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A review by hammard
Doctor Who: Love and War by Paul Cornell
5.0
This is one I have read many times, in fact was one of my first Doctor Who novels I seem to recall. Reading this in order for the first time is a different but equally interesting experience.
It is actually taking a lot of elements from previous books. This may seem curious given it is only #9 in the range but I like to think of it as acting like a Season finale for phase 1 of the adventures.
Also the more I think about this, the more I realise this is not the no-win scenario The Doctor thinks it is. It is his actions that cause it. If other Doctors had landed here it would not have gone this way because they would have not tried to plan (as we see in the chess match between Doctor and Benny) and they would have trusted their companions enough that they would have worked out a solution together. 1, Ian, Barbara and Vicki would have stopped the Hoothi in half the time and been able to arrange a campfire party with the travellers and Benny to boot. But that is the fatal flaw of the 7th Doctor he cannot stop trying to cheat these high stakes games.
The actual story is beautiful, poetic, tragic and really horrifying. A zombie novel mixed with cyberpunk, kitchen sink drama and poetic symbolism. If you want one book to understand what the VNAs were all about this is probably the one to go for.
It is actually taking a lot of elements from previous books. This may seem curious given it is only #9 in the range but I like to think of it as acting like a Season finale for phase 1 of the adventures.
Also the more I think about this, the more I realise this is not the no-win scenario The Doctor thinks it is. It is his actions that cause it. If other Doctors had landed here it would not have gone this way because they would have not tried to plan (as we see in the chess match between Doctor and Benny) and they would have trusted their companions enough that they would have worked out a solution together. 1, Ian, Barbara and Vicki would have stopped the Hoothi in half the time and been able to arrange a campfire party with the travellers and Benny to boot. But that is the fatal flaw of the 7th Doctor he cannot stop trying to cheat these high stakes games.
The actual story is beautiful, poetic, tragic and really horrifying. A zombie novel mixed with cyberpunk, kitchen sink drama and poetic symbolism. If you want one book to understand what the VNAs were all about this is probably the one to go for.