Big Bang Generation

"A future you is in so much trouble that the only solution is to go back in time to ask for help from you..."

Writer: Gary Russell 

Format: Novel

Released: 10th September 2015

Series: NSA 56

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bernice

Synopsis 

"I'm an archaeologist, but probably not the one you were expecting."

Christmas 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 

Imagine everyone's surprise when a time portal opens up in Sydney Cove. Imagine their shock as a massive pyramid now sits beside the Harbour Bridge, glowing with energy. Imagine their fear as Cyrrus 'the mobster' Globb, Professor Horace Jaanson and alien assassin Kik arrive. Finally imagine everyone's dismay when a bunch of con artists turn up to spring their greatest grift yet. 

This gang consists of Legs, Dog Boy, Shortie, Da Trowel, and their leader, Doc, who is busy making sure the universe isn't destroyed. 

And when someone accidentally reawakens the Ancients of the Universe - which, Doc reckons, wasn't the wisest or best-judged of actions - things get a whole lot more complicated...

Verdict 

Big Bang Generation was a fantastic novel and continued along the Glamour Chronicles trilogy of stories very nicely. I thought it was quite strange that the story didn't reference Royal Blood but by having a different TARDIS pairing there was no need for a reference really. In doing that, it meant that it didn't matter which of the two novels you read first. My only quarrel with the design of this novel is that it explicitly states that the novel features Clara when that is not the case! I know Gary Russell wanted to cover up the surprise return of a past character but just simply say that it features the Twelfth Doctor alone. As was explained here, Clara's absence could easily be accounted for. It's not like she's a permanent traveller, much to my frustration. I loved how he tried to feed us the bait of having River Song as a decoy to the true reveal of the archaeologist who would accompany the Doctor in this adventure. The reveal that Bernice Summerfield had returned was absolutely wonderful and wholly unexpected which made it that much better. A Classic era companion who has never appeared on television was having a full length story with the current Doctor! I think it's just magnificent. Not only did we get Bernice but we had her family tagging along as well. Peter was a superb character and his relationship with Kik the Assassin certainly was interesting. Why was she so interested in him when it appeared all she wanted to do was kill him. Well, it's in her name isn't it? Ruth and Jack were all loved up which was nice to see and I liked the latter's emotional plea of moving away from all the adventuring and just settling down and getting married and having kids. That's the dream isn't it once you've found the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with! Now, I'm extremely unfamiliar with the character of Bernice Summerfield and knew nothing of her three assailants who accompanied her here. I really do need to get delving into the Bernice audios and novels but time is of the essence. For those fans who were around in the wilderness years and also bought the Bernice audios, I imagine this novel would serve as a real gift to them. There's nothing quite like a mix of new and old, especially when that old is actually rather current in terms of audios. I think Lisa Bowerman is great and with her reading the audiobook I am tempted to purchase this story in that format. I thought she was brilliant in Silver Lining, The Shadow of the Scourge and The Dark Flame. That's it. That's as far as my Bernice knowledge goes in full. But to have her alongside the Twelfth Doctor was just brilliant. From what I know, I felt the companion's characterisation was magnificent and I was also quite impressed with the way Gary Russell captured the mannerisms of Peter Capaldi's Doctor. He did so very well. The plot was eventful to say the lease with settings ranging from the gloomy Legion to the futuristic yet historic Aztec Moon to 1934 Australia and then 2015 New South Wales. When travelling across all different time zones and places, especially in a novel, it can get confusing but thankfully that wasn't the case here. The explanation of why the Big Bang may never have happened might have been a tad exaggerated but I loved that being a threat - it couldn't get much bigger than that! I absolutely adored the moment where the Doctor had a flashback of some of his most recent companions appearing before his eyes. I liked the numerous audio companions getting a mention. Susan holding a big place, still, in the Doctor's thoughts. Reading her say that her grandfather had come back after all was stunning. I really liked the reference to Midnight and the Doctor having to explain to Bernice about the Time War seemed incredibly tough. The emotion written into the words when the Doctor recalled his actions in The Day of the Doctor was simply incredible. I loved how the Doctor, despite not being a hugger in this incarnation, returned the embrace to Bernice. That was a really lovely moment. The idea of the Ancients of the Universe was fantastic and I loved the Doctor's talk with them once the Universe literally ceased to exist. Things were of course expertly put right. The mystery of the Glamour remained, and I can't wait to see what is made of it in Deep Time. But for now this was a superb novel! 

Rating: 9/10