Surprisingly, we never had a Thread for the very first Wilderness Doctor Who Books, so time to change that and complete the Quadrilogy of Wilderness Book Ranges with this one.
Feel free to discuss the whole Range (yes the Solo Benny ones too!) or some specific Books (some earlier Entries have already their own Threads with the Book Clubs, a List of those and more can be found here: Book Club Backlog)
Iāve now finished all the VNAs I own that have the Doctor, and I really enjoyed them! I read Nightshade, Love and War, The Highest Science, Lucifer Rising, The Left-Handed Hummingbird, Conundrum, No Future, Theatre of War, Blood Harvest, Set Piece and Human Nature (which I borrowed from the library). I donāt think I could pick a favourite, the only one I didnāt love was The Highest Science, which was just alright.
I really like Aceās character development, and I vastly prefer this version of her to what happened in the TV show, but I am pretty annoyed that all her love interests were men (Did none of the writers watch Survival??!! That girl is GAY.)
BENNY 
The best thing to come out of the VNAs in my opinion. Love and War was a great introduction, I loved her from the beginning! Her and Ace sorta hating each other was a bit irritating, but Iām glad it got resolved because itās so much nicer when the TARDIS team all like each other. One thing that definitely didnāt help her and Aceās relationship was that the writers kept splitting them up 
Iām also 5 books into Bennyās solo books and I think I do prefer on her own.
Iām planning on getting some more of them at some point, and Iām looking forward to meeting Chris and Roz later on!
Lovely! I still need to do a lot of the VNAs (but agreed the Highest Science is one of the weaker Entries (at least for me so far). Very glad to hear that you have been enjoying them!! And yes, Benny is great, isnāt she? No wonder why she became THE EU-Character for many!
āOh No It Isnāt!ā now counts as the only story with Benny in it Iāve read or heard.
Was fun, though.
Wait the only?!?! Damn, then you have so many great Audios (or Books/Short Stories) to read ! Glad you enjoyed āOh No It Isnātā, quite a fun one, both the Audio and the Book!
Well, bear in mind that while Iāve watched all of Classic, New Who, and all of 15 except for yesterdayās episode, the novels and Big Finish are where Iām weakest. Iāve listened to a few audios, but not that many, and none with Benny as of yet. (Of course, now that I am mostly up to date on tv, it is mostly side series, audios, comics, and novels Iāll probably be going afterā¦)
Largely went with āOh No It Isnātā because it seemed like a reasonable starting point for knowing more about her character.
Of course, now I want the adventures of Wolseyā¦
Ah very fair! I do recommend her, especially since she is really all over the Place through Doctor Whoās EU (VNAs, her Solo Series, Apperances in other Series, Connections to certain Doctors etc). While I like āOh No It Isnātā, I think I do rather recommend the Eternity Club or the New Series Adventures Series of her, they seem a bit more friendly as a Starting Point (although āOh Noā is great either way and not a bad one to start with).
Either way, good luck on your Quest! 
One day I will go back and re-read the NAs. I was probably too young to properly appreciate them in my early/mid teens and I think I would probably appreciate them completely differently now.
There are many that stick in my mind - some for the best reasons - some for the worst.
Just War, Timewyrm: Exodus, Original Sin, The Dying Days, Nightshade, Love and War, Birthright, Blood Heat, Conundrum, Tragedy Day, Blood Harvest, Happy Endings, Return of the Living Dad, Damaged Goods, The Also People, Sanctuary and Human Nature - all such good stories.
Parasite, Falls the Shadow, Eternity Weeps, Christmas on a Rational Planet - not so much. But Iād say the hit rate of this range is pretty good.
Iāve read quite a few at this point and wow are they a mixed bunch. I think the thing I enjoy most about them though is just pure vibes, they have vibes you canāt get anywhere else. Gorgeous cover art too.
Nightshade is my favourite Doctor Who novel, inexplicably written by Mark Gatiss, and is a wonderfully written and genuinely terrifying horror story with a tinge of cosmic horror to it that hits all the right notes for me.
Love and War is a masterclass of character writing from my beloved Paul Cornell that introduces the marvellous Benny, traumatises Ace and has one of my favourite antagonists from any Who story.
The Left-Handed Hummingbird is Kate Ormanās electric debut and whilst a little muddled is incredibly fun. Also might be the best title of any Doctor Who story.
Now these are all great, however you also get stories like Timewyrm: Genesys, which can burn in hell, so its really a grab bag of quality with the VNAs
I wrote my first review, of Dead Romance! I really enjoyed reading it and I also got spoiled for the later books in the Benny NAs but I supposed thatās my fault for skipping ahead
Glad you enjoyed it! How comes you skipped forward to this one? 
Iād heard it was fairly standalone, and I wasnāt really enjoying the NA I was on, Deadfall. I also have no patience and wanted to start something Faction Paradox lol
Ah, makes sense, well then welcome onboard to the Faction Paradox Train! 
It was also my first Faction book
Iāve not read all the VNAs i own because Iām now waiting until i have them all then Iām gonna read them in order
Ooh, which ones are you missing? I have 5 left to getā¦
I also want to read them all physically but I have them all (so far) up to Happy Endings so Iām set for a while. Currently read up to Blood Heat!
I am missing many haha, definitely more than 5
Thatās so impressive!! I only own 13 miscellaneous ones, up to Set Piece.
edit: I realised I completely forgot that I actually own all of bennyās solo NAs!
Iām also reading them in order (but very, very slowly) and currently donāt have the funds to hunt down a lot of the more expensive ones but am enjoying them. Currently have everything up to Human Nature.
Iāve read two VNAs, Human Nature and The Also People, both of which I thought were wonderful, and really unique - I actually enjoyed the former more than the TV version. I would love to see a TV adaptation of The Also People as well, and I think weāre actually approaching the point where that could happen, given the production standards of the current era. You would need to lose the Kadiatu plotline, and some of the more adult bits given to Chris and Roz, but I personally think that would make the whole story more focused. If we could get the talking to the ships and drinking tea in space scene with Fifteen, I would explode with joy.
Iāve also heard the audio adaptations of Love and War, All-Consuming Fire and Theatre of War, all of which I thought were decent, but not in the same league as the two Iāve read - much more traditional Doctor Who fare, with the exception of Love and War, which was a bit too grimdark for me personally.