Audiobook Review: Doctor Who - The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole

Doctor Who - The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole (Rating: 3/5)

The Doctor and Amy arrive on Orkney in the near future. The locals are involved in a protest against a power generating company over the erection of unsightly electricity pylons. As it turns out, these are no ordinary pylons and this is no ordinary power company. At the protest site, the road ruptures for no apparent reason, swallowing several demonstrators into the resulting chasm. Amy and the Doctor are separated by this incident. To make things worse, the pylons are coming to life . . .

Arthur Darvill’s steady yet compelling delivery of Stephen Cole’s prose is one of the highlights of this release. He certainly has some fun with the Scottish accents that, given the story’s location, are to the fore. He is also spot-on with the eleventh Doctor’s manner of speech. The descriptive prose is nicely evoked with plenty of alliterative phrases adding to the pleasing narration. The sound effects that accompany the narration give the story some additional oomph without becoming overbearing to the listener.

Book Review: Doctor Who - Nuclear Time by Oli Smith

Doctor Who - Nuclear Time by Oli Smith (Rating 2/5)

I read this novel twice. This was not because I enjoyed it so much that I had to go back for a second helping, though. No, the reason for the repeat was that I found the narrative too complicated to cope with first time around. Unfortunately, the second attempt proved to be just as confusing. The source of my bewilderment is the Doctor’s yo-yo time line in this story.

Now, I know that this novel has received a good number of favourable reviews, and I’m perfectly happy to accept that the fault for my bemusement is my own: plenty of other readers have not had a problem with the story’s non-linear structure.