Book review
Written by Michael Moorcock
BBC Books hardback (BBC Audio version also available)
Release date 14 October 2010

The Doctor and Amy take part in a re-enactment of old Earth games, hoping to win the Arrow of Law. But who are the sinister pirates looking for the Time Lord and why is reality collapsing?

If the large format hardback book or the 9-disc CD set (that’s just under eleven hours!) didn’t give the game away, then let me tell you. The latest Doctor Who novel is something of an event – not just in Doctor Who publishing but in the wider world of science fiction.

It’s doubtful that Michael Moorcock will mean much to Doctor Who’s younger fans and debatable whether he will mean much to the insular hardcore, but here we have one of science fiction and fantasy’s most respected and well-loved authors writing Doctor Who. What could possibly go wrong?

The answer is absolutely nothing. This is a phenomenal book, with Moorcock eschewing some of the conventions that have arguably constrained the brand (too much dependency on Earth as a focal point, a reliance on old monsters, making the stories as broad as the TV show rather than expanding the format) and delivering a truly astonishing tale that calls to mind some of the better tropes of the Bidmead era while being infinitely better written.

Any concerns that Moorcock would struggle with the characters of the Doctor and Amy are soon dispelled. Not only is Matt Smith’s barely-in-control Doctor as vibrant on the page as he is on screen, but Karen Gillan’s trickier-to-pull-off Amy is well-realised and distinctive.

The book merges Moorcock’s tone and style with Doctor Who icons incredibly well. Readers of the author’s Jerry Cornelius series will love this. In fact Cornelius is not too far removed from our favourite Gallifreyan. Perhaps Moorcock writing Who isn’t such a surprise after all. Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 10/10
More Moorcock please!