Diamond Dogs

"I've got everyone on this station to save."

Writer: Mike Tucker
Format: Novel
Released: 20th April 2017
Series: NSA 59

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

"Here on Saturn, it literally rains diamonds."

For over fifteen years the crew of Kollo-Zarnista Mining Facility 27 has been extracting diamonds from deep within the atmosphere of Saturn, diamonds that help to fund the ever-expanding Human Empire. But when a mining operation goes wrong, a rescue mission must be launched to save a worker lost overboard, a worker who claims that he has seen something amongst the swirling clouds. Something that can't possibly exist.

When the Doctor and Bill arrive, they immediately find themselves caught between hostile miners, suspicious security guard and corrupt company officials as they face accusations of sabotage and diamond theft.

And below them, in the crushing atmosphere of the gas giant, something is starting to rise.

Verdict

Diamond Dogs was a very good book and another great novel in the recently released collection of stories to accompany the broadcast of the tenth series of Doctor Who. This book was set a little earlier in the series than the current standing of World Enough and Time but I think reading the prose adventures of the Twelfth Doctor and Bill alongside the broadcast of the television series is a big benefit, even if the broadcasting has nearly concluded. This book was interesting from the word go and I really liked the setting of Saturn in the 51st century. I'm not sure what makes that century particularly popular amongst writers in the Doctor Who universe but it seems to often crop up when a story takes place in the far future. This story followed a familiar format but I thought Tucker's writing was very clever in ensuring that it wasn't dull because we got to see things through Bill's eyes. That's one huge benefit of having a new companion in the series, everything is new to her so things that have been before can be gotten away with because we get to see Bill's reaction to what we now see as familiar. I must say though, I was quite surprised by just how many typos appeared in the novel. Usually there'll be a couple but in a book as short as this I was actually finding it a little tedious at how frequently there were mistakes. It's not what you expect in a published work but I didn't let that take anything away from the story. I loved how many references there were to past stories with The Time of the Doctor, Heaven Sent/Hell Bent and The Pilot all getting a mention. There seems to have been the same mentions of Smile and Thin Ice in every story featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Bill that hasn't been on television which is fine but I just found it rather comical. The reference I loved the most though was the links that Jo's sister had with Professor Marius in a wonderful nod to The Invisible Enemy. It even prompted a footnote which is quite rare outside of the Target novelisations so that did put a smile on my face. I thought the pace of this novel was quite steady and although it did seem to take a while for the Doctor and Bill to get involved, other things were set up and established very nicely. I really liked Jo as a character but I think Laura was my favourite. Her adoration of the rings of Saturn was a joy to behold and her reaction when the Doctor took her up close and personal with them was superb. She was in awe. Delitsky was another good character and I liked how baffled he was by how much trust his crew had put into the Doctor when he was caught red handed steeling a diamond from the vault. I thought the characterisation of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor was terrific in this book and Pearl Mackie's likeness as Bill was also well presented, even if she wasn't kept perhaps as busy as she should have been. The moment she worked out before the Doctor that there were actually two saboteurs was wonderful though. Nettleman was a good character and one that was presented not to be well liked which is something I think you need in a novel. The revelation that Jenloz was unexpected but made sense once it was revealed that the Ba-El Cratt and the Cancri were at war. Rince's association with the pirates and mysterious Raptor that we'd heard about sporadically during the novel was good but I did think that the climax was rushed a little. I mean it meant for a fast-paced ending but the explanation could have been a little more elaborated on in my opinion. Nevertheless, it was still a fantastic little read and a great book!

Rating: 8/10