📝7/10 = ENJOYABLE!

Time Lording through time and space, one victory at a time!

VICTORY XVIII

All Flesh is Grass continues the Time Lord Victorious arc from where The Knight, The Fool, and the Dead left us. Una McCormack takes over the story and sends a Tenth Doctor, driven too far by his confidence, into battle against Eight, Nine, the Daleks, and some vampires.

What begins as a battle evolves into a story where the Doctors are forced into an uneasy alliance against the remaining Kotturuh and the Daleks, who try to use vampires to develop themselves into super-Daleks. This brings plenty of natural tension between the three incarnations. But it also means that the entire TLV stuff is sidelined for another Dalek plot to foil.

I really like how Ten continues being cocky and confident, while Eight tries to be the force of reason. Nine is well-written as more scarred after the Time War, even trying to get the Kotturuh to pass judgement on the Daleks.

We meet Inyit, the last of the Kotturuh, who greatly expands upon their function, and we learn why exactly it's dangerous to kill every Kotturuh in existence.

I love Brian's little solo operation towards the end of the book. Other than that, he appears way too little in this story.

This is an interesting take on a multi-Doctor story, but the middle of it sort of just spins the wheels until the climax, and it's not overly exciting. The book picks up tension once the Daleks finalise their experiment and the Kotturuh’s ultimate destruction nears.

The final battle is epic and has that season finale feel to it. It's great to see the three Doctors unite to save Gallifrey from the Daleks and their new Symbionts, even if Nine and Ten know that their planet is gone in their time.

If you follow the guide and read the second Eaglemoss story (Victory XX) before All Flesh is Grass, it will spoil the twist of Gallifrey being the Daleks’ Ultimate End for you.

This book is exactly what I wanted from it and more.

Big, blockbuster Who in novel form. The Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctor interactions are just as fun as you'd imagine, whilst also sticking true to their characters, and their individual experiences. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors, for example, understandably act different to the idea of saving Gallifrey in the Dark Times than the Eighth Doctor, who is unaware of what the Ninth and Tenth Doctors believed had happened to their home planet.

The Dalek action as ever is thrilling, and Brian The Ood proves once again to be a fantastic addition to the Whoniverse. Get that character on TV please!