I recently completed the #DoctorWho novel "The Time Travelers" by Simon Guerrier. It's an original first Doctr novel with Ian, Barbara and Susan as the companions, likely taking place after the TV episode "Planet of Giants."
I absolutely loved this book for several reasons. First, it's a fact that many Doctor Who episodes of this era were simpler compared to many of the newer stories. I've always wanted to see a story with the first Doctor that was a bit more complex than what we got in the TV series and this book definitely does this, with time travel paradoxes being the central theme and how changes to history can create alternate timelines.
One of the things that has always annoyed me about Doctor Who, whether we're talking about the TV series, audio dramas or the books, is that no matter how interesting the plot is when the story starts out it more often than not winds up being about some alien being or race intent on taking over the planet/galaxy,universe, etc. You have such a broad canvas to work with, a series about an alien who can travel anywhere in time and space, and it often deals with yet another alien invasion. Don't get me wrong; I love a good Dalek or Cybermen story as much as any Whovian and I'm not saying this concept should be done away with. However, the stories which don't deal with an alien invasion are always memorable and refreshing to me and "the Time Travelers" is one such book, without a single menacing alien anywhere to be found. There are exceptions with references to a certain alien race taking up residence on a portion of Earth in an alternate timeline but this is hardly dealt with and I somehow missed it during my reading of the novel.
We also have a tasteful and reallistic exploration of Ian and Barbara's relationship, something which was not explored on the TV series but which was definitely acknowledged on a Big Finish audio. There's also a brief exploration of the fact that Susan is an alien and a certain aspect of her alien nature is briefly explored. This book, along with listening to some of the missing first Doctor TV stories, has given me a renewed appreciation of the original Doctor, along with the original companions.
Parts of the book did confuse me and, on occasion, I would pause and say, "OK, so what just happened?" However, that's OK; it was nice to have such weird and complex action dealing with alternate timelines in a first Doctor novel and I still highly recommend this book. I wish we had more first Doctor stories like this one.
I absolutely loved this book for several reasons. First, it's a fact that many Doctor Who episodes of this era were simpler compared to many of the newer stories. I've always wanted to see a story with the first Doctor that was a bit more complex than what we got in the TV series and this book definitely does this, with time travel paradoxes being the central theme and how changes to history can create alternate timelines.
One of the things that has always annoyed me about Doctor Who, whether we're talking about the TV series, audio dramas or the books, is that no matter how interesting the plot is when the story starts out it more often than not winds up being about some alien being or race intent on taking over the planet/galaxy,universe, etc. You have such a broad canvas to work with, a series about an alien who can travel anywhere in time and space, and it often deals with yet another alien invasion. Don't get me wrong; I love a good Dalek or Cybermen story as much as any Whovian and I'm not saying this concept should be done away with. However, the stories which don't deal with an alien invasion are always memorable and refreshing to me and "the Time Travelers" is one such book, without a single menacing alien anywhere to be found. There are exceptions with references to a certain alien race taking up residence on a portion of Earth in an alternate timeline but this is hardly dealt with and I somehow missed it during my reading of the novel.
We also have a tasteful and reallistic exploration of Ian and Barbara's relationship, something which was not explored on the TV series but which was definitely acknowledged on a Big Finish audio. There's also a brief exploration of the fact that Susan is an alien and a certain aspect of her alien nature is briefly explored. This book, along with listening to some of the missing first Doctor TV stories, has given me a renewed appreciation of the original Doctor, along with the original companions.
Parts of the book did confuse me and, on occasion, I would pause and say, "OK, so what just happened?" However, that's OK; it was nice to have such weird and complex action dealing with alternate timelines in a first Doctor novel and I still highly recommend this book. I wish we had more first Doctor stories like this one.
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)