This book has its ups and downs, it's a fun time but a bit too fluffy for its own good. The premise that starts us off is strange - following on from the movie the first thing that happens to 8 is that he loses his memory again... I know 8 has a reputation for losing his memory more often than he finds it, but I can't help but find this a little ridiculous. Even so, it provides the necessary excuse for 8 to go and meet with all of his previous regenerations in turn. He meets them in and around various TV stories, sometimes providing short sequels/continuations of those stories; these vary in how fun and involved they are, but for me the real highlight was the 6th Doctor's section where 8 and 6 have to deal with Gallifreyan politics during Trial of a Timelord. The section with 7 was pretty insubstantial but at least provided some interesting characterisation. Being familiar with 8 through listening to a lot of Big Finish I couldn't help but read this book with the characterisation of 8 over there in mind, but it worked fairly well thankfully. The voices of each Doctor were mostly on-point, though there were a few points where I struggled to see one or two lines coming out of the mouth of the respective Doctor who said it.

This is not to mention the setup for the rest of the range, which sees 8 pop in to the scrapyard that the 1st Doctor stayed in and has a brush with drug dealers and a girl named Sam Jones who is being harangued by said dealers. The inclusion of hard drugs here feels like a bit of leftover New Adventures edge. This is where this book really falls down as a setup for the rest of the range though, it gives a short bit of characterisation of Sam near the start - then forgets about her for the rest of the book, and just has her jump into the TARDIS before it dematerialises at the end of the book. The Doctor and Sam barely interact here and does little to set up their dynamic going forward which is something I'd like an introduction story to do.

Still, the worst thing I can say about this book is that it's a harmless bit of fun that doesn't quite set up the rest of the range. Overall not the worst start, but it feels like the expectation is now on the next book - Vampire Science - to be the real start of the range.

A bit of a jumble, narratively. The central conceit is actually not a bad way to start a range, a sort of “best of” to familiarize newcomers with what’s come prior is actually quite sensible. Cracks only start to show when considering the range’s titular character. The Eighth Doctor feels distinctly like a nonentity, rattled to and fro in a cosmic game of pinball without much volition. He’s a permanent victim of circumstance, perpetually going through the motions.

The Sixth (“a big, powerful fellow with a tendency to put on weight”) and the Seventh (described as “[s]mall, dark and not particularly handsome”) Doctors randomly catch several strays, which, though funny, felt oddly out of place. I understand this was to differentiate each incarnation, I just found it particularly jutted out to me in comparison to every other description.

I would consider this an unnecessary entry, if you’re not like me and you don’t feel the need to go for completion, I’d say to skip it entirely, as it doesn’t set any real expectations nor points of interest for the following books.

it doesn't work as a main-series book (especially as the first of the range) but it's fun! i liked the writing style a lot. there were a lot of underutilized plot threads (i wonder what happened to baz?) but all-in-all, pretty decent, even if nothing to write home about.

[cross-posting from my goodreads]

is this a good book? not particularly.
did i get very happy, blushed, and said “OMG IT’S YOU, HIIII” every time any of the Doctors and companions showed up? yes, yes i did.

the story does hold, although it’s not very inspired. the same goes for the writing. but it’s only the first book of the series, the mise en place, so to speak. it was enjoyable enough, so i’m hyped for the rest of this series.

Ngl my journey into the Classic Who started with this book. YEAH. I was 10 and I randomly decided that I should start the Eighth Doctor Adventures. And there was no moment in this story when I would question if I should've watched the episodes first. No, I was really fine with everything, and it only encouraged me to start watching the show. I would even say it helped me to have a bit of expectations and a little information about some of the characters and stories. I also slightly fell in love with Eight before even seeing the movie. I could call him my bisexual awakening I suppose? Lol. Anyway, I reread it a year ago and damn it was strange. Not the best start. Can't say it was THAT awful but I just think it is very unnecessary and its only purpose in life was introducing my 10 yo self to the classic who and the wilderness era