A Device of Death was really great! Some amazing worldbuilding of an entire star system, showcased by splitting up the main cast for almost half of the story, only to then turn it all upside down with a twist. A very strong start to 4’s novels. Next up: Wolfsbane!
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I really liked A Device of Death too, I’m considering attempting to adapt it for audio
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Just read Fellow Travellers and wrote my very first review for the Tardis Guide: Review of Fellow Travellers by Goibniu · TARDIS Guide
Liked it very much, 4,5/5
PS: Feedback to improve my review game is welcome.
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I forgot about the Infinity Doctors—I have read that, and liked it a lot. An interesting depiction of Gallifrey with a unique Doctor. And I loved Patience!
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Oh the TLV… I remember starting at least three of the books but finishing none. orz
Considering giving up The Bodysnatchers, now four chapters into Seeing I. Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman are GOOD.
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Seeing I made me cry multiple times. Stunning book!
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If I could get through three pages of anything before falling asleep I might have finished Ready Player One and the Black Archive of Marco Polo by now. But I haven’t…
The summer holidays should give me time to read as my wife as declared a phone-free zone during the day so our two teenagers - who are attached to their screens - actually do something useful with the time and, you know, got to lead by example…
So in between the many many summer jobs around the house I will inevitably be given a list of, I may actually get things read!
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Halfway through The Dying Days now. After a really promising first few chapters, things started moving a bit too fast for my liking and also in the directions of tropes that really annoy me, so I’m not enjoying the book quite as much as I’d hoped. Still, there’s enough room left in the book for me to get back on board, depending on what happens. In any case, I’m at least glad Bambera got to show up in this one.
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Little over half done with The Centenarian. I find myself enjoying the Fifth Doctor stories in it the most.
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Nope, continued my slow drift through The Darksmith Legacy with the 8th book, The Pictures of Emptiness. More and more it seems clear the books are there own individual adventures, and though they do marginally advance the quest, they’re mostly standalones.
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Finished The Dying Days!! It was a bit messy and didn’t quite live up to its early potential, including skipping over some bits that would’ve really been more interesting to include, but there’s enough great moments scattered throughout that it’s still quite a solid story by the end. Definitely liked it overall. It confirmed the hypothesis I had formed, which is that I consider Lungbarrow to be the finale to the DW VNAs, and The Dying Days to be the first of the Benny NAs (as well as a sequel to the TV Movie)
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The Art of War spends some time with the previously mysterious clients of The Darksmith Legacy, and that’s about all I can say about it. The Doctor doesn’t really do or achieve anything. The villains show up somewhere and then leave, is essentially the plot. As I approach the end, increasingly seems there’s more series than story. But, hey, just one to go…
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Just finished Transit and quite enjoyed it. I suppose my one minor issue with it is that this is Bernice’s forst story after joining the Doctor in the previous novel and for the vast majority of this she is possessed really so we don’t get to spend much time with her. It made me think of The Naked Time/The Naked Now from Star Trek where only a couple episodes into the series we have the characters being influenced by a virus and very out of character before we have really spent much time with them. I mean I know Benny from loads of Big Finish and having read a couple later VNA’s with her, but I was looking forward to spending time with her on her first adventure and you kinda don’t get that. Still enjoyed the book though!
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Yeah, I agree with that being disappointing. The reason behind it, from what I understand, is that Bernice was one of three companions being pitched by various writers, the other two being Kadiatu, by Ben Aaronovitch, and real-life historical poet William Blake, by Neil Penswick, and that Benny’s inclusion in Transit at all was a rewrite of sorts. I will say she’s quite well served in the following novel, The Highest Science!
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I’m not sure I knew that about the other possible companions - or maybe I did about Kadiatu (who of course goes on to make further appearances) but I don’t think I did about Blake.
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Still working on The Centenarian, plus started Oblivion (the third Eighth Doctor DWM comic collection).
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Just started reading Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds. He’s my favorite sci-fi author, so I thought to give it a try! So far so good 
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Finished Option Lock, it was a very so-so book and what I expected from an author like Justin Richards.
I wrote a review if anyone’s interested:
Half way through Blood Heat, which is by-far the least out there Mortimore book I’ve experienced, though it’s still a pretty unique read. About 150 pages in and I think I prefer Lucifer Rising in terms of Mortimore-penned VNAs.
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Having finished the Virgin Doctor Who books, I’m now reading Oh No It Isn’t! which I’m quite enjoying. I don’t think I’ve read a Paul Cornell book this good since his first two; we’ll see if that opinion lasts to the end! I’m very excited to continue this series in general too
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