Lights Out

Read this review and more on my blog October Tune.

Last year, Doctor Who celebrated its 50th birthday. And for that, eleven of authors were asked to write short stories the Doctor. I read all the eleven stories this year and reviewed them in this post. But a while ago, a twelfth story was released, featuring (of course) the Twelfth Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. This story was written by Holly Black who you all know from books such as The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and recently The Iron Trial (co-written with Cassandra Clare). These are the two books I've written of her, and while I enjoyed the first, I did not like the latter at all (mainly because of Clare, probably). But of course, this is a Doctor Who story, and I love Doctor Who!

First of all, I noticed that Lights Out was written in a first person narrative, something that never happens in a Doctor Who story (except for Something Borrowed the e-short that Richelle Mead wrote for this anniversary series). It was written from the point of view of a character nicknamed Fifty-One. Though I really prefer first person narrative in stories, I found it really weird in this one because I am used to having third person narrative in Doctor Who books. But in the end I got used to it. And secretly I found it a bit of a shame that this story happened between episode one and two of season eight, meaning that Clara wasn't there - I really like Clara and I would love to read more about her. Oh well, I suppose I just have to read a 'proper' DW book then.

I also personally found that Holly Black was trying to squeeze in a bit too many alien mentions. I mean, there was a Silurian and a Blowfish ("Excuse me, have you seen a blowfish driving a sportscar?") and Vinvocci. Pyrovile(/Pyroviles?) were mentioned, and quite a handful of other aliens whose names I didn't really remember. I mean sure, it's good to show that this space station wasn't just used by humans or humanoids but by aliens as well, but this just felt a little bit like boasting to me, like 'oh look at how many aliens I can name in just forty-five pages!'. Imagine being new to Doctor Who and reading about all these different aliens and being like 'what the hell?' yeah, not really a good idea. (Okay, sure you can argue that people new to Doctor Who might not know that there are DW books and might not even know about this story, but still).

Other than that, I enjoyed the story, though it won't be among my favourites of them all. I still think that the story with Ten and Martha was one of the best. But hey, I do really love new Doctor Who stories!

My opinion on this book in one gif:

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When 12 Doctors, 12 Stories was released electronically, it was 11 Doctors, 11 Stories because that was all the Doctors there were: this final volume was added in 2014, taking place between the episodes "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek," during the Doctor's mission to get coffee for Clara. Like most of the books in this series, it's a solid, enjoyable tale. It's told in the first person from the perspective of an alien the Doctor meets, which is always a nice way to do a Doctor Who story, and Black does a good job capturing the voice of Peter Capaldi (who is my favorite Doctor since Christopher Eccleston).

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

This short story featuring the twelfth Doctor has been added to the anniversary E-short collection that was published in 2013. And even though I still have to watch season 8 with the new Doctor, I've been enjoying the stories I've read so far with the 12th Doctor.

When the Doctor stops at a far-away planet notorious for its coffee to get himself and Clara a cup disaster strikes not once but twice. Not only does the coffee run out, every time the lights go out someone turns up dead.

While being extremely short just like the rest of the series, it was also very enjoyable. The Doctor and his temporary new companion get a very interesting murder mystery to solve, but not without some humor. The absence of Clara (whom I still dislike) might have helped, but this was one of my favorite Doctor Who stories.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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A late addition to the fiftieth anniversary ebook collection, released to tie-in with Peter Capaldi’s first season as the Doctor. It’s one of the more successful entries, Black doing a remarkable job of capturing the more abrasive twelfth Doctor and coming up with a setting perfectly in keeping with the show’s vision of the future. An enjoyable end to a worthwhile experimental format. ( )

I liked the narrative technique in this one, using first person instead of third as most Doctor Who adventures do (even most of the adventures in this collection). Would have been a 4 if not for the gratuitous mention of Clara, for whom the Doctor is buying coffee at the Intergalactic Coffee Roasting Station where this story is set. She has no relevance to the story so there is no need to bring her into it, no matter how peripherally. As for the rest of the story, it works fairly well given the space constraints, and the ending could be read multiple ways, but in a good way. ( )