Child Of Time

In the early 00's when there was a fair amount of certainty that Doctor Who was never coming back so we should just be jolly grateful for whatever we get, no matter what format it is, a company called Telos secured the rights to create Doctor Who novellas. There were normal novels coming out, but there was a bit of a rule that said the novels should reflect the era of the
Doctor being written for, which meant that only the eighth Doctor could have novels that were a little "radical". Telos felt no such constraints and they produced a number of interesting works, but one of the best was one called "The Cabinet Of Light" in which a Doctor (unknown incarnation) worked with black spiv Honore Lechausseur and the mysterious Emily Blandish against a creature made of bits and its mistress. Short years later Doctor Who was given a new lease of life and Telos lost the rights to make these novels, but Honore and Emily were a bit of a hit and so they were given their own spin-off series.

Til now the Time Hunter novellas have been quite interesting, pursuing different ideas and giving us the opportunity to see time travellers in a slightly different way. We still know nothing about Emily and Honore has become more of an action hero than a pseudo-Doctor. Sadly, all good things come to an end, and thanks to declining sales, the Time Hunter series has been wrapped up with Child Of Time, a book which attempts to tie up all the loose ends, including the video Daemos Rising.

As a consequence of the publishers banging on about the Daemos Rising connection, and given that most readers of the novellas are Doctor Who fans, and as such a novel featuring gargoyles being brought to life...well, it's not too difficult to work out who are the villains in this particular novel. There are some nice connections to the Doctor Who universe of norm (and it's difficult to work out whether this is a parallel universe for Doctor Who, or not) with some great references to The Daemons, and all of this neatly ties the series back into its origins. What's more impressive is the fact that Dr Smith actually makes an appearance. Clearly this is the same Doctor that was in The Cabinet Of Light, and so the fact that Telos had the balls to use the Doctor, albeit pseudonomonously, is actually a fantastic way to come full circle.

However, we've come a fair way with Honore and Emily and it's great to see the two of them really take center stage for the final showdown. The characters have been well developed by various writers over the years, and its a testament to them that there is a twinge of sadness in me at the thought of having lost these two characters.

Child Of Time is a great novel for those who loved the series and particularly for those Doctor Who fans who really enjoyed The Cabinet Of Light - the payoff is worth the wait. If you don't read it though, I wouldn't suggest you pick it up. It will confusing and ultimately annoying.

"A"