The Maze of Doom

"There's a Minotaur loose in the London Underground."

Writer: David Solomons

Format: Novel

Released: April 2020

Series: BBC Children's #2

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

A toll of danger from deep within the TARDIS...

A deadly predator prowling the tunnels of London...

A high-speed, high stakes race against time!

The Doctor is back in London, where an ancient beast is terrorising the city. As the Time Lord and her friends investigate, they uncover a mystery that will take them from a secret mountain base to the depths of the ocean – and, if they cannot solve it, one of them will perish.

Can the Doctor find a way to save her friends?

Verdict

The Maze of Doom was a great little read! I must admit that prior to starting this book I was a little bit trepidatious that I wouldn't exactly be the target audience if the previous release in The Secret in Vault 13 was anything to go by, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I read and it definitely felt like a New Series Adventures novel in terms of the content, even if the presentation was leaning towards younger readers. I thought the little illustrations at the start of each chapter were terrific and I actually really enjoyed the story as a whole. I was expecting things to be pretty simplified and while I wouldn't describe the plot as complex, it was far from simple! Never in my wildest dreams, even from the cover, was I expecting the Nimon to return to do battle with the Doctor but this is what we got here which was magnificent. I'm a big fan of giving the current incarnation of the Doctor familiar foes to fight against and the links here to the Fourth Doctor and The Horns of Nimon were fantastic. I liked the way power was used in the book and there was definitely an educational element there which I appreciated. The writing of the lead characters was really nicely done and as I'm not his biggest fan, I didn't mind that Ryan was pretty much incapacitated for the second half of the novel. I thought Yaz had a really strong outing as companion which was great to see and I particularly enjoyed her phone call with the future version of the Doctor that had to ensure she chose the right switch when it came to stopping the energy drain from the future and rebalance the universe. It liked that apparently. I thought Graham had a good story too and it was nice for him to enjoy his buses. The characterisation of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor was very good from start to finish and I loved the lines she threw in about Romana and K9. She remembered them fondly which was nice. The illustrations of them appearing to Yaz and giving her comfort was also good. I thought placing the contemporary elements of the story in the near future of London 2028 was intriguing as the world depicted was familiar but also noticeably different. Playing on the global warming threat was very good and another good hidden educational message for the younger readers. I really enjoyed the chapters set in 2000 BC and the links that had with the mythological theme of the book was nicely done. I'm still not in a position of great knowledge when it comes to Greek mythology, but it is something I remain interested in and exploring it here was brilliant. I loved how the Nimon formed the basis of the Minotaur myth and the passages with one loose on the London Underground was perfectly Doctor Who. It combined a lot of great elements from the show's history which I liked and speaking of which I really appreciated the author's nods to the past on a number of occasions. I wasn't expecting that, let alone the Nimon to be the enemies! The Polichroniadis siblings were very good characters and I was quite amused by Ryan clearly fancying Penelope even when she had him under capture. The double cross from her and Panos when the Doctor provided them with the heart they wanted was very good and something I didn't actually see coming which is always a positive! The robot dogs that accompanied the siblings were also quite amusing but I was expecting the Doctor to liken them to K9 a little more. I thought the threat of Ryan having the stone bonding with his eye and sending him on course to physically heat up and pretty much turn volcanic was a brilliant one and I liked how Panos also had the same issue so they both desired a cure. The Doctor deducing that Aeneos was powered by energy from the future was excellent and that's a concept I really enjoy along with the paradoxes that come with it. It was good for her to come up with a plan under pressure but I thought the way the Nimon aspect were rid of was a little too easy for my liking and very soon after the revelation of how they would be defeated was stated. It was still good but there wasn't a lot of time to digest. The ending itself though with Yaz realising the purpose of the phone call and cutting off the supply from the future was nicely done. Overall, a really enjoyable read!

Rating: 8/10