What a delight it is to have a fun book in this series! I don't think we've had a properly fun one since The Scarlet Empress, and I don't think I've honestly enjoyed one this much since then either. I feel like I'm really on the precipice of hitting the really excellent section of the EDAs, which is exciting to me.

But to the topic at hand: Demontage. There are a lot of moving parts in this book. Set in a casino complex at the edge of a warzone between the generically human-y Battrulians and the wolfish Canvines. As far as Who stories go, that's not an atypical kind of setup - a war, a tension, political players manouevring and scheming. Because the Battrul president is arriving, and there's a target on her head. And on top of that, the artist whose creepy works are being displayed, has been murdered, and it looks like a Canvine did it.

This book is just brimming with side characters, which is something I have complained about in DW novels before, but this one gives them a rich personality and doesn't just treat them as cannon fodder, which is refreshing. We have Bigdog Caruso, the Canvine who just wants to watch the opera in peace; the two artists Blanc and Gath who are up to no good; poor, beautiful Vermillion who gets trapped in a painting. Then we have double-bluffing Stabilo, pretending to be a buffoon but really out to protect the president; and Rappare and Forster, lying and cheating gamblers. All of these are great characters, to the point that I even remembered all the names without looking them up!

Though of course, the best side character in this novel is Hazard Solarin, super assassin with his cool glass murder-ware and a life lived entirely by random chance. For almost the entire novel, we assume he's out to kill the president and the Doctor, but in reality, he's been paid to make sure the president isn't harmed. His death at the end didn't come as a surprise, exactly, but it did make me go aw, man, which is more than a random side character's death usually does in these things.

And all of this is before I've said a word about Fitz and his ridiculous James Bond schtick, getting him muddled up in the assassination. The man just wants a cigarette, but his nature just keeps getting him into scrapes. Two books in, and I'm easily seeing why he's a fan favourite. The Doctor too was characterised beatifully in this book - seemingly naive and innocent, but always scheming, always pulling the strings. That's the Mr Dr Who that I like to see. Poor Sam yet again gets the least to do, but she wasn't totally bland  which is more than she has been elsewhere.

I'm not sure I fully understood Blanc and Rath's scheme with the painting monsters, but I'm also not sure it really matters because I had fun. The monsters were unique too - I really liked the descriptions of them as being made of canvas. The end came round quite quickly in a battle of painting demons and action, and as I say, I lost the plot a little, but I don't mind. I had fun. To me, that's what counts.

The Doctor, Sam, and new companion Fitz Kreiner go to a space casino called Vega (hilarious) and get caught in the middle of a complicated web of intrigue that involves a hired assassin, conspiring politicians, spies, hairy monsters, art dealers, and forgers. With a setup like this, it could not have gone wrong. And it doesn't: this book slaps. It's has lot of twists and turns, it's full of colorful characters, has a pretty solid plot, and it was funny!

The cast is large, but the characters are, thankfully, all 1) necessary, 2) very well outlined and 3) interesting. Some are better than than others, but everyone that has a name has a reason to be named, and something to do in the plot. Hazard was effortlessly cool and badass, Vermillion was compelling, Bigdog Caruso was awesome, etc. etc. Special mention to Forster and Rappare, scheming, cheating (married? they were to me) old men, who were a delight in every scene.

The plot keeps you guessing in a good way, like a good mystery should. The whole gotcha with the paintings was super cool to piece together, and so was Martinique's identity. The Doctor having won so much money at the casino years ago (back when he was the Fourth Doctor) that he basically owns the whole place and the manager wants to kill him was goooold. I love it when he gets to play cards, by the way; poker fiend fits him better than chessmaster any day. How the Doctor was not affected by Martinique's scanner is not explained, but I assume it's his multi-dimensional nature as Time Lord doing its magic, which was also very cool.

I have to talk about Fitz. This idiot has my whole heart. His personality is very well delineated already; it's really incredible just how well I can say I know him after just 2 books, specially considering how long it took for Sam to become a defined character in this series. He challenges the Doctor to see who can win more in the casino, which only a new companion would do. He dresses up as James Bond, bets and loses all his cash in the first game he plays. He is too embarrassed to admit it, so he just lounges at the bar and pretends to have a plan. He orders martinis "shaken, not stirred". He accidentally gets hired to kill the Doctor. How can anyone not like this character, it's impossible. He's incredibly entertaining, and you can tell Justin Richards, the author, agrees, giving him a lot of great moments.

One of the good things of having Fitz around is that Sam has someone more on her level to bounce of off. She rolls her eyes at his stupid jokes and gets to hold her superior understanding of space stuff and adventuring with the Doctor over his head a bit. She is the one that connects them to the plot regarding the Martinique exposition. However, she doesn't get nearly as many cool moments as Fitz. She gets stuck in a painting for a bit and is kind of sidelined, while he gets to scheme with the Doctor and have run ins with Hazard, Bigdog, and the Devourer. But all in all, it was nice to see that this new TARDIS team in action, and it was particularly nice to see how much Fitz already cares for Sam. They are giving 'loser older brother with intimidating younger sister' energy, a dynamic leagues more in line with their characters than their poor attempt at romance in 'The Taint'. I hope they keep this vibe going forward.

The Doctor escaped unscratched from this adventure (doesn't even faint!), and got a life-sized painting of himself as a souvenir. I mean, they send an assassin to kill him, but he doesn't actually get hurt, which is a massive win for him. Congrats, babe!

4/5

Really just a competent and fun book with interesting characters and plot.

I felt this book to be a breath of fresh air where it is in the series. After the recent run of books, I had been left questioning: ‘why are these people travelling, what is actually in it for them to compensate for all the torture and abuse they get from the universe?’. While I am not averse to the EDAs having a fairly grim outlook on the universe, many books seem to forget to make some attempt to balance this with the idea that these characters are actually having fun in some way; Demontage doesn’t forget this and shows the TARDIS team travelling for fun, doing things because they can, because they want to and then encountering the violent side of the universe while in the context of an actually fun adventure for the team.

Definitely a one to read if the almost grimdark tone of some of the entries to the series starts to weigh.