Yzabel / October 30, 2016

Doctor Who: The American Adventures by Justin Richards

My rating: [rating=1]

Blurb::

Travel through time and space with the Twelfth Doctor in these six brand new adventures, set in a host of locations across the US and eras from throughout US history.

An invisible spacecraft turns up at the Battle of New Orleans, an alien presence is detected at the 1944 D-Day landings, and ghosts take over New York’s subway tunnels as they’re being dug in the early 1900s…

Review:

[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley.]

This was advertised in the Comics category, so I thought it’d be a comics, but it’s actually a collection of short stories. Ah, well.

Not sure what to think about it, really. I found it… just bland, to be honest. On the bright side, none of the stories come with glaring plot holes or annoying sidekicks, but on the other hand, none left me with a lasting impression either.

The main problems here for me are:
– The characterisation of the Doctor. The stories are supposed to feature Capaldi’s Doctor; it could be just any generic Doctor, though, the way he acts and is described. I could find no defining feature (even the eyebrows seemed weak!).
– Most of the stories’s endings are disappointing: too abrupt, or close to nonexistant. The fifth story, for instance, leaves a lot of things unsaid. The least I expect in a story about an assassin trying to off their target is the assassin’s motives, or who’s hired them. Here, nothing. It just ends.

“All That Glitters”: Forgettable. The plot is OK, but there’s are no surprised here, it’s all lvery classic, quickly solved, and a bit boring.

“Off the Trail”: This one had more of a creepy feeling, the “something’s wrong but we don’t know yet what” feeling. Still, the “enemy” was done with too quickly.

“Ghosts of New York”: Interesting theme, boring execution.

“Taking the Plunge”: A bit better. Not complicated, a simple enough plot to follow, but with more oompfh than the previous stories.

“Spectator Sport”: I seriously didn’t see the point. Tourism on battlefields in different eras is ethically bad. OK. I was more interested anyway in the crime story wrapped in it; however, the latter fizzled and petered out. (See above about this.)

“Base of Operations”: Considering its theme, it would have deserved a more complex resolution: I thought of all the stories, this was the most promising, the one with the strongest premise. At the end the Doctor was more like himself, with his determined stance of defending Earth and making sure the enemy’s aware of it.

Conclusion: 1.5 stars. I don’t recommend it, it is of little interest.