Doctor Who Series
J T Colgan
BBC Books (Ebury Publishing,
Random House UK)
7 July 2012 (US 4 September 2012) / ISBN 9781849904568
SF/TV Tie-In / 12th Century / Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, Scotland
Amazon
/
Amazon
UK
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
All Dr. Who wants is somebody to play a good game of chess with,
and surely if he locates the most famous chess set in history -
the Lewis set - he can also find a worthy opponent. What he does
find is an island community who are about to be visited by the Vikings,
although perhaps not in the usual way. What he also finds is that
an alien entity has made its home there and is causing havoc, burning
and destroying all life in its path. Can he reason with it, or will
he have to resort to more desperate measures?
I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Matt Smith's
incarnation of Dr. Who without his usual busload of hangers-on.
Allowed out to play on his own at last, Ms Colgan has done a great
job in recreating the current actor's delightful depiction of this
iconic character. In a book you can do rather more with the story
too as this is no whistle-stop tale that has to be squeezed into
one or two episodes. There is time to admire the scenery, explore
relationships and even tell a love story. Although the language
is very modern this seems to be a decent enough description of what
the Isle of Lewis might have been like in those days, and we all
know about Vikings (or think we do at any rate). There was a mention
of a horned helmet in there somewhere, but I enjoyed the way the
two very disparate groups of people alternatively pulled together
against a common foe and pulled apart again when they remembered
who they were. The story does sag a bit in the middle when nothing
new is being introduced, but overall I enjoyed this evocation of
a people from a time long past menaced by an enemy they cannot fight
without a bit of special help. I'd certainly read another and wish
the writers of the TV series had come up with something half so
enjoyable
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