Doctor Who: The Bog Warrior ~ Cecelia Ahern (earc) review [#DoctorWho @Cecelia_Ahern]

Doctor Who: The Bog Warrior (Time Trips series)
BBC Digital
May 8, 2014
42 pages
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Arriving on the planet Cashel, the Tenth Doctor witnesses a strange masked ball. To guarantee peace, Prince Zircon has to choose a bride from the Bog People - dead men and women who have been resurrected as slaves. Or as warriors. But Zircon is in love with the enslaved Princess Ash, whose parents were deposed and executed by the current Queen. As usual, the Doctor has walked right into trouble, and it's up to him to sort it out.

The idea of Cecelia Ahern, author of P.S. I Love You, The Book of Tomorrow and others, writing a Doctor Who story seemed interesting. That the story was about the Tenth Doctor was even better.

"The Bog Warrior" is a bit of a twist on Cinderella, with aliens.

The story in "The Bog Warrior" seems well thought out and is quite original. The Bog People, the society and the romance and conflict at the center of the story are all intriguing. The premise and the characters are ones I could easily see made into a longer tale.

The story is weaker, though, as a Doctor Who tale. While the Doctor is, of course, present and the dialogue fit, there was not enough - of either his presence or dialogue. He was not as essential to the unfolding and, ultimately, the resolution of the story as I would have liked. The Doctor was more of a side character.

I did appreciate that the titles and summaries of the other Time Trips installments were included at the end of "The Bog Warrior." ("The Bog Warrior" was available for the US on NetGalley, some of the others were, too, others seemed to be UK only.)

While this Time Trips story was just okay for me (especially when it came to the fact that it was a Doctor Who tale), I liked my introduction to the series. Other titles in this series sound promising - some appeal to me more than others - and I look forward to reading more of them. It's worth mentioning that short stories feature different incarnations of Doctor Who (The Third, Fourth, Sixth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors).



Rating: 6/10


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received via NetGalley from the publisher