If you hate fan wank novels, don't even bother with Gary Russell's latest,PLACEBO EFFECT. Gary loves to use as many different elements of the Doctor Who universe as possible, not just the Doctor and the current companion. However, if you can get a kick out of a book with old monsters and not-so-old friends, you might get a kick out of this one. As an unabashed fan of ARK IN SPACE, the first complete Doctor Who story I saw, I couldn't help but enjoy the Wirrrn's return. The book was fun and enjoyable to read, and filled with good humor. The regulars were done well, with the first typical "new Sam" adventure turning out alright. I'm not sure if she'll end up as different from the "old Sam" as some would like, but she's got a number of good scenes here. I think Gary's previous two novels -- BUSINESS UNUSUAL and SCALES OF INJUSTICE -- were better, but this was still fun. 7/10
I think comparing SHADOWMIND and VANDERDEKEN'S CHILDREN is quite worth while. They're both at about the same "age" in their respective line, about a year into the line. They are both trad novels of the non fan-wank sort, and they are both by Christopher Bulis. And this time, the BBC Books definitely come out ahead; where SHADOWMIND proved to be a relative chore for me to get through, VANDERDEKEN'S CHILDREN was classic traditional Doctor Who. SHADOWMIND never really came together for me. There were some entertaining ideas here and there, but like many of the Virgin New Adventures of this period, they just don't come together as well as I would like. 6/10
VANDERDEKEN'S CHILDREN on the otherhand, was a story that one could easily imagine being turned into a bigger budget screen adventure. There is a good attempt to make VANDERDEKEN'S CHILDREN have some relatively scary bits -- and while it was obvious that some characters were introduced purely to meet grisly fates. VANDERDEKEN'S CHILDREN is a little bit of a generic DOCTOR WHO novel, unfortunately -- not always uniquely an Eighth Doctor and Sam novel; it could have almost just as easily been a Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane novel. But this is definitely an enjoyable trad novel, and one of the better Eighth Doctor novels of the year. 8/10