When I tell you this might be the best target novel I have read so far I’m not even joking

I am a sucker for funky formatting and this was so much more fun to read than the episode was to watch. I thought the episode was pretty decent but it lacked some of the fun that this has.

The Fourteenth Doctor #06

'The Giggle' (2023) from Target Books.

A decent read, and I definitely applaud the unique format of it, with it being primarily from The Toymaker's point-of-view, including puzzles, and a choose-your-own-adventure segment. I just don't think I'm particularly over-the-moon with the story itself for a novelisation to be able to elevate it much higher and it's all a bit nauseating after a while. I appreciate how this adapts the material however and it gives me great hope for the adaptations of the Douglas Adams stories which are helmed by the same writer.

Glad to have concluded the short-lived run of the Fourteenth Doctor in prose. He's an interesting Doctor, but one that I feel is rather undercooked and I don't necessarily agree with all of the parameters of his happy ending but hey ho. Back onto Fifteen.

Goss takes everything I loved about the televised story and dials it up to eleven, bringing his own charm and fun to the story in a way that would never work on the screen.

The extra elements of play that have been added are all extremely fun, the choose your own adventure section in the Toymaker's domain especially (I managed to get a bad ending at first). The added characterisation for The Toymaker as well is a highlight for me, you get to see how cruel and sadistic the character is, even moreso when coming from his own mind, and there's a bit more in there about the fates of people which are left offscreen, and of the backstory of some of the toys. There's a few other moments of charactersation for other people as well that works great here, a moment I wasn't a fan of on screen, Shirley's saying that 'absolutely no need' for an apology for Kate's ableism without the Zedex on, works a lot better for me here with the addition of four words: 'a little too brightly'.

Another thing that really worked was the formatting, they somehow manage to make the game of catch more exciting to read about than it is to watch, which is extremely impressive.

Overall a fun read, and a definite improvement to a TV story I already loved

I wish more Target books were like this. It does what this series of novelisations is supposed to: not just recreate the story but amplify it, add to and reimagine things we’ve seen on screen. Reframing the whole story as one the Toymaker is narrating is a stroke of genius, the incorporation of games, including the choose your own adventure, which James Goss folds throughout the story brings a sense of fun and unpredictability to the text.

It was a great story on television, but this is a rare case where the additional material and alterations to the story improve upon the original. More of these from James Goss please!