Decalog

Summary: 8/10 A collection of short stories that should have something for almost any Doctor Who fan.

[I'll go story by story here...]

Playback: Stephen James Walker

As a device to link all of the stories together, there isn't a whole lot to this one. It does work fairly well for what it does, and as a bit of a mystery, is actually quite fair. Not to be read independently of the rest of the book, but it does what it sets out to do. 7.5/10

Fallen Angel: Andy Lane

Didn't do much for me. The character of Fallen Angel had some appeal, but wasn't enough by itself to work for me. 7/10

The Duke of Dominoes: Marc Platt

This Master rules. It may blow the theory that the Daleks tortured him through a number of regenerations after Frontier in Space, but it's very good. I don't know if the Master could carry a whole novel, but for a short story he sure can... 10/10

The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back: Vanessa Bishop

Liz Shaw makes her first of two appearances in the book. A nice season 7 venture, that has the classic "misunderstood alien/bad UNIT" plot, but it does a great job with all the main characters, dealing with some of the logical reactions to the Silurians. 9/10

Scarab of Death: Mark Stammers

A sequel to Pyramids of Mars. The planet is nicely sketched out, but some of the plot elements don't quite work to me. But it could be worse -- it could be Stargate. 7.5/10

The Book of Shadows: Jim Mortimore

An interesting combination of classic First Doctor historical and some interesting SF twists thrown in as well. A little surprising to have some Time Lord riffs, however, in such an early story. Barbara was a little more forward with her emotions towards Ian than she usually is. 9/10

Fascination: David Howe

A fifth Doctor/Peri story is a fun idea, but I don't think the magical elements in the story (despite nods to makinging it technological) work right. Nothing terrible about it, I just didn't care for it too much. 6/10

The Golden Door: David Auger

An unusual choice by including Steven and Dodo, which is actually quite nice. It has lots of interesting twists and was quite enjoyable. 8/10

Prisoners of the Sun: Tim Robins

As an editorial decision, I think two alternate time line stories were an error. A rewrite of Inferno, to some extent, but also an interesting look at what Liz could have done after leaving the Doctor, and the potential consequences of those actions. The tie in with Gallifreyan history is actually not unreasonable, explaining some of the changes we see as time goes on. 8/10

Lackaday Express: Paul Cornell

A smaller scale story than many of the others. Probably taking place after Arc of Infinity, it has another repeat of the agonizing over Adric's death, and a small scale look at the effects of the laws of time. It's fairly good. 8/10

So, how does it work all across then: 8/10. However, I think there is something for almost every Doctor Who fan. I think the Sixth Doctor got a bit of the short side of the stick as far as stories go, however. Back to ? Home Page