The bit with John and Gillian is so funny. The Doctor, haunted by images of past companion the whole chapter, shrugging them off as not real. The chapter ends with someone calling out “Grandfather!”, you think “Oh no that’s gotta be Susan. Is he gonna be able to ignore her and realize she’s not real?”, turn the page, it’s John and Gillian Who. The Doctor has no idea who they are. Hilarious.
Also, the bit at the very end where Benny asks “is there anyone watching or reading about us?” and the Doctor says “No”, waits until she walks away, and then says “at least, not anyone out of the ordinary” is one of my favorite “the Doctor being aware of the fourth wall” bits.
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In the DWM prologue for Conundrum there’s a full on appearance of the TV Comic version of the Doctor but then the narrator decides the vibe is wrong.
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It’s because they picked the best New Adventures (or many of them, anyway, there are other great NAs as well), and it’s absolutely killing me that you’re skipping those books because they’re all SO DAMN GOOD, and in every case where I’ve experienced both mediums, the book is leaps and bounds better!
Like for the love of Rassilon, please read at least Love and War, All-Consuming Fire, and Original Sin 
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I love the novel version of Theatre of War! Haven’t gotten past the early parts of the audio adaptation, but I intend to eventually. Legacy I also really loved, possibly even more than Theatre of War lol 
I love a good murder mystery and Legacy is by far the most interesting Peladon has ever been for me. Ace isn’t given her dues but Benny & the Ice Warriors are served very well indeed
Blood Harvest - 4 
What a weird one! Very glad I rewatch Ed State of Decay (learned my lesson from Legacy.) Sort of a book in two halves, but I enjoyed both of them. Another book where horrible things happen to Ace, which knocked it down quite a bit. Surprise Romana got it lots of points back though, I’d do anything for her. Am I correct I thinking we never see her on Gallifrey in the show? I can’t remember that era much.
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Correct about Romana!
The horrible things to Ace, but mostly her extremely out of character reaction to it, in this book, are what truly set me on my anti-Terrance Dicks era. Also the climax of the book is so incredibly messy and the hero-worship of the 20th-century UK political system feels hard to believe coming from Benny, it’s like the equivalent of the way American conservatives talk about how the US governmental system is the best that could possibly exist.
I loved all the Capone/Chicago stuff apart from the aforementioned egregious Ace bit, which feels like potentially largest part of a Terrance Dicks novel I’ve been on board for. As I mentioned on the discord server, the setting of State of Decay is incredibly boring to me lol, and this didn’t improve that one bit
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I absolutely agree. I actually laughed out loud when the Doctor pitched the British legal system to the peasants.
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Was it the Doctor who did that? I thought it was Benny lol
Still absurd either way
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Finished the first chapter of Goth Opera and Strange England and both were super compelling. Goth Opera I’m especially excited for because there’s the adaptation coming later this year. I’m going to use it as a sort of test to see what the adaptations are like if I’ve already read the novel.
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Well, I don’t expect this to happen again…
Goth Opera - 5
Fifth Doctor/Tegan/Nyssa (and Adric, RIP) are probably my favorite TARDIS team ever, and everyone felt in full form throughout. I loved watching Nyssa’s transformation into a vampire, and loved how silly and Who the vampires were throughout. Very interested to see what the audio adaptation is like later this year.
Strange England - 5
Must a story make sense? Must it cohere? Isn’t it enough to trap your characters in a TARDIS and just technobabble your way through? Absolutely loved it.
Still not sure if I’m going to try to keep doing a New and Missing Adventure simultaneously, but if they all keep being this good (unlikely) it’ll be easy!
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Yessssss, so glad someone else loved Strange England as much as I did!!
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First Frontier - 2 
A victim, I think, of the speed that I’m reading these. I think I missed some key information early on and then just never recovered. Still, the project must go on. Sorry David A. McIntee! I liked the concept and the Master certainly brought it back up a bit. Starting to think any book I read on Wednesday I don’t like (see Legacy.)
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Forgot to update here for the last few days so here’s a big one!
Evolution - 3.5
Enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected. The plot was clear and engaging, and it all made a lot of sense. Really enjoyed Sarah throughout, and the Fourth Doctor felt in-character.
St. Anthony’s Fire - 2
What an incoherent one. I feel bad for Mark Gatiss having this release at the same time as Venusian Lullaby, which does everything this book is trying to do better. Oof.
Venusian Lullaby - 4.5
Who knew Doctor Who writers could actually put together an alien culture! Probably the most well thought out aliens I’ve seen in a while. Loved all the time we got to spend with them, interested to see if they ever come back again. Exactly what I wanted from the Venusian book.
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Falls the Shadow - 5
Proof that I can have issues with a book and still love it. I enjoyed the concept, although it got a bit… vague by the end. Wish the characters were a bit less cliche, but what can I say about Doctor Who really!
I’m going to be taking a bit of a break from the NA/MAs, feeling a bit burned out at the speed I’m going at. I’ll be back soon though, with The Crystal Bucephalus!
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Wow you are just blasting through these books. I definitely wouldn’t be able to keep up with you 
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It’s like my eldest - they power through books - read Ready Player One in two days! It annoys me because it takes me aaages to read anything.
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The Crystal Bucephalus is a fun one.
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I have a really boring job, so I have a lot of extra time that I can read during, ha! Wouldn’t say I recommend it.
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Love Venusian Lullaby! I also quite liked St Anthony’s Fire though, it had some ill-advised elements but I really liked a lot of what it did. Evolution was just okay for me.
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