A review by ziwxbhld
Doctor Who and the Zarbi by Bill Strutton

3.0

(I've come back up here after finishing rambling to say that this was the second Doctor Who book ever published and thus contains many niggling differences that have been ironed out since. It is, however, ultimately a satisfying read for a child who lived a few decades ago and liked Doctor Who quite a lot, and possibly spent the majority of her formative Saturdays mooching round Oxfam for second-hand Target Dr. Who books. Which is quite fair, I think.)

I have to say, now I'm pushing thirty-ahem, these are a quick nostalgic read, and I'm clearly setting off on a trend here. But where do they fit into my normal reading habits? Well, they're the genesis of my love of books, and when I was a teenager they mingled nicely amongst The Hobbit, Brother In The Land, Futuretrack 5, The Andromeda Strain, Something Wicked This Way Comes, the various Pan Books of Horror and Alfred Hitchcock Presents Yet More Stories I'm Not Allowed To Present But Will Because Of The Cash. It wasn't a bad read, but then my tastes have moved on. I think there's probably a time-to-nostalgia ratio thing going on. There's also likely to be an optimum point at which to stop doing this revisiting of teenage obsessions. I haven't reached it: The Crusaders are next, and I'm really looking forward to the Autons after that. To be honest, the first doctor wasn't a favourite, and the history-based Dr Who episodes even less so. I'll grit my teeth and make it through...