Death Riders

"This thing could crash at any moment."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Novel

Released: February 2011

Series: 2in1 1a

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

It's not all fun at the Galactic Fair...

The Galactic Fair has arrived on the missing asteroid of Stanalan and anticipation is building around the construction of the fair's most popular attraction – the Death Ride! But there is something sinister going on behind all the fun of the fair; people are mysteriously dying in the Off-Limits tunnels. Join the Doctor, Amy and Rory as they investigate...

Verdict

Death Riders was a great novel to kick off my long overdue reading of the 2in1 novels from the era of the Eleventh Doctor! For whatever reason, I have passed up on reading these novels because I don't think I took them seriously. But when I had this book in hand from my local library, I was delighted with the quirkiness of two stories in the same book and the way it literally flips over into the other adventure! It's really rather fun. I just feel sorry for the author whose story was placed the wrong way around on the bookshelf! The trio of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory are presented ever so well in the adventure and I was so impressed with how well their personalities and relationships were put into prose. It was effortlessly part of the era which was terrific and really helped with the read. I thought there was some strong humour and the characterisation of the Eleventh Doctor in particular was sublime. Matt Smith's likeness was absolutely nailed by Justin Richards and that instantly helps with my reading. The concept itself was intriguing and after a humorous arrival on an asteroid, the Galactic Fair was not what I was expecting from the bleak landscape initially described. After a quick TARDIS turnaround, the adventurous look around the Fair quickly focused on one ride in particular. One that wasn't even complete yet. The concept behind the Death Ride I must say was a little far fetched, but with it being in the thirty-third century and part of a wide-travelling fair on an asteroid, I could let it slide a little. I thought Perpetual Pete was a fun character and although the comments about him smelling didn't seem all that necessary, his persistence when it came to the Off-Limits zones hinted at something more. I didn't get that sense right away though so I liked how things were paced out. I thought the build to the Death Ride itself being finished was good although I just couldn't accept that the moment it was completed that it would be deemed safe to ride! It was fun though to have a rollercoaster as the central premise for a story and it was incredibly whacky for Rory to be climbing from one carriage to the next as it was going through the mining caves. I thought the Doctor immediately cottoning on to the fact that Pete had knowledge he wasn't sharing was good and the way he challenged him was excellent. Pete didn't do a great job in hiding it once challenged and he knew the game was up against Doctor Clever. That was such a name this Doctor would take on. I thought the history behind the Drexxons was decent and the literal connection a smaller one shared with Garvo became quite the talking point in the story. Amy was aghast that the Drexxon appeared to be chained up to its master and as a slave, but I must say I called it straight away. I knew it would be the other way around and that the Drexxons were the villains! The whole story behind the Perpetuity Chamber was good and I liked how Pete had been on hand for centuries to stop it being reached. But the time had come now after using the Galactic Fair as a front to search far and wide. And here we were. The action that came in the conclusion was a little difficult to imagine with the balancing of the carriages, but I did enjoy how everything was pushed back into the Perpetuity Chamber to really seal things off. Quite literally! The Doctor calling back to The Curse of Peladon with the Venusian lullaby was a nice touch considering we had trisilicate featured in the mines as well. Overall, a really strong story to kick off the series! Intrigue, fun, action and some superb characterisation. A terrific read! 

Rating: 8/10