Steph Reviews Doctor Who: City of Death by Douglas Adams and James Goss

Publisher: ACE
Series: Doctor Who
Format Read: ARC paperback
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble | iTunes* |
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Blurb from goodreads:

The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.

Soon the Time Lords are embroiled in an audacious alien scheme which encompasses home-made time machines, the theft of the Mona Lisa, the resurrection of the much-feared Jagaroth race, and the beginning (and quite possibly the end) of all life on Earth.

Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival.

But then, the Doctor’s holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.

Featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, City of Death is a novel by James Goss based on the 1979 Doctor Who story written by Douglas Adams under the pen-name David Agnew. City of Death is one of the best-loved serials in the show’s 50-year history and was watched by over 16 million viewers when first broadcast.

Steph's Thoughts:

I like to watch Doctor Who on occasion. Would I refer to myself as a Whovian? Umm, no not really. Therefore, I didn’t realize when this book came up for review that it is a long awaited novelization of a very popular episode. Since it was not an episode that I remembered seeing, about halfway through the book, I looked up the episode on Netflix so I could compare it to the novel.

The two are very similar so a fan of Doctor Who should be very pleased with the novel. I will say that after reading the novel, seeing those parts of the show was a lot of fun. I loved the Mona Lisa scene in the book and then seeing it acted out had me in stitches.

Obviously, as with any book when comparing it to a movie or TV show, you get some more in depth insights into the characters. I have always loved when you get to “look inside the mind” of a character. The book also has a few additions that are not in the show but they fit and they do not ruin the feel. The beginning of the book has the Doctor playing croquet with William Shakespeare.

"City of Death" was a fun book. I liked it and it was enjoyable to watch the episode after reading the book and compare the scenes to how they were in my head. Now I am off to watch a couple more episodes of Doctor Who. This experience might have just turned me into a bit more of a Doctor Who fan.