When it comes to Doctor Who ancillary materials, I tend to prefer the comics (for the visuals) and the audiobooks (for the vocal performances,) but the novels shouldn’t be sold short. There are some fun, inventive ones out there, and particularly with Nine, who’s so exceptional and whose time on the show was so short, I’ll gladly take any story of his that I can get my hands on. In the case of his novels, there are only six to choose from, so this Top Five isn’t especially choosy, but it still includes some fine stories.
The Clockwise Man
You can’t go wrong with a good clockwork baddie. The Doctor and Rose land themselves among displaced Russian aristocrats in the early 20th century, up to their ears in intrigue that extends far beyond St. Petersburg. I enjoy following the twists of the plot, Rose makes a little friend, and the Doctor deputizes the the members of a posh private club for a heroic last stand.
The Monsters Inside
Getting me to like a Slitheen story is a tough sell, but this one is actually fairly enjoyable. The Doctor and Rose have the misfortune to land in a planetary system that’s a series of prison planets and are immediately separated onto different prisons/worlds. I like watching their differing but parallel experiences on their respective prisons, each figuring out part of the mystery until they’re able to find their way back to each other and put it all together, and I’m always here for the Doctor being a smartass to his captors.
Winner Takes All
While a lot of the novels/audiobooks/comics take advantage of being without the constraints of a BBC budget, doing all kinds of wild things, this story honors RTD’s penchant for returning to the companion’s family life in 21st-century London. And it’s a good one – I love aliens invading the Powell Estates through a mysterious lottery and a hot new gaming system, and the book offers up a pretty decent showing for both Jackie and Mickey. Also featuring some good body horror and the Doctor getting way into a video game in order to save lives.
Only Human
Probably my favorite Ninth Doctor novel. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack encounter a Neanderthal in modern-day England, accidentally scooped up in a fractured time experiment. This leads to the Doctor and Rose going back to the Stone Age while Jack teaches the Neanderthal the ways of the modern world. A fun and inventive mix of ideas and eras, and I like what the book has to say about Neanderthals, humans, and the progression of time.
The Stealers of Dreams
The TARDIS lands in a dystopian police state where imagination and fiction are outlawed – what’s not to love about that? Naturally, the Doctor’s entire existence is suspect in a world like this, and Jack probably shouldn’t be in a place where lying is illegal. We get fun stuff for the Doctor, Rose, and Jack, both as a group and in separate adventures, and the story takes some good twists and turns.
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