Winter in April: Cold Fusion

Our review of Gary Russell's Business Unusual is now available here.  Special thanks to our friend Charlie Paulson for providing last month's reading.

April brings us snowstorms, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, the Fifth Doctor, and the Seventh Doctor in Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion, one of the later installments in Virgin's Missing Adventures series.  From the back cover:

'The entire universe is at stake and I'm locked in here with another incarnation of myself, and not even one of the good ones.'

More than one TARDIS lands on a barren ice world.  The fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find a once ordered society on the verge of collapse, as rebels wage a dirty war with Scientifica, the ruling elite.  All that stands between order and anarchy is the massed presence of an Adjudicator peacekeeping force.

But is peace the only reason for the Adjudicator garrison?  What exactly has been discovered deep beneath the planet's surface?  Who are the mysterious Ferutu?  And why is telling a ghost story a criminal offense?

The fifth Doctor sides with the cause of justice and fairness as always.  But, as a threat to the universe unfolds, he finds himself in conflict with his past...and his future.

For continuity buffs, this story takes place between the television stories "Castrovalva" and "Four to Doomsday" and between the New Adventures Return of the Living Dad and The Death of Art.  The back cover text seems to skirt around the fact that the Seventh Doctor and his friends are present in this story, but anything that is blatantly obvious by glancing at the front cover shouldn't be considered a spoiler.

We previously reviewed a Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors back in Episode 8.  It can't be argued that Parkin is an ambitious author, and hopefully Cold Fusion will not disappoint.  So sit back and enjoy!

Fun Links:

"Cold Fusion" on Amazon  (Wow, that's rich!)

Lance Parkin's Official Website

Lance Parkin's Wikipedia Page

"Cold Fusion" on the Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)

Business Unusual in April

Our sparkling review of Steve Lyons' The Crooked World can now be found here.  Thank you to James of The Doctor Who Podcast for providing a wonderful reading of the opening passage.

Within days (yes, this posting is going up rather late, and I apologize to those of you sitting on the edge of your seats) we will be posting the review of April's selection, which is Business Unusual by Gary Russell.  From the back cover:

A security force with no official identity... a managing director with no name... a sinister creature on guard patrol resembling some kind of hellhound... SeneNet is no ordinary multinational company...

 

The Doctor arrives in Brighton, 1989, traveling alone. He soon discovers his old friend, the Brigadier, has gone missing investigating SeneNet, whose new interactive games console is soon to be released at an absurdly reasonable price. He was last seen at their headquarters — based in the picturesque Ashdown Forest...

Investigating further, the Doctor becomes more and more entangled in a deadly web of intrigue. Together with Mel, a plucky computer programmer from Pease Pottage, the Doctor must overcome the conspiracy of silence, rescue the Brigadier and save the world once again — something that would be a lot easier if he just know where to start...

This novel is of note for a couple of reasons.  First, as you can likely tell from the back cover, it is the first appearance of Mel Bush, whose first meeting with the Doctor was (cleverly) overlooked in the television series.

Second, this is a sequel to the Virgin Missing Adventure The Scales of Injustice, also by Gary Russell.  We talked about Scales way back in Episode 5, so you might like to take a gander at that before you listen to our review of Business Unusual.

Third, this novel, like its prequel, features the return of one of Doctor Who's recurring monsters.  We won't tell you which, but if you go back and read the back cover very, very carefully you'll likely figure it out.

So quick!  Grab Business Unusual and watch this spot for its release within a week or so.  My crystal ball tells me this might be another polarizing episode, but I've been proven wrong in the past.

Fun links:

The Doctor Who Reference Guide (Spoilers abound!)

Our review of The Scales of Injustice

Gary Russell's Wikipedia page 

The Doctor Who Reprint Society 

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For March: The Crooked World

Our polarizing review of Paul Cornell's Love and War can be found here.  Many thanks to Deb Standish of Chicks Dig Time Lords fame for doing our February reading.  Also a big thanks to Erika for participating in our recording and watching Erik and Sean clash horns.

This month we will be reading The Crooked World by Steve Lyons.  From the back cover:

The people of the Crooked World lead an idyllic existence.

Take Streaky Bacon, for example. This jovial farmer wants nothing more from life than a huge blunderbuss, with which he can blast away at his crop-stealing nemesis.  And then there's Angel Falls, a racing driver with a string of victories to her name. Sure, her trusted guardian might occasionally put on a mask and menace her for her prize money, but that's just life, right? And for Jasper the cat, nothing could be more pleasant than a nice, long nap in his kitchen — so long as that darn mouse doesn't jam his tail into the plug socket again

But somebody is about to shatter all those lives. Somebody is about to change everything — and it's possible that no one on the Crooked World will ever be happy again.

