The Thirteenth Doctor #15

'Combat Magicks' (2018) from BBC New Series Adventures.

Despite the fact that this took me literal months to get through, I do feel as though it's a rather good read. I've been a bit off with my reading habits lately which is likely the main reason why this took me a while to get through, but it is also long - much longer than any of the Fifteen NSA's, probably because there are three companions to jump around narratively with instead of just the one. Yaz, Ryan, and Graham all have a good amount of time focused on them here, especially Graham who has the most interesting placement in the story for me. The Doctor is a bit so-so, primarily talking jargon, not too much character stuff going on with her. Attila the Hun and the other characters are used well, and the Tenctrama are an intriguing villain - a little confusing and convoluted, but I'm sure they would've worked great in a televised story. This feels like it fits in perfectly with Series 11, alongside stories like The Witchfinders and Demons of the Punjab. Hopefully it doesn't take me so long to get through the next one.

The plot never quite reached the heights it aspired to, but it was fun enough with side characters dying some delightfully gruesome deaths. The best part of this book was by far the relationships between the Doctor and her companions - I have found it in my heart to forgive Stephen Cole after he wrote (and I very much did not enjoy) The Ancestor Cell.

This is certainly not a must-read, but as a series 11 era adventure, it’s one of the better ones and does a really good job fleshing out different key aspects for each companion, some better than others. Ryan is really great in this, whereas Yaz follows the Doctor around asking questions like usual. The Doctor herself is great, and I love the pacifist message.