I really wanted to like this book… truly I did, i was intruiged at the start but because of the PDF format and how dull… this book feels I just couldn’t enjoy it, reading it felt like a pain even when the plot was interesting… this book is carried to 2 stars by the master and ace  and doctor interactions and those only come in the second half of the story which is fine.. because the first half is decent but similar to Shadowmind it just takes a leap into boredom in the second half… it felt like I was pushing myself to finish this… maybe mcintees books aren’t for me … but it’s a shame I have to finish the first half of the NAs with this… and start the second half with what I’ve been told is also a bad book…. It’s a shame the NAs have been on such a fun run since birthright… and this just shuts it back down.. alas at least it’s over… I don’t wanna review or talk about this book anymore… hopefully sanctuary is better..

Strange England is one I went into with zero to no expectations… I’d heard only bad things so imagine my surprise when I read this book within 2 days and found it brilliant, strange England is a very atmospheric piece, very elicit of the story ghostlight (at least at the beginning) it is also very brutal and horror focused, there are some really gory and just straight violent moments, the second half of the book is even crazier and you don’t really get any solid answers till the last 20 pages, honestly that made me like the book a lot more, it always kept me on my toes , always kept me wanting to read more and there was never a slow moment, Simon messingham really hits hard with his first doctor who novel. I’ve seen people complain that the characters are 2D and we shouldn’t care about them and I feel like people miss out that, that’s kind of the point, these are “people” becoming people, learning what it is to be human. The moral debate of Whether the doctor and co are really doing good in the universe comes about again, bigger than ever when considering the whole affair is caused by the doctor and his crew landing inside Galahs Tardis Universe, and Bernice rightfully questions the doctor on this, the doctor and galahs ideals about what “good” is was also very interesting to read, overall a very divisive novel which I believe is severely underrated in the VNA reader community, it isn’t amazing or anything super crazy good but an enjoyable story non the less that has some really interesting ideas

Say what you will about uncle Terry, fella knows how to make a story entertaining, his simple and very easy to read prose makes this book fly by, the plot is interesting, I found the 2 split sides of the adventure (the Vampire world and Chicago) to be fun, each time we’d switch perspective I’d be excited to get back to the other while still enjoying the one I was on, the issues with this novel stem from the really … stupid decisions the antagonist makes? And the very devs ex machina ending, don’t get me wrong I love a good Gallifrey story and it was nice, but man…. It just felt so rushed and weird. Overall a very easy read which I can’t say about most VNAs!

I’m a sucker for 2 things when it comes to the NAs, interesting meta/narrative framing and character work, this story nails the first one, seeing the story from Watsons and Bernice’s perspectives from diary entries or just in general from the first person perspective is so much fun, this book is structured in the sense that it is an Andy lane Book wrapped around a Sherlock Holmes novel and while I have not read to deeply into the Sherlock Holmes canon I was quite happy seeing the cameos of moriarty and what not. Holmes and the doctors relationship in this book is brilliant, they mirror each other but getting to see Sherlock Holmes realize that the doctor is kind of … well not kind of but very much above his league is cool, seeing the doctor from Watsons perspective makes the character seem so much more mysterious, we’re used to seeing the doctor and his schemes from the perspectives of people like ace, and Benny who know the doctor well but seeing a total new comer in Watson notice things about the doctor, how alien he is was very fun…

this book combines lovecraftian and Indian Mythology with Sherlock Holmes and adds doctor who in there… what more can I say , it’s a fun read and definitely worth a check out if you have time!

“I will show you death in an hour glass”

what a book, Justin Richard’s first doctor who novel is an absolute banger, this book was my first experience with the character of Irving braxiatel outside of zagreus and he is an absolutely charming fella, his mirroring of the 7th doctor being this manipulative person on the inside but outside shows a more bureaucratic demeanor is brilliant, Benny also shines very highly in this book, her sections are the most fun to read and while ace and 7 are also great, 7 in particular getting a brilliant Monologue about the passing of time , Benny is truly the star here, her initial sections before 7 and ace get involved are so much fun and it shows that Benny can stand on her own as a character without needing another lead. Richard’s prose at times is a bit iffy but his story crafting is absolutely brilliant, the twists and turns this book takes will leave you agape constantly, the foreshadowing from the Quotes and Files at the beggining of each chapter will leave you constantly guessing and I admire deeply the story that Richard’s has created here as well as his writing of braxiatel. As someone who is not a big Shakespeare guy I can still respect the homages to him as well as the classic theatre presented in this book. Definitely a great book and im glad that the NA range has been staying consistently good since the Alternate universe arc!

