The Feast of the Drowned

"If all these people have gone under, where've all the bodies gone?"

Writer: Stephen Cole

Format: Novel

Released: April 2006

Series: NSA 08

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

When a naval cruiser sinks in mysterious circumstances in the North Sea, all aboard are lost. Rose is saddened to learn that the brother of her friend, Keisha, was among the dead. And yet he appears to them as a ghostly apparition, begging to be saved from the coming feast... the feast of the drowned.

As the dead crew haunt loved ones all over London, the Doctor and Rose are drawn into a chilling mystery. What sank the ship, and why? When the cruiser's wreckage was towed up the Thames, what sinister force came with it?

The river's dark waters are hiding an even darker secret, as preparations for the feast near their conclusion...

Verdict

The Feast of the Drowned was an excellent novel! This was a fine addition the early era of Series 2 for the Tenth Doctor and Rose and was an exciting and thrilling tale from start to finish. I liked how there was no messing around with the book and we were taken straight into an interesting start which isn't always the case in feature-length novel adventures so that was most welcomed. It worked well to have a modern day setting and Rose's proximity to events through Keisha and her brother Jay was a very good element. I really loved how impactful the events of Aliens of London and Rose's disappearance for a whole year had on the story and the relationships between a number of characters, with Rose's thirst for travelling in time and space fragmenting her relationship with Mickey and reducing it to friendship, whilst she'd also lost touch with Keish. I thought that was important and really good to read because it showed the toll being the Doctor's companion had on others. Realising the effects of those left behind and the normal world was fantastic, and it was also good for Jackie to have a prominent role in the book. The aquatic theme and everything centring on the Thames was fantastic and I loved the idea of people throwing themselves into the water after being lured by loved ones who had fallen victim to the Ascendant's sinking. That was a disturbing concept in of itself and the atmosphere of the book that this created along with the location and the description of events taking place at night was superb. I was a big fan of the feel of the story. The Doctor's introduction to Vida was a lot of fun and her playing dumb after knowing that he'd used a cleaner's entry card was excellent. She was a really good character and reading how she grew to trust him as the pages turned was terrific. She ended up giving him full access to equipment, knowledge and laboratories that he really ought not to, especially as the public weren't even fully aware of its existence. The Ascendant being returned for examination in segments was interesting and the Doctor cottoning on straight away to the fact that it couldn't have bene an accident that this happened was great. The idea of cellular involvement with hydrogen was very good and the idea of harnessing and even instruction molecules is always fun. It's hard to combat on that scale. Crayshaw made for a really good villain as the head of the Waterhive and his always wearing sunglasses provided a good explanation for him being revealed as part of the hive with his pearly filaments. I thought Rose endured a lot in this book which was a little distressing at times and her struggles to not think of Jackie and Keish when she had fallen victim to the hive were very good indeed. She went one step further though and used the desire for loved ones to get a message out warning them off. That was very clever. Mickey was a fine addition to the book and the banter he share with the Doctor about his usefulness was great as always. Keisha having lied to him about what the pair shared when Rose had gone missing was powerful as I can't imagine having to live with those lies, especially with everything that came with it after his countless police station visits. The Doctor encountering Jay after the ghostly apparition appeared in the house but for real was good and the chase through the wet and blood-soaked vaults was fantastic. Overall, this was an excellent book and I liked the simplicity of the conclusion. A great read!

Rating: 9/10