Rogue

"This was one hell of a first date."

Writers: Kate Herron & Briony Redman

Format: Novel

Released: August 2024

Series: Target 184

Featuring: Fifteenth Doctor, Ruby

Synopsis

Earth's Regency era – a time of culture, extravagance, sumptuous balls... and aliens?

While Ruby is a popular new addition to the Duchess of Pemberton's ball, the Doctor's word is about to be forever rocked by a dashing visitor from space. With many party-guests facing an identity crisis like no other, is up to the Doctor and Ruby to stop the menacing Chuldur's plot.

Verdict

Rogue was a terrific novelisation of the story of the same name from the latest series with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby! For whatever reason, this was probably the release I was least looking forward to of the three new additions to the Target library this year, and despite all three getting the same rating, I think this did the best job of staying true to what I believe a Target novel should be. In the last Doctor Who Magazine, the review for this book was probably a tad harsh in saying it was a simple retelling. I thought that was far from the case. Sure, we didn't get an additional chapter from the events of Robot like we did in Doctor Who and the Face of Evil, but I was very impressed with the additional detail that just couldn't be captured on screen. I do remember thinking on broadcast that the episode could have done with a longer duration to explore the relationship between the Doctor and Rogue, and thankfully the book does a really great job of pacing that out. It doesn't feel so sudden and whilst the pace on screen was electric, this was more measured which I think is the right approach in prose. You can definitely tell that it's helpful to have the writers who wrote the story for broadcast also penning the novelisation as they just know their characters. There is an entire backstory for Art as the one that Rogue lost which is really good. They tackle a dodgy fizzy drink company in the form of the Gurgle and actually reading about his loss makes the moments towards the end with the Doctor more relatable. We obviously know what the Doctor has gone through, but now we get a much better idea for Rogue. It's also lovely to read the inner thoughts of both the Doctor and Rogue when it comes to taking a shine to one another, and the moment they proclaim the other as the murderer is played wonderfully. The Kylie on-off singalong is naturally not going to be as impactful and as fun as it was on screen, but it still brought a smile to my face. Ruby has a solid outing here as she revels at being in the real life world of Bridgerton and I liked how it was described that this television series was her latest binge. That's just real. I think the party setting is good and Ruby's relationship with Emily in particular is a delight. Hearing the word cushy is new to her. I like the focus on finding a scandal and the whole story definitely does feel more scandalous in this version. I think the Chuldurs are perhaps where things go slightly into the realm of disservice in prose. The visuals aren't there and I think to make an impactful description it would have required less of them. Or the descriptions shouldn't have all come at once. That felt like an odd passage. I thought the ghostly letter from Art to Rogue was a nice touch as well, although the ambiguity on if it actually existed at all was a tad confusing. And unnecessarily so. One thing where I thought the book did excel at was in Ruby's playing cosplay in pretending to be a Chuldur that took her form. The Doctor was angered and distraught at the thought of losing her, and that was clear for Rogue to see. The trap was set with Ruby within and when she revealed she was still her, the emotion was so powerful. The countdown was full of action and I was flying through the pages on the Kindle! The decision from Rogue to swap places is incredible and I loved the inner rationale that he didn't want the Doctor to go through the same thing he did. He would become the one lost this time around, and his hope that the Doctor would find him was stunning. I thought the epilogue was decent and whilst I like getting an additional scene beyond the televised episode, I think it kind of takes away from the mystery. Rogue in a cave doesn't sound as cool as another dimension anywhere and when. Regardless, this was still a very strong read! 

Rating: 8/10