"Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don’t need to bother them. Trust me." Price: £6.99 - Fiction Written By: Justin Richards An original novel featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Synopsis: Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra. Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran. The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers. How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? As the Doctor and Clara joint the hunt for the truth they find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem. Starting with the cover above, we have the hugely overused publicity shot of Peter Capaldi as well as the rest of the Paternoster Gang: Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Despite not being on the cover, Clara is very much involved in the story. Next to the Doctor is the sentence 'Anyone can be a weapon' which is a key plot point in the story. Below the logo is Silhouette, an actual character in the story. Surrounding her are Origami birds and finally acting as a background is the Carnival of Curiosities on the Themes.
The setting of this story is the frost fair in London. The Frost fair was held on the Themes river when it froze over in the 1800's. The setting is expertly used by Richards, we delve into Victorian London, from the great Frost Fair to London's back streets. There are lots of themes throughout from Jack the Ripper to an Agatha Christie locked room mystery. A big downfall of the story though is how nearly all the characters are written, Clara and The Doctor are incredibly generic and almost nothing like they are on screen, same goes for Strax who is much smarter than on screen Strax could ever be, Jenny is somewhat like her on screen character whereas Vastra is almost boring. The villains though are perfect. The first part reminds me of my favourite Torchwood story 'From Out Of The Rain' with the carnival theme. Richards has a brilliant talent for describing and it certainly shows here, the Frost fair is a perfect example. He also has good ways in which the plans are discovered in new, smarter ways such as a particularly smart scene I like in which The Doctor tricks the villain into saying what Origami is which wasn't a word in the 1800's and that's how they found he wasn't from that time. I like how all characters are doing something separate too which allow the novel to have a good pace and all the things they investigate mean something in the long run. The ending is good, the book keeps you guessing who the villain is. The villain has a solid reason for killing people (that sounded better in my head) and I enjoy his conversations with the Doctor. Overall a good Novel that certainly keeps you guessing with lots of threads throughout that join up nicely and lots of tension (watch for a scene where Clara visits an abandoned factory in which she is attacked by Origami) but its still far from perfect. Other titles available are 'The Crawling Terror' and 'The Blood Cell'.
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About this areaThis area will be where I post reviews on any kind of doctor who merchandise from figures to clothes. I will basically give my opinion on them and tell you if I recommend it and give it a score out of 10. Enjoy! Archives
January 2015
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