The Burning

Justin Richards

for the defence: Theatre of War (NA), Demontage (EDA)

for the prosecution: Option Lock (EDA)

A mysterious stranger turns up in a late-nineteenth century mining town and starts mining a sentient fire from beneath the ground. Fortunately another mysterious stranger turns up to stop him. Typical, you wait ages for a mysterious stranger then two turn up at once...

Justin Richards' books always give me the impression that they have been crafted rather than put together - each word feels as if it has been hand-picked and furiously polished to make it just right. This one is no exception, in that it is a very elegant, eloquent and engaging story, but if truth be told it does take a very long time to tell a very short story. It can be forgiven though, since exploring the non-character of the Doctor through various conversations is an interesting way to fill the book. A reliable, rather than revolutionary, start to the arc.

Given Justin Richards' intentions, there is virtually no continuity (yes, that C-word) in this book at all. The Doctor has a note in his pocket telling him when he is due to meet a man called Fitz - this of course refers to companion Fitz Kreiner, who last appeared in The Ancestor Cell but has negotiated a temporary break so that he can appear in Pantomime. (He will return after five books, in Escape Velocity.) However, since the book can easily be read without knowing who this Fitz is (after all, the Doctor doesn't know either!) I can proudly hold this book up as being continuity-free!!!

Presumably one of the ideas of giving the 8th Doctor amnesia (again!) was to try and show the fundamental nature of the Doctor, stripped of all the Timelord/sonic screwdriver superfluities. An interesting idea, and one which here allows the author to give us some moments where we wonder whether the Doctor as we know him would really behave in such a way. He comes across as very knowledgeable, full of energy and dignity, and possessed with a great charm that immediately endears him to people - much as McGann plays him in the TV Movie in fact. On the other hand, he leaves the poor Professor to a shocking fate in the fire cavern without a backwards look, and at the climax is quite prepared to murder the villain of the piece. The swine!!

This Book: A great start - I got this as a birthday present from my lovely, lovely brother so it cost me absolutely nothing!

Running Score: £5.99 saved against the RRP