A review by rebelbelle13
Doctor Who: Parallel 59 by Natalie Dallaire, Stephen Cole

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

 Parallel 59 is one of those Who stories that attempts to check several boxes of the classic era. Futuristic civilization on a planet similar to Earth? Check. Military installation that runs a section of the planet? Check. Resistance that fights the military? Check. Spies infiltrating the military? Mutiny/coup? Secret twist at the end? Alien invasion? Companions separated? Check, check, check, check, check. Even with two authors, this title did nothing new for the EDAs or for DW and was ridiculously, boringly safe. There's way too many side characters to keep track of, and they aren't different enough or deep enough for you to care about them. There's one fun twist in here, but given the novel's publishing date, I would rather give the Wachowskis credit instead.
Fitz goes into a bit of a character spiral, which of course, ends up not mattering anyway, and Compassion still hasn't undergone much character growth. The Doctor does do quite a bit here in terms of undermining the military including blowing up their machine, does some ridiculous calculations, not to mention he uses his sonic screwdriver (finally).
This title is only really worth reading if you're a completionist and trying to get through all of the EDAs- otherwise, I'd skip it.