Customer Reviews

I, Who: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels

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Since Doctor Who ceased production as a television series, the adventures of the Doctor have been continued in book and audio form. In the early 1990s, the book arm of Virgin started a range of novels featuring the seventh Doctor called 'The New Adventures' which was eventually followed by books featuring past Doctors called 'The Missing Adventures'. When the TV Movie starring Paul McGann was announced, the BBC took over the book licence and commenced publishing two series of books referred to by fans as the EDAs (Eighth Doctor Adventures) and PDAs (Past Doctor Adventures).

This book is the first volume of Lars Pearsons guide to these spin-off stories, and his reviews are detailed and opinionated. Best of all, they are written in an entertaining style that makes for easy reading. My only quibbles (and minor ones at that) are the inclusion of illustrations (very well done, I might add) that have little relevance to the text (understandable in a way as Lars obviously didn't want to upset the BBC by using trademarked images) plus a number of typos. As I stated, not much to get worked up about, and fortunately the writing is good enough to make you forget about such things.

Essential reading for fans of original Doctor Who fiction.

This book is a must for Who fans who haven't been able to keep up since the tv series ending. Pearson divides each review into several sections including ones titled sex and spirits, things you need (essentially discussing the sci fi technology in the story), character developments etc.

The reviews are written in a laid back style which not only tells you the gist of each novel/audio, but also makes it enjoyable and funny at times.

Overall worth the $.

The gap between 1989 and 2005 was a terrible one for Doctor Who fans. It meant no new stories and produced a good try at ressurecting the Series. This trio does an excellent job of critiquing the books and audios that were spawned in this period of time (unfortunately leaving out the 2004-2005 season for unknown reasons) These books give us a sense of what the writer was writing about and what the story was about. These books are not for young children, but if you were a fan before 1989, these books are the ones for you.