I have been on and off trying to get through the EDAs for a few years now, and I’m back on them again so here we are! I just finished Seeing I (yes, I’ve been reading them slowly because the boring ones just kill me) and I thought it was awesome. I know there’s some mixed opinion about Sam but I really like her, I think she’s fun.
I’m looking forward to The Scarlet Empress in my near future too - I always love my Aunty Iris and I get on well with stuff written by Paul Magrs so that should be fun.
Who else has read the EDAs? Please feel free to discuss any of them here! What have I got to look forward to? Which books have I got to dread?
The EDAs are a mixed bag for me. I seem to be in the minority for having liked The Eight Doctors and War of the Daleks (which I’ve reviewed on the Guide). Vampire Science was really good, as were Aliens Bodies, Option Lock and Legacy of the Daleks. The Bodysnatchers was fine but nothing outstanding. I was unable to get into Kursaal, and I read Unnatural History too long ago to be able to give an opinion.
Also very slowly making my way through the EDAs. Currently reading a non-who book series but hope to get back to finishing Alien Bodies when I’m done with that. Wish i could get hard copies without spending a fortune (if I could get them at all) since reading janky converted pdfs on my phone just isn’t the same.
Admittedly, I’ve only read two of the novels front to back and there in the later parts of the range, but the ones I’ve read are some of the best Who books I’ve read. The Crooked World by Steve Lyons and Eater of Wasps by Trevor Baxendale.
The Crooked World is basically Doctor Who meets Cartoons and it’s as goofy and funny and as it is thought-provoking and depressing.
Eater of Wasps is a simpler, more traditional story told in the best way possible. Akin to the best of the Hinchcliffe Era. Body horror, tension, great Doctor moments, a low-key English village setting. It’s got it all.
Same here! Sure, it’s not as spectacular as other EDAs, but it’s a fun jaunt and trip down memory lane. Also the 4th doctor yeets romana out a window so that’s gotta count for something
Welcome to the forum @FromThePlanetClom - do pop over to the Introductions area and tell us a bit about yourself. It’s great to have you here on our forum.
I have been slowly reading these for - literally - a decade or two! I can’t even remember when I read The Eight Doctors but I’m now up to Casualties of War.
From that early run, I also enjoyed Seeing I and The Scarlet Empress is barmy but great. Alien Bodies is brilliant as well.
Sam is fine, but Fitz who joins in The Taint, is brilliant and a great foil for the 8th Doctor. I’m not a huge fan of Compassion or the arc she goes through.
Generally in the range, for me, there are more hits than misses but some of the misses are really poor (The Shadows of Avalon, for example, is horribly boring and a bit depressing too).
I’ve only read The Eight Doctors and half of Vampire Science so far. I’m a fast reader but I just can’t seem to find the time. I need to set aside a day a week where I turn all the electronics off and just read, and then I’d get through all of these quickly.
I enjoyed reading The Eight Doctors, but I had to many issues with it to really say I liked it. It’s just not very good. I’m enjoying Vampire Science much, much more.
I love Seeing I!! One of the few Who books to actually make me cry. I love everything by Orman and Blum, tbh—I love the way they make their vibrant and strange worlds feel real and lived-in, and they have such a an excellent handle on Eight as a character. Vampire Science and Unnatural History are also favourites of mine, and The Year of Intelligent Tigers is an all-time favourite DW story for me!
Yes! Me too! Great to see some love for Sam in this topic. She can be a polarising companion, especially depending on the writer (I believe you have Placebo Effect next, which is… not a favourite of mine, sadly), but overall I really like Sam and I see her too often dismissed as a companion. That being said, I ADORE Fitz, Compassion and Anji (haven’t got to Trix yet).
Books I’ve loved so far, apart from the ones I’ve mentioned, include Alien Bodies, The Scarlet Empress, Interference, The Blue Angel, The Taking of Planet 5, and The Turing Test. I’ve just finished Dark Progeny so haven’t got to anything beyond that yet.
I think I would describe the EDAs as my comfort Who. I love them!
Yeah, I liked it fine - it’s not great literature by any means but it’s fun enough.
I hated Kursaal so much it made me give up on reading the EDAs for months haha.
I am looking forward to meeting Fitz so much, I’ve heard a lot about him and I’m expecting to love him a lot
Uh oh, yeah I do… But I’m close to The Scarlet Empress so I’m planning to just barrel through the next couple to get there. I’m excited for The Blue Angel too, I’ve heard good things about that one
I love these books. The Compassion arc especially is one of my favorite things the franchise has ever done (especially if you can manage to go into it unspoiled)
If you’re at Seeing I, then you’re past the worst of them. Some upcoming books are boring, but even they have other redeeming qualities (of course, I say this as someone who liked Kursaal, so opinions may differ)
Started with Camera Obscura, got recommended it from a video on Caerdroia both by the same writer, I found it dragged a lot at the start until TIME SQUIDS lol and that boosted my enjoyment of it xD. I’m slowly getting through Year of Intelligent Tigers which I’m really loving so far, 8 is so much fun in it riding horseback and being a violinist virtuoso, and the location Hitchemus is really fun to read about I would live on that planet if I could, I also own Eater of Wasps and Fear Itself which I want to get to but still focusing on completing YoIT
It’s probably pretty telling that it’s literally taken me since May to finish this bloody book Gary Russell, you have written some brilliant stories but Placebo Effect is not one of them. Boring, I think is how I will sum it up. Did not have fun.
Started Vanderdeken’s Children last night, seems like a decent premise so far. Seems like there might be an awful lot of pointless minor characters though. I hate it when they do that in a DW novel, dedicate so much time to a boring side character I literally do not care about
Next book I have in the EDAs is Longest Day, which I have heard nothing but negative thoughts about so I’m sure that’ll be fun. Out of the first eight I’ve read now, we’ve had a few mediocre books, one all-time great and a couple absolute bottom of the barrel dumpster fires.
I think the common opinion is that this first stretch of the EDAs with just the Doctor and (groan) Sam is pretty bad, so I’m looking forward to later in the range, if I ever get round to reading it.
Delighted to report I absolutely LOVED Scarlet Empress. I think Paul Magrs is a very marmite kind of writer - people either love his stuff or it doesn’t work at all for them. Fortunately for me, it really really hits the spot
Gary Russell, you have written some brilliant stories but Placebo Effect is not one of them. Boring, I think is how I will sum it up. Did not have fun.