The Monthly Adventures #91d - "Winter" by Paul Cornell

Circular Time is the first example of something I’ve been awaiting since I began this review marathon: the anthologies. Consisting of four short stories rather than a collective narrative, the anthologies were always going to be a challenge to review since they’re technically four stories in one and so four reviews in one. The best work around I could think of is just to write four short reviews, so today, we begin our journey down the road of short fiction. And luckily, we just so happen to have a collection written by one of my favourite authors. Well, half of it anyway.

A recurring dream leads Nyssa to find the Doctor trapped within a mysterious mental construct, and with him an approaching force.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Winter really should be my favourite story in this anthology. A gorgeous idea set in a haunting dreamscape with themes of death and acceptance abound, there’s very little I shouldn’t have disliked here. And yet, there’s one or two things that knock it down just below Autumn for me.

Ok, first things first, this is an absolutely wonderful send off to Five, set during his death as the Master tries to prevent him from regenerating. The final few minutes were absolutely stunning and the little inclusions of the lines from The Caves of Androzani were a lovely touch. I’ve never considered Five a favourite but this moment still really got me, it felt like such a fittingly poetic end.

The atmosphere is also on top form, Cornell captures dream-like feelings effortlessly and it was truly engrossing all the way through. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t quite the same. I love the idea here and the second half but so much of Winter just feels like circling around a drain. In this dream reality, the Doctor thinks he’s married with children, which isn’t as much of a novel concept as it once was. This whole section is pointless and you could cut out a lot of fluff surrounding it. There’s a really neat idea in here, but we don’t see it properly because that isn’t what Winter’s about. And in the end, it’s wrapped up too quickly because the story needs to move on and so just drops the whole plotline in a super unsatisfying way.

And that’s a shame because other than what I feel is vaguely interesting fluff, Winter is a beautiful send off to Circular Time - a rich, poetic anthology bursting at the seams with imagery. I really enjoyed this collection, even though it was a little scuffed at the edges, and I think it’s a great pilot for this format. I’m looking forward to seeing how the other anthologies compare.

7/10

Pros:

+ Really beautiful send off to Five

+ Captures a dreamlike tone brilliantly

Cons:

- Half the story feels pointless

- Conclusion came too readily