The Doctor's TARDIS is about to arrive. And when it does... That's all folks!

Wow.  Just wow.  When this one came out back in 2002, I (that being Sean) took one glance at the back cover and said, "I'm not reading this!  They need to file this away in the 'WTF Were They Thinking' drawer!"  But I've mellowed since then, and I've read many more Doctor Who novels -- some very good, some worthy of the dung heap -- and now I can say I'm really looking forward to this.  (I know, I know, I've said it before and proved myself wrong.)

Another plus is that it's written by Steve Lyons, who holds the special claim of being "Sean's Favorite Doctor Who Writer of All Time" (sorry, Gareth Roberts).  We've already read and loved Conundrum, and then there's Time of Your Life (violence!), The Witch Hunters (tear-jerking!), The Murder Game (murder mystery party!), and many more.  I could go on and on about how I would like to enter into a common law marriage with the man and how I'd love to buy him a drink, but it looks like it will never happen what with the court order.

Until you hear us next, please kick back and enjoy (hopefully) The Crooked World.

Fun links:

Steve Lyons' Wikipedia Entry
The Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)
The Doctor Who Reprint Society
Cats in Sinks!

For February: Love and War (at Gallifrey!)

Our latest episode, a review of Christopher Bulis' A Device of Death is now available for downloading.  As February rolls in and the time has come to read another Virgin New Adventure, Erik has chosen Paul Cornell's Love and War.  From the back cover:

On a planet called Heaven, all hell is breaking loose.

Heaven is a paradise for both humans and Draconians -- a place of rest in more ways than one.  The Doctor comes here on a trivial mission -- to find a book, or so he says -- and Ace, wandering alone in the city, becomes involved with a charismatic Traveller called Jan.

But the Doctor is strenuously opposed to the romance.  What is he trying to prevent?  Is he planning some more deadly game connected with the mysterious objects causing the military forces of Heaven such concern?

Archaeologist Bernice Summerfield thinks so.  Her destiny is inextricably linked with that of the Doctor, but even she may not be able to save Ace from the Time Lord's plans.

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Good old McCoy and his Machiavellian schemes.

This year marks the 20-year anniversary of Professor Benny Summerfield, possibly the most popular companion in Doctor Who's literary form.  She became so popular, in fact, that after publishing its last New Adventure featuring the Doctor, The Dying Days, Virgin released a series of novels featuring Benny as the lead character.  This eventually spawned a range of Big Finish audio adventures as well.  (Although, if that is indeed her on the cover, her fashion choices are a bit questionable.)

Nary a fan has never heard of Paul Cornell.  Although Love and War is one of his most popular books, he's probably best known for authoring the Virgin New Adventure Human Nature, which eventually became an installment in the fourth series of the television show with the Tenth Doctor.  Cornell has written nine New Adventures (four of which were for the Benny Summerfield range), one Missing Adventure, one Eighth Doctor novel, and a Past Doctor novel based on the BBC's animated short, Scream of the Shalka.

Episode 14 marks a special occasion, as Erik and Sean will be recording in person at Gallifrey One in February.  (Also, look forward to a tentative special guest...no, not Paul Cornell.)  If you are there and see us, don't be afraid to come up and say hello.  We really are a couple of splendid fellows.  Also join our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, or email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com (Erik personally answers each and every email while Sean shuns email like a red-headed stepchild).

Fun links:

Love and War at the Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)

Paul Cornell's Blog

Love and War on Amazon  (Hey, it's affordable!)

For January: A Device of Death

Episode 12, in which we review Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel is now available here.  As the new year breezes in, we go back in time to savor something a little more vintage from the Virgin Missing Adventures line.

Assuming you haven't notice the image planted to the left of this text, our next review will be A Device of Death by Christopher Bulis.  From the back cover:

'As a member of an inferior race, you either work to serve the cause of Averon, or die.'

Sarah is marooned on a slave world where the only escape is death.  Harry is caught in the middle of an interplanetary invasion, and has to combine medicine with a desperate mission.  And the Doctor lands on a world so secret it does not even have a name.

Why have the TARDIS crew been scattered across the stars?  What terrible accident could have wiped the Doctor's memory?  And what could interest the Time Lords in this war-torn sector of space?

At the heart of a star-spanning conspiracy lies an ancient quest: people have been making weapons since the dawn of time -- but perhaps someone has finally discovered the ultimate device of death.

A Device of Death is slotted nicely in between the television stories "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Revenge of the Cybermen," so presumably something goes haywire with the time ring provided to the Doctor and his friends.  (Fun fact: this is Erik's favorite period of the show, so he is particularly looking forward to this one.)

