Judoon Monsoon

"Why would a ghost town want to invade a colony simply to muck around with the furniture?"

Writer: Oli Smith
Format: Novel
Released: September 2010
Series: DYD 15

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

Bo-ro-lo-ko-sho! Giant alien insectoids are terrorising the rainy planet Betul and the menacing Judoon are wrecking havoc, too! What's going on? Only you can help the Doctor, Amy and Rory solve the mystery and restore peace!

Verdict

Judoon Monsoon was a very decent little book and a great continuation into my little foray into the Decide Your Destiny novels. Now, the format really isn't aimed at my audience and age group but they are a little bit of fun and I can't say no to an item in the Libraries West catalogue that I haven't blogged but for now, this will probably be my last for a while. They're good, entertaining and lots of fun but they don't quite feel like 'proper' stories. I think that's down to the second person format and I fully appreciate how this will appeal to the younger audience and I'd actively encourage them to continue. Personally though, I just think I should spread them out like I have done in the past and not do them so quickly after another like I have here following last week's reading of Empire of the Wolf. However, I did actually think the story was pretty good and whilst the Judoon didn't actually appear that much, it was great to get a story featuring them alongside the Eleventh Doctor. His reaction to their arrival when he'd just come to Betul for his favourite tea shop was magnificent. I thought the characterisation of the Doctor throughout was actually excellent with Matt Smith's likeness wonderfully captured on the page. I thought the writing of Rory was really good in this adventure too but I did think that Amy could have done a little more. The Doctor's flat out refusal to accept that ghosts exist was a good continuation of his past comments in previous incarnations and I liked how he was looking for something else to show up so he could stop referring to a ghost town. The moving town itself was quite intriguing and the reveal of the Varna was unexpected. They didn't sound like ghosts at all going by their description but they were actually trying to scare off the locals so they could stay on their moving town on a legal technicality. They needed refuge following the destruction of their own planet and the Judoon were just here to evict them. It was an intriguing premise but not the most exciting of ends and I thought the ending itself was pretty shocking which is why my rating lowered considerably. That's probably a bit harsh, and the less said about the typing error of the route that initially really confused me, but I am not a fan of stories that end with an unresolved conclusion and no sign of continuation. It just didn't make sense and things weren't finished with them heading to the Galactic Council? Are we just to assume that the Doctor talked things over? Overall though, still a good little read.

Rating: 7/10