Forever Autumn

"Theirs was a lullaby that promised terrible nightmares rather than sweet dreams."

Writer: Mark Morris 

Format: Novel

Released: September 2007

Series: NSA 16

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis 

It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from front porches. 

The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient tree and the book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the churchyard at night, sealing the lips of the only witness? Why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own?

As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate...

Verdict 

Forever Autumn was another excellent novel to feature the Tenth Doctor and Martha! I'm really loving this TARDIS pairing in prose lately after starting off their novel tenure together with the brilliant Sting of the Zygons. The high quality continued in The Last Dodo and Wooden Heart and it just increased here with this fantasy adventure. Present day America was an interesting setting and I liked how for once the Doctor didn't decide the location of the story - it was the TARDIS that picked up an ancient power splurge. The Doctor's curiosity must have been off the charts almost immediately! As this novel showed us, he definitely has itchy teeth. The time of year being Halloween was just perfect for this story. A story full of spooks and ancient dark magic (or as the Doctor kept reminding us just a different form of science) had to be set during Halloween. The costumes and decorations provided some scary moments that's for sure! We had a clown costume trying to kill its wearer, deadly rubber bats and a live cardboard skeleton! The abilities of the Hervoken were intriguing to say the least! They could seemingly animate just about everything. I found it very interesting that after a reference to The Shakespeare Code we found out they had quite the eventful history with the Carrionites! I loved how the Doctor loved Martha's dubbing of it being the 'Witchy Wars'. Speaking of past story references, this novel was full of them! We had a nice reference to Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel with the Doctor excitedly talking about Mickey and his parallel universe counterpart Ricky! We also had Martha recall Smith and Jones, Gridlock and Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks when she thought this was the adventure that the Doctor finally lost. The Doctor also mentioned The Idiot's Lantern when reacting to Mr Clayton losing his mouth, comparing it to the Wire stealing whole faces! There were also nice little references to The Lazarus Experiment, The Infinite Quest and Wooden Heart which just added to the continuity, which I love. The plot itself was great and I liked the young trio of Rick, Thad and Scott. Their digging up of the Necris was good and I loved the concept surrounding the ancient relic. It was a kind of fleshy book. It seemed to be able to engage trances and it was as good as indestructible. The description of Herkoven was quite disturbing as they shouldn't have been sturdy going by what was said. A large head with a horrifyingly thin body. The fact the tree was actually the peak of their spaceship wasn't expected but I really enjoyed how it was spilling psychic energy into the area. That's why the town was created in the first place with the tree as the centre point. Blackwood Falls. A lovely name. The characterisation of the Doctor and Martha was excellent and having read the first four novels to feature them together in relatively quick succession, it's intriguing to see how different authors write the characters. Take Jacqueline Rayner for example, a favourite writer of mine having penned greats such as The Transit of Venus and Blood and Ice, she presents Martha as a fun, joyous character in her novel but here Martha has confidence and although it's mentioned that she hasn't been travelling with the Doctor for long, having children accompany them as allies allows Martha to use her experience in alien combat. I can't imagine the look on my mother's face though if I brought a girl as beautiful as her home as a 12 year old, considering she'd be 10-15 years older than me! The Pirelli family had some quite humorous moments I must admit. Chris was a good character too and I loved how he frightened his younger brother and his friends just when they didn't need it after digging up the Necris. The green mist that descended upon the town added to the mystery and eery feel of the story beautifully. It was Halloween after all. The pace of the book flowed very well and reading the first two thirds on the train was a breeze. Once arriving at my grandparents the final third seemed to whizz by too and I couldn't put the book down which is obviously a very good sign. The climax was good and I loved the cleverness of the Doctor, even though I'd pretty much worked out what he'd done. He used the Necris to blow up the spaceship and ensure Blackwood Falls was safe. But he surprisingly didn't seem too happy about it. Martha noted that the Doctor seemed only to see the bad that follows him. He should realise though the incredible good he does. He eliminated the threat here with brilliance and saved the lives of many, including Etta who he had a wonderful relationship with. Overall, another magnificent novel with this excellent prose pairing!

Rating: 9/10