Victorious I: Surprise!

Saw some Doctor Who books here that I thought you might like including the Time Lord Victorious. They also have a second release in January. Unfortunately I couldn't buy the items then have them shipped to you so we'll have to do it this way. Enjoy!

- Colin

Dear Colin:

Thank you for the Chapters/Indigo Christmas gift certificate!  (Are there still Chapters, or are they all Indigos?)  How odd that they would be unable to deliver to an alternate address, no offense to Indigo but I can't help but think that the last 10 months would have created some flexibility on the shipping front.

Regardless, I’m happy to make my own selections based on your suggestion about the Time Lord Victorious event. 

Like so many other franchises, the Doctor Who series is enhanced and extended by a wide selection of  additional content in other media such as novels or comic books.  It’s an interesting area for me to explore –  by and large, I don't own a lot of novelizations or adaptations, with a few exceptions like the Star Trek story collections that I purchased in 29 Palms last year.

I’ve been casually aware of Time Lord Victorious, a wide-ranging Doctor Who story set in the Dark Times at the start of the universe.  The storyline is taking place in every media format except on the actual series itself:*  books, computer games, graphic novels, short stories, comics, audio plays, T-shirts, YouTube™ videos, escape rooms, and including the immersive Time Fracture event that's been rescheduled to start next spring.  (Hopefully the delay won't cause narrative gaps.)

Some searching on the internet revealed that the primary Time Lord Victorious story line concentrates on the popular 10th Doctor, but also involves the 8th and 9th Doctors, and features appearances by the 13th and 4th Doctors.  Rather like the reboot tradition of having a plot thread that carries through an entire season and then finds resolution in the final episode, the various media will address different aspects of the story, with a culminating novel that wraps things up.

 

 

Armed with the results of my research (and your gift certificate), I went to the Indigo web site and searched for “Doctor Who”.  After being momentarily distracted by the unexpected red herring of Doctors Who Kill, I was presented with the full range of Doctor Who purchasing options. 

 

As per your e-mail, Time Lord Victorious is a work in progress.  The Defender of the Daleks graphic novel was available, as was The Knight, The Fool and The Dead novel, but the sequel, All Flesh is Grass, wasn't going to be available until the new year.  Regardless, I couldn't think of any reason not to pre-order it - the first time I've ever pre-ordered a book.  And, to fill out the budget and continue my research into the extended Doctor Who universe, I ordered a pair of unrelated Doctor Who novels: Engines of War, featuring the War Doctor, and Combat Magicks, the 13th Doctor story that caught my attention (albeit not in a good way) during a walk through Indigo last fall.

 

And now we wait...
 

Thank you again, and merry Christmas!

- Sid

*At least, not part of the actual series as far as I know.  I have no idea what’s queued up for this year’s holiday special or the upcoming 13th season.

"He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice!"

"Nice" seems like the smart option here.

- Sid

Geekmas 2020: Back to Basics.

It's been a long year.

There have been a lot of challenges over the last twelve months, and it's been a difficult time for a lot of people.  As such, everyone seems to be looking forward to holiday cheer, and I've noticed that Christmas decorating has started much earlier than usual.

Although it feels like a better time to give than receive, I was asked to provide some guidance to people who wanted to do exactly that - give - so I sat down at the computer screen to see what I could do for prospective gift-givers.

It's a simpler list than usual - the results of my research weren't entirely helpful.  For example, I was a bit outraged to see that a Doctor Who TARDIS umbrella was $78 on Amazon.ca - it's an umbrella, for heaven's sake, how could it be worth almost $80, I really don't care if it's licensed by the BBC or not. Similarly, how can three pairs of Doctor Who socks possibly cost $83 CAD? (Plus $22 in shipping from the US.) Fifth Doctor action figure and the TARDIS for $197??  Okay, that's it, time to move on.

Finally, I decided that when in doubt, you should go with your strengths - so here's a list of books that I'm interested in:

Network Effect. by Martha Wells - the fifth Murderbot novel. Sadly, only in hardcover, although the March 31st release of the paperback doesn't really bring the price down that much. 

Nophek Gloss, by Essa Hansen.  Just on spec - I read an excerpt chapter on the Orbit Books site, and it seemed interesting.

A Little Hatred: Book 1 of The Age of Madness,  by Joe Abercrombie, or The Trouble With Peace: Book 2 of The Age of Madness, by (you guessed it ) Joe Abercrombie.  The Age of Madness is the sequel to The First Law Trilogy* - there's undoubtedly a Book 3 on the way if anyone wants to wait a year or so and just spend the money on a boxed trade paperback set. 

Left over from last year are Sharps, by K. J. Parker, along with the first volume of Parker's The Two of Swords.  Let's add How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, which may or may not be a sequel to 16 Ways To Defend A Walled City, which I received last year. 

And, just for some variety, a couple of graphic novels:

Joker, written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo.  As far as I know, Joker is one of the few comic book adaptations based on Heath Ledger's unforgettable interpretation of Batman's nemesis, telling a story that takes the reader deep into the twisted psyche of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Batman: Three Jokers, by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok - as with Nophek Gloss, just looks interesting.

And, last but certainly not least, Maus, the groundbreaking 1980 graphic novel by Art Speigelman which in many ways elevated the graphic novel as a storytelling medium - it's not just about superheroes in spandex.

Everything is available from Amazon, which, under the current pandemic conditions, seems like the route to take, although I dare say that most of the books listed would probably be available at chain bookstores if you were comfortable with that.

- Sid

*  And, sort of, Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country - Abercrombie is now on the second generation of the characters featured in the first five six books of his epic grimdark fantasy series, which is as gritty as A Song of Fire and Ice (AKA the Game of Thrones books), but perhaps less likely to kill off the main characters.  Perhaps.