This is what I really wanted from this series: a solid 7/10 story. It has a plot and active characters, which is more than I can say for some of the other books so far. Also, werewolves! What more could you ask for?

Sure, it's not the be-all end-all of books, it's not the best thing every written, it's got issues and plot holes and characters that get cut out of the story unceremoniously, but it's fun. It's simple. After the boring drag of War of the Daleks and the frustrating slog that was Alien Bodies, I desperately needed something that was just light and fun, and this delivered in full.

All the characters in this book have agency, something that is conspicuously lacking in most other novels in this series so far. Sam, especially, finally gets to come into her own. It's amazing that we're seven books in and I still barely feel like I know her, but I feel like I know her a bit better now.

There are a lot of little details that I feel elevate the story if you're paying attention, such as the moon motifs and the Jax causing infected people's eyes to turn green (I really liked the line describing Gray's eyes to be "just as grey as the rest of him", which is probably the only reason I even noticed they had changed colour).

This book does something similar to The Bodysnatchers, where around halfway through the novel you feel like it's starting to wrap up. But unlike The Bodysnatchers, Kursaal actually has more of a story to tell, with things that were set up in the first part. It feels like it could have been a sequel rather than the same book, and I do think that isn't ideal, but it fills the necessary 280 page count without dragging, which is all I could ask for.

I really don't understand why this book is so widely hated. I enjoyed it.

Not great, not terrible! I think this one has a bad rep because it comes after Alien Bodies, which offers a much more intriguing and complex story. Kursaal has a cool setting, at least one good side character, nice action, and a good story.

The setting, Kursaal itself, is a very cool idea: it's a planet-sized amusement park. In the first 2/3 of the book, we get to a Kursaal that's still in development. In the last 1/3 we finally get the amusement park, but it was a bit underutilized, in my opinion. Capt. Kadijk is an a**hole, but a good character, as that was point of him. Clever enough to give the Doctor trouble, but not a villain. Just an unpleasant guy doing his job as security chief of Kursaal. Saraband less a character than a plot device to get Sam involved with HALF, the space Greenpeace that is fighting to protect the indigenous life and history of the planet. I don't think the book knew what it wanted to say with HALF, the drug cartels, and the business side (whatever Gray was funding HALF for) of this story. Was this a tale about preserving nature? About preserving history? I'm not sure.

The bad guys are werewolves!!! I like werewolves. The Jax infects people (dead or alive) and turn them info wolf-like creatures. Being exposed to moonlight completes the transformation, which was a fun touch. The Doctor is furious at Kadijk for not containing the werewolves/Jax virus properly during the 15 year timeskip between acts 2 and 3 of the book, saying that the virus might have spread across the Galaxy. Made me think of 'Tooth and Claw'. But yeah, the Jax were cool.

A lot of cool moments from the Doctor in this story. Him pretending to be the pathologist in act 1 simply by using information he overheard (suck it, psychic paper), driving a shuttle like a maniac, faking a heart attack, being angsty about hospitals since he died in one last time (poor guy :()... The whole escape from the hospital sequence was also great fun. Oh, he gets injured again in this one: knocked out by a bomb, and Kadijk breaks several of his fingers with an axe. At this point, I am keeping count:

• Memory Loss:1 (in 'The Eight Doctors')
• Serious Injuries/Near Death Experience:3 (gets vampired 'Vampire Science', nearly drowns in the Thames in 'The Bodysnatchers', bomb+fingers broken in this one)
• Torture:1 (in 'Genocide')

