I just finished Alien Bodies, and with that, I have finished what can be considered the first "season" of the new BBC Books line. I'm going to try to not have spoilers in this message -- but I imagine that followups will, so please be careful.
I've previously commented on The Eight Doctors and Vampire Science. So far, I have been quite pleased with the line; the only one I really thought was weak was The Eight Doctors, and even that you could get carried away with and enjoy if you didn't worry about it too much.
There are a number of trends in these early books. First of all, like Tom Baker's first season, we try to establish the new Doctor by going through the past. The Eight Doctors literally goes through the Doctor's past, Vampire Science brings back the Vampires, the style of the TV Movie, and an American UNIT. The Bodysnatchers melds Terror of the Zygons with the environment of Talons of Weng-Chiang, Genocide brings Jo Grant, War of the Daleks goes through Dalek history, with references and ties to every Dalek story except DEATH TO THE DALEKS (unless I missed that one). And Alien Bodies has a future UNIT spin off, and some other surprises. I think this was taken a little bit too extreme -- I think Genocide might have been better without the inclusion of an old companion, or another story not being a sequel (of some sort) to a previous book.
While I think this might be a reasonable idea to start a line -- like the first Tom Baker season -- I think the 8th Doctor BBC Books need to start establishing their own identity; the Eighth Doctor has had 8 stories by now, once we count the TV Movie and The Dying Days. Alien Bodies makes a point that this Doctor is taking a long time to settle in, but he isn't a new Doctor anymore -- and I think this has been a problem for the books so far.
To date, Sam has not yet been established as a strong central character. In every book after The Eight Doctors some other older female character takes on a companion role -- sometimes (like in War of the Daleks) -- this is actually used to good effect with regards to Sam (she's jealous of the Doctor giving attention to other women). Alien Bodies starts to address the problems with Sam -- but there still needs to be better character development for the character to really click. I think she desperately needs a novel which contains her as the central character -- she needs her Set Piece. She has more potential than I think most people realize (as Alien Bodies starts to show) -- but we haven't seen it yet.
"Still, my Dalek history's always been a bit rusty. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't keep changing all the time." Another link between the books is the increased amount of change to the time lines. The Eight Doctors, GenocideWar of The Daleks, and Alien Bodies all have the timelines being altered, changed, bent, and rewritten. Alien Bodies has the best twist on the idea so far -- and leaves the most for future books to play with and for fans to discuss and argue about.
I have said before that the strength of the books is that even if you don't like every book, you should be able to find some of the books that you will like. I was concerned that this might change with the move to BBC Books, but I'm happy to say that it hasn't. War of the Daleks brings the Daleks back, with enough new types of Daleks to keep any toy company happy for Christmas. The Bodysnatchers should appeal to fans of early Tom Baker, where Vampire Science should appeal to fans of the movie. Alien Bodies should appeal to those that like to see new twists on Doctor Who, The Eight Doctors to those that like to see lots of old Doctors and old situations. You probably won't like all of these books -- but I would bet you will like at least one of them.
To go through by books from best to worst, Alien Bodies [10/10] by Lawrence Miles successfully twists the past, present and future of Doctor Who in a clever story. It is one of the funnier books I've read in the series, but it also deadly serious. To say much more would likely spoil it....it is quite likely the best Doctor Who book I've read this year.
Vampire Science [9/10] by Jon Blum and Kate Orman recaptured the spirit of the TV Movie -- and its Doctor -- better than anyone has so far.
The Bodysnatchers [8/10] by Mark Morris recaptured the Hinchcliffe era (my favorite) -- but also had some surprises and twists. The elaboration on Zygon biology was clever; and I think this is a great story in the "recapture the past" style.
Genocide [7.5/10] by Paul Leonard shared some elements with The Bodysnatchers and Vampire Science -- so I'm afraid that it suffers by being the third in a row with some similar plot elements (like Silver Nemesis).
War of the Daleks [7.5/10] by John Peel is enjoyable, but also gets caught in some of its own continuity -- the Imperial Daleks of REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS were the white Daleks of Davros, not the grey (and 'original') Renegade Daleks. Even accepting that each faction might call themselves "Imperial", I don't think everyone would automatically switch. I'd like to see a Dalek story with a lot less (or zero!) continuity -- more like POWER OF THE DALEKS, where War of the Daleks is more like ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN with Daleks instead.
The Eight Doctors [7/10] by Terrance Dicks is a disappointing start to the series. It's not the worst Doctor Who novel ever written, but it is Terrance Dicks' worst Doctor Who novel.
As a whole, not a bad start to a new era.