A review by kandicez
Doctor Who: Engines of War by George Mann
4.0
I loved getting a look at the Doctor none of us know. He is the "in between" Doctor, and although he was in a two parter and appears in my complete Doctor Who magnet set, I know very little about him. Well, I know John Hurt plays him and that's a coup right there!
This was a terrific Doctor book. Mann really ran with the idea of this being the unknown Doctor and gave us a gritty story we would never read about Tennant's or Smith's Doctors. Maybe Capaldi's, but I'm not sure yet. Certainly none of the older Doctors. There was loss of life, war, hurting, maiming, shooting and emotional angst. Real angst. Hard choices, which are certianly not unknown to the Doctor, but choices we have not seen him make before.
Mann let us glimpse the Time Lords in a way we have not before. They are not the perfectly benevolent beings we have been led to believe (excepting the Master). They have flaws, are not universally kind, and certainly do not share our Doctor's love for humans and pretty much any other species he runs across. He shows us how depraved they were before and during the time war. We see how they reacted to it and how little they regarded the collateral damage. He does so in a way that doesn't interfere with what we do know. Sheer genius, in my opinion. I hate nothing more than when an author tells a story that gives lie to the stories we've been told by others. Behind the scenes details that change my opinion are ok, but changing actual facts is not. Mann walked that tightrope perfectly here.
This was a terrific Doctor book. Mann really ran with the idea of this being the unknown Doctor and gave us a gritty story we would never read about Tennant's or Smith's Doctors. Maybe Capaldi's, but I'm not sure yet. Certainly none of the older Doctors. There was loss of life, war, hurting, maiming, shooting and emotional angst. Real angst. Hard choices, which are certianly not unknown to the Doctor, but choices we have not seen him make before.
Mann let us glimpse the Time Lords in a way we have not before. They are not the perfectly benevolent beings we have been led to believe (excepting the Master). They have flaws, are not universally kind, and certainly do not share our Doctor's love for humans and pretty much any other species he runs across. He shows us how depraved they were before and during the time war. We see how they reacted to it and how little they regarded the collateral damage. He does so in a way that doesn't interfere with what we do know. Sheer genius, in my opinion. I hate nothing more than when an author tells a story that gives lie to the stories we've been told by others. Behind the scenes details that change my opinion are ok, but changing actual facts is not. Mann walked that tightrope perfectly here.