can find them, the Telos novellas are also good, and Big Finish publish collections of short stories featuring the first 8 Doctors, though both these latter choices are a bit pricey for some! (Of course, some of the Virgin and BBC paperbacks are also quite pricey these days.)

Sulp Niar · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:15 pm Post subject:

Paul Magrs' book didn't seem as "out there" as he usually is, though (whether that's a good thing or not is entirely up to you). It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as surprising and/or insane as usual.

So far I'd say the two most "out there" books are 'Only Human' and also 'The Stealers of Dreams' (which isn't out there if you're a regular Steve Lyons reader, but is if you only read the New Series books). I haven't read 'Wetworld' though, so I don't know about that.

My bite with these books isn't that they're aimed at kids, it's that they're dumbing themselves down because of it. His Dark Materials is a book series for kids, for example. But most of the time the authors are content with runarounds, which is a tad disappointing. Though, judging from the response of kids I know, not a problem. Maybe I've just read/seen/heard too much Who.