Ok I did a quick search and it doesn’t look like there’s a thread for this yet. Hopefully I didn’t just miss it. So, what are everyone’s favorite doctor who books? They don’t have to be ones you think are objectively well written, or ones you think everyone should read, just whatever your personal favorites are. I think it’s fun to hear about what people like, especially since we have so many people who like different doctors/eras!
My favorite is In the Blood by Jenny T. Colgan. I’m a sucker for Doctor and Donna adventures, and I just love how much the book shows off their dynamic, as well as their individual personalities. I think it’s a great mix of action, comedy, and heart! Additional shoutout to Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell, The Eyeless by Lance Parkin, and The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier. I know these are all tenth doctor books, but to be fair I’m trying to get through all the NSAs and I’m in his era rn (26/30 tenth doctor books complete).
The books are probably my least delved into side of the fandom. The main reason for this is because I’m in the USA and most of the books are 20-35 years old and out of print. So what I have read has kinda been all over the place. Feel free to browse through the Books category for more discussions.
As for my favorite ones, there are several that I remember enjoying at the time, but remember no details. Ones I do remember are: The Time Travelers by Simon Guerrier (a First Doctor/Susan/Ian/Barbara novel set between Planet of Giants and Dalek Invasion), Touched by an Angel by Jonathan Morris (Eleventh Doctor/Amy/Rory), The Giggle by James Goss (the target novel which is brilliant), Prisoner of the Daleks by Trevor Baxendale (a 2009 Specials-era Tenth Doctor), The Face of the Enemy by David A McIntee (a UNIT/Master/Ian/Barbara novel set during the Doctor’s absence in The Curse of Peladon, be aware it is on the violent side), and Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles (Eighth Doctor/Sam Jones, yes it is as good as everybody says).
The Zygon Invasion novel and Scratchman by Tom Baker. The Zygon invasion novel fleshes out the characters well and I always find myself wanting to go back to it. Scratchman is a nice mix of fun and creepiness.
I tend not to gravitate towards Doctor Who books as much, preferring to try for books with characters that are original to the page. Nevertheless, I keep reading and/or buying them…
Although novels get much of the glory, I think that Doctor Who short stories can also be intriguing and entertaining, whether anthologized or not.
Here is a post that I wrote a week ago in which I discuss my top three (in no particular order) Doctor Who books:
Well, I feel like I only recently got a bit more into the books since I want to complete all Romana stories, but I’ve found some very good ones already. I loved the Warriors’ gate novelisation, I’m hoping to get that one as a physical book soon. And I adored the vampire stories of Blood Harvest and Goth Opera, those were amazing. The Day of the Doctor novelisation is also very good
I’m going to be heavily biased towards the Eighth Doctor Adventures, purely because that’s what I’ve read loads of, but my favourites (or at least, those that come to mind first): Unnatural History, by Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman. The kind of book written by and for people who really love how twisted and contradictory DW canon is The Blue Angel, by Paul Magrs and Jeremy Hoad. I’ve joked that it’s one of the great postmodern works of literature of our time, but mostly it’s fun in a really weird way Storm Harvest, by Robert Perry and Mike Tucker. Honestly, I don’t remember the plot being anything special, but Ace calls a guy a wanker which is a very important piece of characterisation to me
I haven’t read too many books yet, but the best ones I have read are The Myth Makers, The Day of the Doctor and The Giggle novelisations, as well as the Only Human NSA and the Nightshade and Love & Monsters VNAs.
Paul Cornell’s Human Nature is an excellent book, I also liked George Mann’s Engines of War and Steven Moffat’s The Day of the Doctor was enjoyable as well
For novelizations, The Giggle stands out as a recent highlight; The Day of the Doctor
NAs: Just War, Nightshade, Conundrum, Timewyrm: Exodus
EDAs: Alien Bodies, The Year of Intelligent Tigers
NSAs: Borrowed Time
MAs: Venusian Lullaby, The Romance of Crime
PDAs: Festival of Death, Grave Matter
Telos Novellas: Blood and Hope, Time and Relative
Misc.: Imaginary Friends, Who Killed Kennedy, In Wonderland, Campaign
These are just a handful after a quick glance through my stuff. There’s also spinoff and non-fiction stuff, but I’ll leave it there.
Beautiful Chaos is very good, Touched By An Angel is beautiful, The Blood Cell is disturbing and fantastic, although I never hear anyone talk about it, The Day of the Doctor and The Giggle are great novelisations, and anthology-wise, The Wintertime Paradox was a massive surprise, I did not expect it to be so good
Same. I’ve only read (or listened to) 11 books. My favorite so far has been The Ruby’s Curse by Jacqueline Rayner and Alex Kingston. I enjoy reading stories that cast members have helped write about their own characters. I own and still have to listen to At Childhood’s End and Death in the Stars.
I have also read a couple Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond books and a couple Time Lord Victorious Books that were decent.
