Snowglobe 7

"Extreme weather was now commonplace."

Writer: Mike Tucker

Format: Novel

Released: April 2008

Series: NSA 23

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

Earth, 2099. Global warming is devastating the climate. The polar ice caps are melting.

In a desperate attempt at preservation the Governments of the world have removed vast sections of the Arctic and Antarctic and set them inside huge domes across the world. The Doctor and Martha arrive in Snowglobe 7 in the Middle East, hoping for peace and relaxation. But they soon discover that it's not only ice and snow that has been preserved beneath the Doctor.

While Martha struggles to help with an infection sweeping through the holidaymakers the Doctor discovers an alien threat that has lain hidden since the last ice age. A threat that is starting to thaw. 

Verdict

Snowglobe 7 was a really good read as I near the end of my reading with the Tenth Doctor and Martha! I didn't realise that I only have one full-length book with the pairing left now which is exciting because I have got through their books over a span of a good number of years. I thought the setting of 2099 worked well and it had a similar message to the recent airing of Orphan 55 with the horrors of global warming being realised. Parts of the Antarctic and Arctic had been placed inside domes where the conditions could maintain them and of course the Doctor and Martha landed within the seventh. The SnowGlobes were quite fun and had a lot of potential, especially with the use of ice and awakening a species that had been dormant since the Stone Age. That made them old. Very old. The Gappa as they were eventually named within the last forty pages or so were interesting villains whist not really having bad intentions. They were simply on a survival mission and that made the Doctor's decision to have to cause genocide all the more difficult with him recalling the Time War and all he went through with that decision. Martha being utilised for her medical skills was good to see and it allowed her to shine as the companion which is always great. I really enjoyed how she was also trying to not let slip that she was from nine decades in the past by reacting to what she assumed must be the ordinary in the late-21st century setting. The Series 3 feel was well captured and the Doctor harmlessly mentioning the Rose Tower didn't sit right with Martha because to her, what else would the most impressive building in Saudi Arabia be called? I felt there may have been one or two too many characters but the bulk of them were really enjoyable. Dr Jaffa was very good and his death was certainly felt after he'd created a good relationship with Martha. Ku'ra was also terrific with the companion and I was quite intrigued that it seemed to be Martha having all of the character interaction. The Doctor meanwhile had a fantastic relationship with Twelve who was a brilliant robotic character. Seeing it struggle with emotions and the recollection of the tunnel collapse was definitely difficult for it which was very interesting. The Flisk being integrated in human society seemed a bit of a stretch to me with no particular background to events, but that's not to say it was bad at all. Martha feeling appalled when she had her mind infiltrated at the start was excellent. The use of the telepathic nature of their abilities worked well, but I do think they could have been utilised more than in the instance of escape. There's a lot of capabilities there which were perhaps slightly under-utilised. The story for Director Cowley was quite emotional as she was clearly in some severe mental distress with everything that was going on. The threat in this book was incredible with every species on Earth at risk from the dust infection from the Gappa. Their evolutionary cycle was just unsustainable. The ending came quickly and with pace which was exciting for the climax and I liked how the TARDIS was used to rid the threat immediately. It was certainly an efficient way to close out the novel which I really enjoyed from start to finish! It was very solid. The adventure for Rapley was humorous following him creeping across and trying to get away with being blamed for O'Keefe's death, but he was still alive! That was a really good moment. Overall, an enjoyable read!

Rating: 8/10