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"ICONS: FRIDA KAHLO AND THE SKULL CHILDREN – A DAY OF THE DEAD WITH DATA DEMONS"

Sophie McKenzie’s Icons: Frida Kahlo and the Skull Children is a thoughtful if uneven novella that daringly blends historical biography, Mexican folklore, and high-concept sci-fi in a tale that pits the Doctor and Frida Kahlo against a gang of binary-coded body-snatchers. It’s a welcome attempt to spotlight one of history’s most iconic artists in the Doctor Who universe, even if the execution occasionally falls short of the ambition.

SKULLS, SENSATIONS, AND SINGULARITIES

The story opens with a simple but refreshing premise: Frida Kahlo, still recovering from the traumatic bus accident that changed her life, is drawn into an alien incursion when the Doctor turns up in 1920s Mexico chasing strange energy signatures. These signatures lead to the titular Skull Children—schoolchildren transformed by an alien presence into ghoulish, skeletal husks with rictus grins, a twisted echo of Día de los Muertos imagery that gives the opening chapters a satisfyingly creepy tone.

The alien presence behind this is Talbak, a member of a digital lifeform known as the Caretans. These AI entities, born from an asteroid that crashed into Earth alongside the one that killed the dinosaurs (and Adric, in a nice continuity nod), seek to understand organic sensation and emotion by forcibly inhabiting human bodies. It’s a Cyberman-like threat wrapped in existential curiosity, and the story is at its strongest when it contrasts the cold logic of the Caretans with the vibrant chaos of human life—particularly the pain, art, and defiance embodied by Kahlo.

Frida, in fact, becomes the story’s emotional and narrative anchor. Still processing her physical trauma, she is haunted, proud, and already beginning to walk the path of the artist and rebel she’ll later become. The novella wisely centres her experience, letting her be the one to solve the emotional puzzle at the heart of the story, while the Doctor (here written slightly passively) functions more as a narrative instigator.

CULTURE CLASH AND COMPUTER CODE

McKenzie’s fusion of historical and futuristic elements is bold, and mostly works. The Skull Children—underused, unfortunately—provide a strong horror hook, while the philosophical question of whether emotion can be “uploaded” or simulated gives the story thematic weight. Frida’s broken body and indomitable spirit are powerfully contrasted with the Caretans’ desire to bypass pain altogether. It’s no coincidence they choose Frida as their ideal host—her relationship with pain is deeply human and thoroughly defiant.

There’s also a quietly touching undercurrent of grief and memory. Talbak and its ilk are essentially digital orphans, looking for meaning in physicality. The fact that their asteroid is the same one that destroyed the dinosaurs ties in Doctor Who lore in an unexpected and almost poetic way.

A VIRTUAL FINALE WITH LOW STAKES

The novella, however, loses momentum in the middle, with a stretch inside the TARDIS that sags under the weight of exposition. Once Talbak reveals its plan, the plot hits autopilot. There’s a VR-simulated solution, a corrupted offshoot named Kappa that refuses to cooperate, and a final confrontation that plays out more like a software patch than a dramatic climax. Kappa is “reset,” the danger ends, and the Caretans are given a digital paradise to inhabit—neat, tidy, and a little underwhelming.

The Doctor’s role is disappointingly low-key—she’s sidelined for much of the action, serving more as a sounding board for Frida than an active participant. And while there’s mention of Frida’s family, they’re peripheral at best. Even Mexico City, with all its cultural richness, feels like it’s mostly window dressing.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE: 6/10

Icons: Frida Kahlo and the Skull Children is a thoughtful and sometimes beautiful novella that brings a historical icon into the world of Doctor Who with sensitivity and imagination. While the alien menace and plot resolution don’t quite land with the impact they could, Frida’s portrayal and the eerie atmosphere of the Skull Children make this a worthy, if slightly uneven, first entry in the Icons series.

I really like the Thirteenth Doctor and Frida Kahlo’s interactions, they’re pretty much perfect, and reading just them doing stuff is a delight, but the stuff around the ‘villains’ I struggle a little with. There seems a bit of a weird morality in them with how Kappa just gets ‘fixed’ for being curious (and like I know that’s not the message they want to give off, but it is what happens in the story and I can’t help but be a bit nicked by it) and how the Doctor really just lets the Caretans willingly be locked up in a dream world. Like getting them out of what she puts them in here seems like the premise of another Doctor Who story lol. And just like. It’s a bit weird. They just agree, story solved. Though apart from that, I think this is a lovely story!

This book was a pleasant surprise. It is a quick easy read, but it is written from the perspective of an eighteen year old Frida Kahlo. The book felt authentic to early 20th century Mexico City and the Thirteenth Doctor was the correct choice to inspire a young Frida.