Jamie Revell ( of Masters of Luck and Death)

Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Sea Monsters (5E) (LGP479SM015E) by Miguel Colon	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A selection of 58 sea-themed monsters ranging from CR0 up to 30 - although mostly in the lower half of that range. A fair few, especially at the lower end of the scale, are real-world creatures or close variations thereof, but even these provide a go ...more
Oct 31, 2026 03:12AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book it was amazing Torchwood: The Hollow Choir by Malcolm Devlin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Rhys joins a rescue mission to save three teenagers trapped in a cave system by the Welsh coast. That set-up is something we see from time to time on the news but here, of course, there is the added danger of the cave having a sinister supernatural r ...more
Oct 31, 2026 02:35AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book Doctor Who: The Fugitive Doctor, Vol. 1: Most Wanted by Robert Valentine	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Fugitive Doctor has, it seems to me, a somewhat ambiguous position in fandom. The character herself is often cited as popular, despite the limited amount we see of her on screen, but her supposed position within the Doctor’s personal timeline rai ...more
Oct 18, 2026 11:48AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it The Masked City (The Invisible Library, #2) by Genevieve Cogman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The second book in the series expands the setting of the original by exploring an alternate based on Venice during the Carnival, as well as other elements of the wider multiverse. We get to see far more of the Fey and the Dragons, more clearly presen ...more
Oct 04, 2026 01:07PM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Doctor Who and the Brain Drain by Richard James (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This story is a clear fit for season seven, not least in being three hours long, although the nebulous nature of the threat is more reminiscent of that in The Mind of Evil rather than, say, The Silurians. It sees the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier at ...more
Oct 03, 2026 11:44PM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book it was amazing Torchwood: End Game by Tom Black	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Tosh and three senior politicians are locked in a bunker to take part in an emergency preparedness exercise to see how they respond to a simulated alien invasion. To begin with, it's a battle of personalities between the politicians as they squabble ...more
Sep 27, 2026 01:07AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Zygon Century: Infiltration by Jonathan Barnes (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Three stories about a long-term plan by the titular shapeshifters that unfolds over the course of the 20th century. The episodes are partly standalone, each featuring a different cast of characters, and set decades apart, although they are connected ...more
Sep 25, 2026 01:33AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Doctor Who: The Living Darkness by Jacqueline Rayner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An elderly Steven Taylor wakes to find himself trapped on a mysterious spaceship in this 3-hour story. In fact, it's very much a Steven Taylor story, with the Doctor playing a secondary role - he doesn't even show up until 30 minutes in. One might pe ...more
Sep 21, 2026 12:22AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Asian Monsters (5E) by Miguel Colon	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This contains a large selection of monsters drawn from Asian sources. The highest number are Japanese, but Korean, Chinese, and various Southeast Asian countries are also included, along with India, and even some from Australia. There are also a few ...more
Sep 19, 2026 01:24AM · like · see review
Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters - Volume 5: Faithful Friends by John Dorney	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Four more stories in which Doctors from the classic series encounter aliens from the modern version – not all of which are necessarily “monsters”. Since they’ve already used the more famous ones in the earlier volumes, there’s perhaps a hint of ‘scra ...more
Sep 13, 2026 12:05PM · like · see review

Jamie Revell rated a book really liked it

Sea Monsters (5E) (LGP479SM015E)
by Miguel Colon

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A selection of 58 sea-themed monsters ranging from CR0 up to 30 - although mostly in the lower half of that range. A fair few, especially at the lower end of the scale, are real-world creatures or close variations thereof, but even these provide a go ...more

Jamie Revell rated a book it was amazing

Torchwood: The Hollow Choir
by Malcolm Devlin

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Rhys joins a rescue mission to save three teenagers trapped in a cave system by the Welsh coast. That set-up is something we see from time to time on the news but here, of course, there is the added danger of the cave having a sinister supernatural r ...more

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Doctor Who: The Fugitive Doctor, Vol. 1: Most Wanted
by Robert Valentine