There's some nice moments between Sam and the Doctor in act 1. Sam being pissed that he messed up their timing and arrived 5 years too early on Kursaal and got them caught in a storm. The Doctor being apologetic and giving her his coat (awww). Him trying to help her deal with the shock when they find the bodies of the first victims of the Jax. Sam teasing him when they are the theme park in act 3. They have some moments. However. Character-wise, Sam is becoming a problem. She simply does not have a well defined personality and is not used well in many of the stories so far. Vampire Science and Genocide were the best in giving her a personality, but it was not enough. I think her character really suffered from not having a proper introduction story. It's the 7th book now and I just don't care much for her because I don't know her. She's an environmentalist and wants to act tough. That's pretty much all I can say about her. We get more of her backstory here, but she spends the whole act 3 of the book possessed! The last time she made a choice that lead somewhere in these books was back in Genocide. That was 3 books ago! I'm begging the writers to give her something to do, give her agency, let her decide on things! The one decision she makes by herself in Kursaal is to confront Gray with the information she got from HALF (which was... Idk, a weird decision). The result is just that she gets infected and possessed. Like, c'mon, give her a moment. You know, like when Rose tries to save the Dalek, like when Amy frees the space whale, like when Clara... hell, Clara has about 23049 moments!!! At least Sam's still thinking about the Tractite she killed in 'Genocide'; I like that this is being given some importance, because it should weight on her. That's why their last scene was very good. She killed people when she was possessed, and he decided he's not gonna tell her to protect her. At the same time, she still hasn't told him about when she killed the Tractite. Good. This can (hopefully will) drive her character to an interesting place if she finds out he's keeping things from her, and can lead to some conflict between them.

Oh, I must also comment on how weird some of the dialogue is. Weird swearing, characters say some strange things that just don't sound believable, etc.

Finally, there's a character called Cockaigne and I honest to GOD have no idea how to pronounce that name except as 'cocaine'.

Eighth Doctor Adventures #7:

--- "Kursaal" by Peter Anghelides

My journey down the EDAs has had a rocky start. The Eight Doctors was a thoroughly mediocre affair, the Bodysnatchers was plain garbage and Genocide was a mess that had the gall to mess with Jo Grant of all characters. The only book to really illicit a positive reaction from me was Vampire Science and I only thought it was OK. Until I read the next book, Alien Bodies (due to an error on multiple sites, I thought this book was released before Alien Bodies. It is not), which is often considered a masterpiece, I don't think my opinion on the EDAs will change any time soon as the book is a very dull affair.

Landing on the pleasure world of Kursaal, the Doctor and Sam find themselves allied with eco-terrorists, fighting a corrupt police force and coming face to face with an ancient pathogen that transforms you into a wolf.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Starting with the positives, I love the concept of the Jax, werewolves as a virus that alive or dead, mutilated or complete, will infect and turn you is a gruesome and inspired idea. There's some great body horror here, with half decapitated corpses awakening and bodies slowly becoming more and more animalistic as the pathogen spreads. The book can be insanely brutal at times, everybody is in danger of dying and it manages to keep the tension nearly the whole read. The character of Kadijk is also a really good secondary antagonist, the pompous military man who clearly detests the people around him adds some great animosity to the scenes between werewolf transformations. Also, the final page, though I won't spoil it, is a great last minute revelation that really elevated the ending.

Unfortunately, Kursaal faulters in most other places I haven't mentioned, not significantly enough to deserve a lower rating than what I've given it but enough to push the book into mediocrity. Besides Kadijk, practically every side character is a forgettable mess so when they do eventually meet their end, it's hard to care. The setting of Kursaal is also severely under utilised, the huge theme park being built over centuries old ruins just feels like a generic city setting with absolutely no flair, only the third act really takes advantage of the book's namesake and that's mostly an uneventful run around a way too advanced theme park ride. Speaking of the third act, I felt the time jump was unnecessary; the story really could've just wrapped up two thirds of the way in. It really relies on you liking Sam and I just don't, I find her such a cookie cutter companion, like a toned down Ace with next to no personality. Other books have done the companion gets infected by vampires/werewolves/evil intelligence schtick better, I think Goth Opera pulled it off the best, and the image of a fully human Sam howling is hilarious rather than threatening. Overall, an inoffensive book you could probably skip.

6/10

Pros:
+ Great primary antagonist with a really inventive idea behind it
+ Well written and characterised secondary antagonist that isn't overshadowed by the Jax
+ Surprisingly brutal, I wouldn't get attached to any characters if I were you
+ Some fantastic body horror that really lends itself to the book's villain
+ Fantastic short but sweet epilogue

Cons:
- Forgettable and underwritten side characters fill out our side cast
- An unneeded time jump slows the story right down
- This book relies on you caring about Sam Jones, a companion so boring she's been done better more than three times
- The Jax do lose some presence towards the end
- Underutilised and mishandled setting
- Painfully generic