Rose and the Snow Window

"Two worlds were about to collide."

Writer: Jenny T. Colgan
Format: Short Story
Released: March 2018
Printed in: The Day She Saved the Doctor

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

The Doctor and Rose hang out in a Toronto apartment, waiting for the effects of a slow time puncture to manifest. After discovering that one of the apartments in the tower opposite contains a Russian room from the 19th century, they use written notes to communicate with displaced occupant Count Nikolai Artem Livosich. Using the TARDIS to travel to St Petersburg in 1812, the Doctor investigates the count's palace and the shocking truth is revealed...

Verdict

Rose and the Snow Window was a decent read and a good continuation of The Day She Saved the Doctor! I really liked that Rose's story was with the Ninth Doctor because that's an incarnation that is severely lacking in adventures compared to his counterparts and I really liked how things were clearly still quite early on in the travels of the Doctor and Rose. The feel of Series One was something I was a big fan of in this adventure and I have to give credit to Jenny T. Colgan there. She really did deliver in that regard. I also thought her writing of the Ninth Doctor himself was excellent, although I think maybe a little more authority was needed. I really liked the reference to The Unquiet Dead and Rose seeing things that were clearly still extraordinary to her was magnificent. Count Nikolai was a very good character and I liked his relationship with Rose very much. They got on incredibly well, even if he did smell a bit, and his reaction to seeing the twenty-first century and having a power shower was quite humorous. I thought the mix in setting of 2005 Toronto and 1812 St Petersburg was brilliant and I liked that the two were in danger of colliding. I felt there needed to be a little more in terms of action and to sell the threat of that collision but it was still good. Rose and the Doctor being referred to as anomalies was also something I liked and that's the moment in the story where the Doctor came into action and he went from just merely investigating the time puncture. That in itself was an intriguing concept but one I thought needed a little more elaboration in terms of its creation. I do appreciate the lack of words for a story such as this though so it was no major issue. The Causubus turned out to be pretty decent enemies and their plan of wedding to gain power, and that's not political power, was good but I liked how taken Nikolai was with Rose that he no longer wanted to marry. Not that he did in the first place but he was willing to for his family. He cut the ribbon quite symbolically after getting married but the Doctor quite simply took his place and offered the energy required to get the Causubus home. It was a bit of a simple ending and one that was maybe a little too easy but it was also effective which must be a bonus. Overall, a very decent story that just needed a bit more action and threat! But still, it was a good read.

Rating: 7/10