The Stealers of Dreams

"The toys were all sealed up and forgotten."

Writer: Steve Lyons
Format: Novel
Released: September 2005
Series: NSA 06

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis

In the far future, the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack find a world on which fiction has been outlawed. A world where it's a crime to tell stories, a crime to lie, a crime to hope, and a crime to dream.

But now somebody is challenging the status quo. A pirate TV station urges people to fight back. And the Doctor wants to help - until he sees how easily dreams can turn into nightmares.

With one of his companions stalked by shadows and the other committed to an asylum, the Doctor is forced to admit that fiction can be dangerous after all. Though perhaps it is not as deadly as the truth...

Verdict

The Stealers of Dreams was an outstanding novel and a great way to bring the Ninth Doctor novels to an end. It was magical from start to finish and it was an absolute joy to watch from start to finish. The idea of fiction being banned and illegal was quite something but seeing the extent to which it was feared on this futuristic Earth colony was incredible. People found the whole idea of a book club or trading comic strips ghastly and that was really intriguing. It just doesn't work in my head to think of a world without stories! This blog certainly wouldn't be a thing and it was just barmy to think of fiction as a negative. People use it as an escapism but for me it's just entertainment and I would hate for it to be taken away. The characterisation of the Ninth Doctor was very good and I was rather impressed with the way in which the feel of Series 1 was captured in the novel. It fitted in perfectly with the era and I liked how it was clearly set after Boom Town with Jackie humorously mentioning how Rose had recently been in Cardiff. I thought the way she suffered from the fantasy crazy was really interesting and the moment we realised that the Doctor wasn't really with her was wonderful and a big surprise. The character of Hal Gryden was brilliant and I thought it was interesting how, by about page 200, he hadn't actually featured yet but it was soon revealed by the Doctor that he didn't exist at all. He seemed like he had known all along which was fantastic but the calmness in how he revealed the information was great. Captain Jack had a very good novel and his relationship with the tramp was excellent, especially when he revealed himself to be Hal Gryden. The way in which it was revealed he wasn't actually Gryden was even better though with Jack stranded in an empty studio at the mercy of the police. The references to Rose, Aliens of London/World War Three and The Long Game were lovely and I liked how Rose needed to hear the full name of the Mighty Jagrafess to convince herself that Jack was real. The pace of the story was fast which was good and I liked how quickly Jack was able to gain a reputation of being a storyteller. His shark story was particularly funny. Domnic was a lovely character and I thought his relationship with Rose was really nice. His reaction to being asked by the Doctor to help him was also terrific and I liked how he got to see the TARDIS take off at the story's conclusion. Waller was one of the story's highlights and I thought her relationship with the Doctor was superb. I loved how he convinced her to allow him to accompany her with his documentary story and that got him into the Big White House which was crucial to the adventure's action-packed and fantastic conclusion. There was quite the standoff after Jack heroically saved Rose but one revelation that didn't do much for the story but was wonderful was the reveal that Waller was actually Kimmi who appeared in the book's prologue. Her past was intriguing and it told us a lot about her current position in society. The way the Doctor saved the day and took on the mantra of Hal Gryden was outstanding and the way that linked with the micro-organisms and the sides of the brain with them remembering rather than imagining was sublime. I absolutely loved it and the recap resolution with it being revealed that Waller was simply living her dream and her vidcom was broke was excellent. I loved pretty much everything about this book and it was definitely the best of the Ninth Doctor's novels thus far.

Rating: 10/10