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The Fugitive Doctor has, it seems to me, a somewhat ambiguous position in fandom. The character herself is often cited as popular, despite the limited amount we see of her on screen, but her supposed position within the Doctor’s personal timeline rai The Fugitive Doctor has, it seems to me, a somewhat ambiguous position in fandom. The character herself is often cited as popular, despite the limited amount we see of her on screen, but her supposed position within the Doctor’s personal timeline raises considerable ire in some quarters. So it’s important to note that this collection meshes with the ‘official’ story. Not only is the Division mentioned, but the Doctor has no sonic screwdriver or knowledge of the Daleks, and the police-box look of the TARDIS is lampshaded. If you’ve come up with headcanon that fits with what’s on screen but avoids the whole pre-Hartnell thing, then this should be fine, since otherwise, it’s only important that this version of the Doctor is running from something. But the assumption here is that you’re okay with the basic idea and want to see more of Jo Martin’s interpretation of the character.

Fast Times
The first story kicks off the entire “Fugitive” plotline by showing the Doctor’s initial escape from the Division, while leaving the reason for it a mystery. This leads into an action-heavy story in which the Doctor tries to flee her pursuers only to get caught up in a fight against the Daleks, a foe she has yet to encounter in her own timeline. Here, we begin to see the interpretation of her character that’s likely to dominate. Unlike her later selves, she is genuinely reluctant to get involved, but finds herself drawn in anyway, her conscience sometimes fighting with her better judgment.

The character who takes the companion role in this is interesting, too. Initially appearing one way, she grows as we learn more about her, taking the story in a different direction than the opening parts of it make it seem, and showing that even this loner Doctor sometimes needs somebody to support them. It’s all a strong start to the series, bringing in a possibly overused iconic foe to make it clear that this really is the same character, while also highlighting her differences. The fast pace and dramatic scenes also help to keep it memorable. 4.5 stars.

The Legend of Baba Yaga
It’s almost a given in these three-episode “box sets” that one episode will be set in the past, and here, we’re in 16th-century Russia. However, the theme is very much that of folklore, with a peasant girl abused by her stepmother taking the companion role in a story built around the mythical witch. The interest here is seeing the Doctor’s scientific approach battering up against a foe that appears entirely magical; we know from the TV series that things indistinguishable from magic do exist in this universe, but she apparently doesn’t yet.

Even so, it’s clear that some sort of explanation will be forthcoming, although those brought up on The Shakespeare Code or The Church on Ruby Road may be expecting a different approach. This aside, it’s more of a fairy tale than anything else, perhaps feeling a little out of place… but the show has always embraced different genres, and this is no different. The extent to which it works may depend on what you’re looking for, and I can see both those looking for SF and those comfortable with fantasy finding that this falls a little too much in between, but the Doctor’s force of personality helps carry it through. 3.5 stars.

The Dimension of Lost Things
The final story in the collection returns to what makes this version of the Doctor especially distinctive: the story of her being pursued. Here, her attempts to avoid the Division lead her into a pocket universe filled with various items and places lost throughout time – mostly, but not entirely, from Earth. The struggle to survive in the unusual environment soon takes an even stranger turn, which it would be spoilery to reveal, but that does give Martin a good opportunity to show off some of her strengths.

It’s another story where the pace keeps up, and with more than one twist along the way. The guest characters assisting the Doctor are surprisingly effective, even if those on the villain’s side are rather less so. It also gives us some idea of just how desperate and messed up the Division is, and hints at what’s obviously going to become the larger plot arc in this series going forward. In a sense, showing us the Fugitive Doctor is one of those things that Big Finish does to cover as many bases as it can get away with, but here, as it did with the War Doctor, it’s really making something of her, working to the character’s strengths and doing something new with the story around her.

