Despite a long history of affection for the good Doctor, it was not until I picked up a copy of the 50th Anniversary reprint of Dan Abnett’s 2011 novel that I ever read a Doctor Who novel. I first found out about the 50th Anniversary novel re-releases on SF Signal when they posted all the cover art for the novels, one for each of the various incarnations of the Doctor.
The Silent Stars Go By is a great novel to read at this time of year. The Doctor (as played by Matt Smith) is taking Amy and Rory home to England to celebrate Christmas, but as things are wont to do in the Doctor Who universe, things go wrong and they end up in a very wintery place, but unfortunately not present day Earth. Instead this snowy land exists in a far distant future where humanity has went to terraform another world and in so doing have come across creatures that are threatening their very existence.
I had read many positive things about Dan Abnett’s Warhammer novels and when I saw that he had penned this Doctor Who novel I felt it was the perfect opportunity to try out both his work and a novel in the series.
Good call.
The Silent Stars Go By is not only a seasonal joy but it captures the spirit and voices of the Doctor and his companions perfectly. The story is interesting but, as in the television show, it is the characters that truly shine.
My Rating: 8/10 stars
Though the story riffs off the idea of Christmas, with its chapter titles being carol verses, it is truly a story that can be enjoyed at any time. Case in point, I actually read this story on our anniversary vacation back in May. Given the recent showing of the 50th anniversary television special and the fact that I truly enjoyed this novel it felt like the perfect time to remedy my oversight in not reviewing it in May.
The story itself is certainly as enjoyable as any episode, with action and danger at every turn, but admittedly must suffer somewhat when you know beyond doubt that the principal characters cannot be harmed. What I found myself doing was becoming attached to various supporting characters and hoping that they made it out alive. Given these constraints, however, Dan Abnett skillfully kept the focus on the one thing that keeps so many people passionate about Doctor Who: the characters. It is the capturing of the character voices that makes this novel stand out. If one can judge Dan Abnett’s writing skill solely on this one thing, he captured the Doctor, Amy and Rory from the television series perfectly. It was effortless to hear the voices of the actors who portray these characters in Abnett’s dialogue and characterization. He represented these characters flawlessly both in their vocal patterns but also in the decision making that viewers are accustomed to in the series. I was most impressed and look forward to trying out his other work.
If you are a fan of the series and haven’t tried one of the novels, this would be a great one to start with, particularly as we enter the Christmas season. And if you have read some of the novels but not this one, add it to your list. It makes for entertaining reading, touches nicely on the Christmas spirit, and will keep you engaged from page one through the end.
I am a huge fan of Doctor Who, but I’ve never read any of the books! I just purchased the new one penned by Neil Gaiman. I’ll give that one a try and then maybe check this one out.
I just saw yesterday that Neil Gaiman wrote a novella (maybe a novelette) length Dr. Who story. It is petty, but I wasn’t willing to pay $4 for such a short story. I will keep my eye on it to see if it drops. I’ll be interested in seeing what you think of it.
can you read an epub? or do you need mobi?
After the excitement of last weekend, I need more Doctor Who goodness to keep me going until the Christmas special and this will be perfect for a Sci-Fi experience read too.
The recent Doctor Who singles do feel over-priced so I’m keeping my eye on the collected 11 Doctors, 11 Stories volume… although I have also dropped a number of hints so it might even be under the tree in a few short weeks! 🙂
That was the main reason I decided it was time to get off my duff and write this review. I think many of us are now in a Doctor Who mood and also getting slowly but surely into the Christmas spirit and this hits both of those buttons.
I like the idea of a collected version of all those stories and would be willing to shell out a bit more for the ebook version of that. I’ll be keeping my eye open, and hoping your Christmas tree delivers!
I’ve got this on my IPad, you’ve now given me the needed incentive to read it! 😀
I’ve got the lion’s share of the 8th Doctor books, think i’m physically missing only about 12 to have the complete run & i’ve got ‘those’ on the IPad. And thanks to my air force brother being based in England during the 80’s, I’ve got a large quantity of the original teeny-tiny Virgin prints of the aired episodes/storys.
That is awesome! Nice to have a brother who can give you the hook-up!
I hope you enjoy it and look forward to your thoughts on it once you are done.
‘Target’ novelizations, not ‘Virgin’ … I knew it wasn’t right when I typed it! Guess i’ve got all those Virgin mobile commercials stuck in my brain! 😀
Ha, I didn’t catch anything different, just figured that was the publishers name.
I have never read a Dr. Who novel, nor even watched any Dr. Who shows but have heard a lot about them, of course. I like the idea of a Christmas story with Dr. Who.
It is a nice one to read this time of year. Not sure how much of an impact it would have on you since you aren’t familiar with these characters from the show, however. A great deal of the pleasure in reading this was hearing the speech patterns in Abnett’s writing and how well he captured them.