Legends of Camelot

"Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice your Queen."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Novel

Released: June 2021

Series: NSA 68

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

While investigating a strange energy in Carbury, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble are pulled into a different dimension, creating a giant hole into another world in the process.

As the magic of the hidden dimension slowly leaps out, the Doctor and Donna find themselves in Camelot, where a young squire, Arthur, comes to their aid. When the Doctor is mistaken for Merlin, they are swept up in the glamorous and daring legends of the Knights of the Round Table.

But something far more menacing has been awakened. Caught in an ancient battle for power. Donna and the Doctor are sucked into a dangerous game. As each move is made and time spins faster, the Doctor must find a way to seal the rift before an unimaginable power is unleashed and the universe is laid to waste.

Verdict

Legends of Camelot was a decent read to continue this whacky pairing of New Series Adventures we've had in summer 2021! I loved The Wonderful Doctor of Oz so much that I received this book shortly after completing it for Father's Day and whilst it didn't live up to the standard set with the other novel, this was still a solid adventure. I thought the pairing of the Tenth Doctor and Donna was perfect for this one, with the big strength being the companion. There were so many opportunities for humour and jibes in the book that Donna was just the right character for all of that. She couldn't be touched. The initial moments where it appeared that Arthurian legend was going to play a big role in the story was fantastic with the scenes in the TARDIS between the Doctor and Donna being a standout. Donna's reaction to the Doctor basically admitting he was Merlin was outstanding and something you could easily see happening on television during Series 4. I was impressed with how authentic to the era this felt at the start before things went a bit whacky, as was to be expected given the style of the novel. I enjoyed Donna mocking the Doctor's title of once being Lord President of the Time Lords, and her initial reaction to finding that he even held that office was magnificent. The explanation of Merlin, the real one, being how the Doctor and Donna could enter the Druse was good and I liked how despite how mad this story was there was an effort to provide a logical explanation. I feel that was important. The references to Battlefield were good and I was glad that they were referenced given the strong Arthurian theme in that serial. Once we got to Camelot, I was only a mild fan of events and the idea of a quest excited me at first, but I wasn't a huge fan of the style that was taken here. I liked the concept of finding the dream wisps and how the ten could be used to seal the Druse, but one element I didn't like was the time hops. I felt they took away from the story as at any moment, everything and anything could, and often did, change. That didn't work too well for me, but the moment that Donna was able to stop one definitely took me by surprise so I enjoyed that. The Guardians of Arthur and Morgwen and the description of their eternal game and the latter's constant resetting was great, and I liked the idea of them never being able to win because they couldn't exist without the other so a victor would mean they both lost. That was fun to play with for beings so powerful. Morgwen having been within Donna was a good twist but one I ought to have seen coming, and the Doctor was certainly not surprised which was fun. I quite liked how the 3D glasses infamously seen in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday were used to identify the wisps and Donna's reaction to using them and taking her own initiative was good. I really liked how much the Doctor cared for Donna and that was so evident throughout the book. He didn't want to take any risks with her which was really nice. I thought the characters of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot in particular stood out, and Donna's fascination with the latter was tremendous. I liked that she had knowledge of the legend, but so did the Doctor and he was used to explain to readers with a lack of it just what it entailed. The conclusion felt like a small anticlimax with Donna finding four of the wisps at once, but the revelation that it was the scabbard that could seal the ten wisps into the Druse was a good final twist. Overall, I thought this had some clever ideas and was a lot of fun, but less jumping about would have benefitted things in my opinion!

Rating: 7/10