Legacy is a fun whodunnit by Gary Russell who goes all out with his continuity references, this story made me really like the ice warriors, they are so cool here, lord savar and sskeet are really nice additions to the cast and I’m interested to see how Benny changes as a person as she goes to live with them for the next 3 months… the book is a love letter to Brian Hayles Peladon duology and it’s really beautiful in the way it does that, the exploration of Peladons deep history, a few little cameos from Mr Braxiatel….. this story is just a blast to read from beginning to end. While this book does pretty clearly show Russell didn’t really know what to do with ace as she gets pretty significantly sidelined for a solid 5/6ths of the book I still think her sections are fun if not funny… can’t wait for next book to formally introduce Irving!

Disclaimer, any praise I give this book is directed only towards the writing and not the author himself , thank you!

tragedy is a weird one to review, coming after the alternate history cycle the main trios relationship has very much healed to a point where they’re all buddy buddy with eachother again, which makes this a really fun read, GRoberts uses his witty dialogue and Douglas Adam’s esque writing to make this book a really enjoyable romp which made me really laugh at times, the ending was kinda… weird, with how the supreme one suddenly falls for Bernice, in a um… interesting let’s say way, but the rest of the book is enjoyable as it can get, the stuff with the friars of pangloss is kind of shoved in and them being villains in the end was kind of unnecessary? i DIDNT like it and thought it made the plot a bit all over the place but this book was a nice little breather after the really intense and dark last few books. Overall okay, I think it’s  better than highest science but sits at just alright for me as a kind of filler , but fun read

Steven Moffats second story of the RTD2 era is a banger, it may not be his best Christmas special let alone story but it sure is a hell of a good one to go out on, there are issues with this but Moffat nails 15s characterization , you can also tell that Ncuti is really in his stride here , like damn he’s good, he really feels like the doctor (not that he didn’t before) it really felt that Moffat was going for a mix of 7 and 12 here (more 7) and I really liked that, the use of a bootstrap paradox to show a year of the doctors life passing, joy becoming a star, one made of the hearts of life to bring joy and peace to earth, was absolutely beautiful, it’s a banging start for Season 2 of this era and with that fantastic trailer, I can only look forward for what’s more to come!

Well to start off I should say that my experience with this novel was weird, unfortunately due to getting busy I read this novel over a scattered period of days which led the narrative flow of the book not being as smooth for me as well as me not being able to remember many plot points at times, however I will say, character/prose wise this was amazing, it’s definitely Cornell’s worst of the 3 NAs he’s done so far but that’s not fair to say when his other 2 were my top 2 of the range, no future is still great, letting us feel bad for the monk, satisfyingly wrapping up the Alt universe cycle (although the books plot feels a bit all over the place) as well as emotionally wrapping up all the character arcs of the last few books letting our tardis team finally be happy, finally be able to accept eachother , ace is able to manipulate the doctor beat him at his game, the doctor goes from warrior to healer and he accepts ace has grown and is different, they embrace eachother and their future relationships, Benny also comes to terms with both of them, she can’t and won’t leave the doctor. And I can’t wait to see this new friendlier dynamic explored.

“'It's only the same as your TARDIS!

'How do you know about that?'

Mel thought for a moment. 'Sorry,' he said finally. 'Continuity error. You never did tell me that, did you?' This is getting just a little out of hand, I think.

Best to end it all now.”

This novel was fantastic, I love the style in which it’s told, through the master of the land of fiction, the prose and creative use of narration in this book make it one of the most enjoyable intriguing NAs so far, arguably the most fun I’ve had reading a virgin new adventure, when the twist was finally hit that the crew were in the land of fiction I was genuinely shocked! The meta stuff was great, I’m not sure how to explain what I mean by that but take one look at the quote above and you can kind of tell, this story was crazy and when they do meta stuff well it just works , and Steve Lyons gets it, I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself but the plot and the medium through which the plot is told is just brilliant , it’s not a super emotional book, there are some good character moments (and some bad but we’ll get into that in a minute) but you’re more so reading this book for a whacky mystery novel that’s quite brutal at times. The bad parts however come from the characterization of ace, I think there are some good scenes between her, Benny and the doctor (together and separately) however at times ace just acts extra cruel for no reason and kind of out of character, though I like how we really get to see into the relationship between her and the doctor, as well as Benny and the doctor, I’m ready for them to start healing their relationships than their relationships constantly being shattered over and over, and I hope no future as I’ve been told by others starts to let them heal and make them feel like friends or at least pals again. Overall great book! Can’t wait for Lyons next novel and sequel, Head Games!