Plague City

"The dread of all the bleak and empty days to come made him feel like he was choking."

Writer: Jonathan Morris
Format: Novel
Released: 20th April 2017
Series: NSA 60

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole

Synopsis

"We should leave. We definitely should leave. But... chatty ghosts!"

The year is 1645, and Edinburgh is in the grip of the worst plague in its history. Nobody knows who will be the next to succumb - nobody except the Night Doctor; a masked figure that stalks the streets, seeking out those who will not live to see another day.

But death is not the end. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover that the living are being haunted by the recently departed - by ghosts that do not know they are dead. And there are other creatures lurking in the shadows, slithering. creeping creatures filled with an insatiable hunger.

The Doctor and his friends must face the terrifying secret of the Street of Sorrows - that something which has lain dormant for two hundred million years is due to destroy the entire city...

Verdict

Plague City was an excellent novel and certainly the best of the three books released to accompany the broadcasting of Doctor Who's tenth series. The first two prose stories of The Shining Man and Diamond Dogs were very good but this novel definitely eclipses them as the best of the batch and went very close to securing full marks. I loved the setting from the off and I think that is probably down to my love of history. The plague is something I have looked at in great detail so having a story set in 1645 immediately had my appeal. The Scottish setting of Edinburgh was something I knew less about however so it was good to learn of the city in this book and to actually have somewhere new for a Doctor Who setting. It definitely worked, even if what I think is the main reason the book didn't score full marks was because of the Scottish setting. I'm just not sure if the Scottish lingo was required at every corner. Being Welsh, it isn't something I can fully understand and some words and sentences just lost their meaning to me which was a bit of a shame because I absolutely loved the plot. I thought the inclusion of Nardole to the prose format was a boost and I must say that Morris absolutely nailed his characterisation. Peter Capaldi's likeness as the Twelfth Doctor was also well captured throughout and I also liked the challenges he presented for Bill. The need to not change history when travelling through time was slightly addressed in Thin Ice but Bill was really questioning it in this novel which was superb. She was almost angry at the Doctor for not allowing her to save a few lives from the plague. The Doctor though seemed to change his rules more and more as the story went on which was ironic. That line he was drawing soon went from one person to one city. Not much of a stretch then. The story of Thomas and Isobel and their daughter Catherine was a very emotional one and I must admit I was quite surprised that it actually turned out to be pivotal to the story's resolution. Betsy and Agnes also had a very nice story and I liked how Bill had worked out that the two were obviously an item. That would have to be kept a secret in the seventeenth century of course but she saw it which was good. The concept of the Night Doctor was intriguing and I liked how it was merely an animation of what Annabelle was doing in the day. Her death was rather emotional but it served a crucial purpose. The Psycholops was another interesting concept and the fact that it was empathetic was really intriguing. That is something I haven't seen explored in a very long time. It was also keeping a volcano dormant which was pretty crucial but the plague had brought an immense amount of grief to Edinburgh and the pain was proving to much for the giant creature. The Doctor and Bill soon saw to that though by bringing Catherine back to her parents and providing an injection of unadulterated happiness. The Doctor playing the Pied Piper to all the Grief-leeches was quite the image but it certainly worked out well. The pace of the novel was very good and made for easy reading and I liked how consistent the story was throughout. The reference to Fear Her and the implication of the Sisters of Plenitude playing a role in things were just added bonuses to what was a terrific book! I'm glad to have read it before the television series concludes tomorrow and I must say that it was a very good read. Overall, an excellent novel!

Rating: 9/10