Sting of the Zygons

"We shall not have to sleep away the centuries. Our future victories are assured. Whatever plans this Doctor may have, he is playing into the hands of the Zygons."

Writer: Stephen Cole

Format: Novel

Released: April 2007

Series: NSA 13

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands the Doctor and Martha in the Lake District in 1909, where a small village has been terrorised by a giant, scaly monster. The search is on for the elusive 'Beast of Westmorland', and explorers, naturalists and hunters from across the country are descending on the fells. King Edward VII himself is on his way to join the search, with a knighthood for whoever finds the Beast. 

But there is a more sinister presence at work in the Lakes than a mere monster on the rampage, and the Doctor is soon embroiled in the plans of an old and terrifying enemy. As the hunters become the hunted, a desperate battle of wits begins - with the future of the entire world at stake...

Verdict 

Sting of the Zygons was an outstanding read! I know it was good because I finished the entire thing in one day and that's a very rare occurrence when it comes to reading. I was absolutely flying through the pages on my usual fortnightly or so Sunday train journey home (postponed of course for the bank holiday) and by the time I reached home I only had 61 pages left to my surprise! My aim was to get to around the halfway mark of 125 pages but I exceeded that and went onto finish the novel just before midnight. A lovely read. It was my first full length original novel featuring both the Tenth Doctor and Martha and ever since my relatively recent rewatch of Series Three, this pair has grown on me massively and surpassed my favourite Tenth Doctor pairing of him and Rose. They just gel together wonderfully and even in this novel the relationship is fantastic. It was the same in Made of Steel and it was nice for it be continued in print here. I love the idea of the Zygons getting a return in novelised format! They certainly deserve it in my estimation. I was slightly critical about their legacy when I watched Terror of the Zygons for the first (and thus far only) time as I didn't think they really did too much. But despite that the monsters certainly left an imprint on my thoughts and it's fair to say they won't be forgotten. They triumphantly returned to televised Doctor Who in spectacular fashion in the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor and it's fair to say they were brilliant. I'm glad I hadn't read this book prior to the special as, along with the listening of Zygon Hunt, my knowledge on the monsters was enhanced and that's important when you're reading due to the nature and depth the story goes into. Here were the Zygons, desperate and on their last supplies. But as it was pointed out, the Zygons had nothing to lose which made them more dangerous than ever. The references to Terror of the Zygons were fantastic but I did like how the Doctor had the upper hand in knowing all about them but them not knowing of him. It reminded me a little of the Fifth Doctor's predicament in The Mutant Phase where the Daleks didn't know anything of what would become their greatest enemy. The Zygons didn't know about the events of Loch Ness but the story shared some similar themes which was nice to see. I really liked Stephen Cole's style here. For many, this probably would have been the first encounter they had with the Zygons and through Martha they could learn all about them. For those of us with the benefit of past (and future) knowledge, it was wonderful to see them back. I like how David Tennant's Doctor got an adventure with the actor's favourite villains, even if he himself didn't star. He would of course fulfil that wish in the 50th anniversary special however. The 1909 setting was great and I thought the plot of the Zygons was superb. They wanted to kill Edward VII in order for his funeral to take place where many leading figures across Europe would gather so they could take the form and take over the continent and eventually the world. A quite brilliant plan. The characters of the story were very good with Victor and Romand standing out as my favourites. Cole managed to capture the early 20th century dialogue elegantly and I liked how he made the Doctor and Martha follow suit. Any time I see a character called Clara in a story broadcast, released or published prior to Asylum of the Daleks, I must admit I do like to think that she's a splinter or fragment of the current companion we saw enter the Doctor's remains in The Name of the Doctor. I like to think that she was here to save the Doctor from the Zygons but she was just too late. Ian was a good character and I liked how he obviously took a shine to Martha. Why wouldn't he? The reference to Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks was neatly placed. Haleston was quite a funny character and I also liked the stereotypical nature of Nanny Flock. The only slight issues I had with the story were Teazel (I'm not a fan of dogs, especially heroic ones) and the fact that almost literally everything in the village was a Zygon! Even the cows! The comedic remark maybe made up for it slightly. I quite liked how I worked out early on that the Doctor was a Zygon and Martha's reaction to that was wonderful. Overall, a superb novel! 

Rating: 9/10