This episode will be the first in which we have a "repeat author"; we previously read Christopher Bulis' The Sorcerer's Apprentice for our first episode back in January of 2011, so in a way we've come full circle (yes, we've been doing this for a year, and we can hardly believe it ourselves).  Although The Sorcerer's Apprentice is perhaps Bulis' best-known work, he also penned four other Virgin Missing Adventures, one for BBC's Eighth Doctor range, and five for BBC's past Doctors range.

Thank you to those of you that have dedicated a year to listening to us, and we are looking forward to providing you with many more reviews in the year(s) to come.  In the meantime, grab a cup of tea, sit back in your easy chair, and immerse yourself in A Device of Death.

Fun links:

Christopher Bulis' TARDIS Wiki Page

"A Device of Death" from the Doctor Who Reference Guide -- WARNING!  SPOILERS!

"A Device of Death" on Amazon  (Yes, it's expensive!)

Please "like" us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, Erik via @sjcaustenite, and Sean via @tardistavern.  Happy reading and Happy New Year!

For December: Atom Bomb Blues

If you still haven't listened to Erik & Sean's rousing discussion of Alien Bodies, you can download the episode here.

Before Sean switched on his randomizer to pick this month's selection from the proverbial hat, he had to think back about whether or not the BBC provided any past Doctor novels involving Christmas.  Answer: They didn't.  So, for December we present Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel.  From the back cover:

Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1945.  The Second World War is coming to its bloody conclusion, and in the American desert the race is on to build an atomic bomb.

The fate of the world is at stake -- in more ways than one.  Someone, or something, is trying to alter the course of history at this most delicate point.  And destroy the human race.  Posing as a nuclear scientist with Ace as his research assistant, the Doctor plays detective among the Manhattan Project scientists, while desperately trying to avoid falling under suspicion himself.

As the minutes tick away to the world's first atom bomb blast, the Doctor and Ace find themselves up to their necks in spies, aliens of the flying-saucer variety, and some very nasty saboteurs from another dimension...

Published in November, 2005, this novel is the final installment of the BBC's Past Doctor Adventures.  They had already begun releasing the New Series Adventures featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose months earlier, something of a death toll for the Past Doctor and Eighth Doctor series.

Author Andrew Cartmel is best known as the shows script editor from seasons 24 through 26 and for spearheading the "Cartmel Master Plan," which would have come to fruition in season 27, had the show not been cancelled.  This would have involved peeling away much of the Doctor's mysterious persona and revealing much of his back story.  They had barely touched the tip of the iceberg in "Silver Nemesis" by dropping hints that the Doctor harbored some deep, dark secret.  This was continued in the Virgin New Series Adventures, particularly in the final Seventh Doctor installment, Marc Platt's Lungbarrow.

The BBC Past Doctor Adventures which feature the Seventh Doctor and Ace differ quite a lot from the Virgin New Adventures not just in the way they exclude characters like Roz and Chris (if one were to be a continuity hound, all of the Past Doctor Adventures would take place before all of the Virgin New Adventures), but they feature a Doctor and Ace who are less riddled with angst than we saw in a novel like Conundrum.

Fun links:

The Doctor Who Reference Guide BEWARE: SPOILERS!
Andrew Cartmel's Wikipedia Page

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, or email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com.  You can also follow Erik on Twitter via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.

For November: Alien Bodies

Episode 10, in which we review Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt, can be found here.  This month's recording was...well, let's just say "interesting."  Special thanks to Phil Serna of the Adventures in Time, Space, and Music podcast who helped us out with yet another brilliant reading.

For November, 2011, Erik has chosen the epic Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles.  Few books have such a brilliant reputation than this one, so we're looking forward to next month's recording.  From the back cover:

On an island in the East Indies, in a lost city buried deep in the heart of the rainforest, agents of the most formidable powers in the galaxy are gathering. They have been invited there to bid for what could turn out to be the deadliest weapon ever created.


When the Doctor and Sam arrive in the city, the Time Lord soon realises they've walked into the middle of the strangest auction in history — and what's on sale to the highest bidder is something more horrifying than even the Doctor could have imagined, something that could change his life forever.

And just when it seems things can't get any worse, the Doctor finds out who else is on the guest list.

Alien Bodies is a milestone in the Eighth Doctor series because it introduces us to Faction Paradox, who became important later in the series.  And this is just our opinion, but ten will get you twenty that Steven Moffat has been inspired by this one.


Lawrence Miles also penned the Interference books for the BBC New Adventures and Christmas on a Rational Planet for the Virgin New Adventures, among others.  He has an infamous reputation in the fan community for being critical of the current series, but we really hope he doesn't burn any of his bridges: Alien Bodies could easily be an Eleventh Doctor story, and it could easily become the next Human Nature and find a slot in the series.

Please come and join us on Facebook follow us on twitter via @dwbcpodcast.  You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.