The Stone Rose

"Without art, life would have no meaning!"

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Novel

Released: April 2006

Series: NSA 07

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Mickey

Synopsis

Mickey is startled to find a statue of Rose in a museum – a statue that is 2,000 years old. The Doctor realises that this means the TARDIS will shortly take them to Ancient Rome, but when it does, he and Rose soon have more on their minds than sculpture. 

While the Doctor searches for a missing boy, Rose befriends a girl who claims to know the future –  a girl whose predictions are surprisingly accurate. But then the Doctor stumbles on the hideous truth behind the statue of Rose – and Rose herself learns that you have to be very careful what you wish for...

Verdict

The Stone Rose was an excellent novel! This was my first book to feature the Tenth Doctor and Rose and with the proximity of my Series 2 rewatch through the modern era, the timing just felt right when it came to fancying an NSA to read this afternoon. I'm a big fan of Jaqueline Rayner as an author and her quirky style certainly didn't let me down here. She captured the era ever so well which was surprising in hindsight as I found that this novel was actually released prior to the broadcast of New Earth! That's quite rare but it's nice to fill in a little gap and explain why we see the Doctor and Rose depart at the start of that episode as well as setting there sights on departure at the end of The Christmas Invasion. I loved the premise of the start of the book with Mickey finding a statue of Rose in the British Museum that was two millennia old and that decided the next TARDIS adventure for the Doctor and Rose with all sights set on second century Rome. The excitement there was fantastic and I loved how unique of a setting this felt for this pairing. It worked really well and the era as a whole just felt guanine. It really did have a feel akin to The Fires of Pompeii which was superb. The image of the Doctor and Rose in traditional Roman wear was wonderful and some of the comments amongst the pairing were a lot of fun. Their relationship throughout was really terrific and the passage regarding the Doctor almost having married an elephant was delightful. I thought there was a strong batch of characters in this one with Gracilis certainly a standout. He instantly took a liking to the Doctor and Rose after they offered to lend a helping hand and aid him in his search for his missing son Optatus. That set in motion a pretty rapid chain of events as we learned that he hadn't been seen for four days and the last person to see him was Ursus, the private sculptor hired to create a statue for his sixteenth birthday. The unveiling came as the Doctor and Rose arrived and the former being immediately suspicious of the sculptor was magnificent. It was clear right from the off that Ursus hadn't been challenged like this before and later finding out that Optatus wasn't the first was not a surprise. It was a good development and I enjoyed discovering that he actually thought he was doing the bidding of the goddess Minerva. The Doctor being provided with a phial containing the solution required to revert the statues back to their life form was intriguing and the familiarity of the voice that provided it gave us a good indication of the paradoxical elements to come. When Rose inevitably became petrified, the panic induced by the Doctor was telling, especially when he went back to the British Museum with Mickey and the solution didn't work. Except, that was a good thing because this wasn't the real Rose. I thought the later development that it was actually the Doctor that had sculpted the Rose statue was such a lovely touch. It was by someone who knew her well, and who better than he? Vanessa was another fantastic character and I liked how her character was threaded out over the course of the novel. At first appearing as a slave prophet, she was actually from the twenty-fourth century which was brilliant! Her revealing knowledge of Hadrian's Wall and England and Scotland without them actually existing yet was a clever way to reveal there was more to her, and it was great that Rose thought nothing of it but it didn't get past the Doctor. Her role in bringing the GENIE to the period was great and I thought that anagram was just tremendous. The idea of wishes being granted through technological means was very good and I thought the future history of Earth explanation from the Doctor and how the GENIE's brought about its end was excellent. This particular GENIE turned out to be the first which was why it hadn't been wiped out, and Rose wanting to ensure that it was free and happy was a fantastic fate for it. Overall, this was a lovely read! 

Rating: 9/10