I Am a Dalek

"It's all that's left of the most terrifying thing in the universe."

Writer: Gareth Roberts 

Format: Novel

Released: May 2006

Series: Quick Reads 01

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

Equipped with space suits, golf clubs, and a flag, the Doctor and Rose are planning to live it up, Apollo mission-style, on the Moon. But the TARDIS has other plans, landing them instead in a village on the south coast of England; a picture-postcard sort of place where nothing much happens. Until now...

An archaeological dig has turned up a Roman mosaic, circa 70 AD, depicting mythical scenes, grapes - and a Dalek. A few days later a young woman, rushing for work, is knocked over and killed by a bus, then comes back to life. It's not long before all hell breaks loose, and the Doctor and Rose must use all their courage and cunning against an alien enemy - and a not-quite-human accomplice - who are intent on destroying humanity. 

Verdict 

I Am a Dalek was an excellent little novel! Reading on what has now become the normal train journey home to South Wales from Bath, I seemed to fly through this despite it being from the Quick Reads collection of books. I know they're meant to be done rather quickly but I don't think I took a breath between reading chapters! I just rolled off one after the other and I think that definitely helped with the pace and flow of the story from my perspective. I really liked how the story started immediately with action and the Doctor and Rose intending to walk on the Moon quite some time in the past. I loved the humour surrounding the Doctor deciding which flag to plant in the surface to give the first moon walkers quite a surprise when they got there. Of course, he couldn't do it but the intent was there and I liked that. This was really nice to read after a week of comic strip adventures from Doctor Who Comic or the Tales from the TARDIS sister title which my last five blog entries actually have been. It has seemed a little while since my last story that required reading like this with Engines of War, but speaking of that novel and my recent listening of Only the Monstrous, I liked how the Doctor referred to the Time War in quite considerable detail in this story which, given its chronological placement, actually surprised me a little bit. The events of The Day of the Doctor were of course foreshadowed for the reader at the time but from the Doctor's timeline perspective and me reading nearly a decade after the novel was released, I can somewhat relate to what the Doctor had to go through during the hellacious years of the Time War. There was death and devastation and the Doctor's initial reaction to seeing the Dalek casing wasn't too far removed from the Ninth Doctor's reaction to seeing a solitary Dalek in Dalek. If the Doctor is scared or worried then it goes some way to selling the threat which was in this case the Daleks. Now they don't really need much in terms of selling but the fact the Doctor was scared showed just how horrific the Time War must have been. As the Big Finish War Doctor adventures expand, we're going to learn a lot more about it and I can't wait. Kate Yates was an excellent character and her introduction to the story was an entertaining one as she found herself listening to the radio in bed before work and before she knew it she was late for work. It's happened to me before on a Friday for my 9am seminar where I woke up five minutes after my bus had left so I could certainly relate to her. The use of the Dalek factor in this story was unexpected but I loved the similarities to The Evil of the Daleks! I also loved the references to Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, Father's Day and The Romans with the latter particularly putting a smile on my face. Frank was a brilliant character and I loved how despite his reluctance to wanting to, he ended up believing every word the Doctor said about meeting Nero and knowing about the Daleks. The story of Frank was great though with his lovely little love story with his wife at Durham University. I certainly hope a situation like that doesn't happen to me! The Doctor helping out his friend though through breaking the laws of time and allowing Frank to meet his wife ten years earlier as the Doctor knew that he was responsible for his death. The Dalek wanted its gun back and once it did, it exterminated everyone on that train. The Dalek was ruthless and I liked that very much. The climax was brilliant with Rose being the centre of attention and talking the Dalek into its demise. The Doctor didn't seem to have a choice between the Earth and another planet in space but through Kate, Rose was wonderful and talked her way to destroying the Dalek. It really was a great ending to a fantastic little novel! 

Rating: 9/10