It’s different to what we normally get, with the Doctor primarily striving to save herself but not abandoning those around her. I look forward to seeing where this is going. 4.5 stars. ...more

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The Masked City (The Invisible Library, #2)
by Genevieve Cogman (Goodreads Author)

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The second book in the series expands the setting of the original by exploring an alternate based on Venice during the Carnival, as well as other elements of the wider multiverse. We get to see far more of the Fey and the Dragons, more clearly presen ...more

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Doctor Who and the Brain Drain
by Richard James (Goodreads Author)

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This story is a clear fit for season seven, not least in being three hours long, although the nebulous nature of the threat is more reminiscent of that in The Mind of Evil rather than, say, The Silurians. It sees the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier at ...more

Jamie Revell rated a book it was amazing

Torchwood: End Game
by Tom Black

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Tosh and three senior politicians are locked in a bunker to take part in an emergency preparedness exercise to see how they respond to a simulated alien invasion. To begin with, it's a battle of personalities between the politicians as they squabble ...more

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Zygon Century: Infiltration
by Jonathan Barnes (Goodreads Author)

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Three stories about a long-term plan by the titular shapeshifters that unfolds over the course of the 20th century. The episodes are partly standalone, each featuring a different cast of characters, and set decades apart, although they are connected Three stories about a long-term plan by the titular shapeshifters that unfolds over the course of the 20th century. The episodes are partly standalone, each featuring a different cast of characters, and set decades apart, although they are connected by whatever the aliens are doing in the background. Although each story has a different tone, they are all relatively dark, often playing on the question of who you can trust when up against shape-changing aliens. Despite his appearance on the cover, the Doctor only appears in the final episode, so if you’re more interested in him than the aliens, you may be disappointed.

1901 – The Unknowing Mirror
The first story, set at the very beginning of the century, features a woman experiencing visions of the titular enemy (they’re not actually named until the halfway point, but the collection title rather gives it away). She seeks help from an investigator of the occult and… well, not a lot seems to happen. There are various attempts by the investigator to use hypnotism to dredge up details of the otherworldly influence, but they don’t amount to much, and the story drags more than it needs to. Few of the characters are sympathetic and there’s an apparent plot hole towards the end where key developments happen entirely ‘off-screen’.

I can see what it’s going for: a ghost story featuring investigators loosely in the mould of Sherlock Holmes, but with ‘supernatural’ elements. It’s a genre that was popular at the time the story is set, and it does fit with the milieu. But it’s too slow and, despite a ‘surprise’ ending doesn’t really go anywhere. A bit of a damp squib to set up the story arc. 2.5 stars.

1935 – The Miracle of Pendour Cove
The second story, fortunately, is much stronger. Here, a fisherman’s son encounters a beautiful woman on a Cornish beach, with no memory of her past. It’s clear from early on what she actually is, but her motives are less so, and it’s significant that she soon becomes the main viewpoint character of the story. It’s very much a character piece, feeding, to some extent, off the insularity of the community, but more so on the experiences and past of the man who has inadvertently taken a Zygon into his home.

The strength of this is how it develops, revealing more of the human backstory to events and changing from something charming to a tale that’s much more sinister. It’s emotional rather than action-oriented, and has little of the horror overtones of the first episode, either, except perhaps in a psychological sense. But as an emotional story it works, playing with the listener’s sympathies until an ending that finally ties in to the wider plot arc of the series. 5 stars.

1957 – Double Agent
The final episode is the most conventional of the set, and also the one that features the Doctor, although it isn’t told from his perspective. Instead, we have MI5 investigating the Zygon threat, sending a top agent to locate their base. Teaming up with the Doctor and others, he almost immediately finds himself under threat, and there’s a struggle to survive and to outwit the enemy. As in the previous episode, there’s the inevitable question as to whether anyone involved is actually a Zygon infiltrator, with pretty much everyone coming under suspicion at some point.

There’s a fair degree of action, as well as some further insight into this particular group of Zygons, even if their long-term plan remains unclear at this point. By following on, in part, from the fallout of the previous episode, it also gives a clearer idea of the ongoing plot, in this case seen through a lens of ‘50s Cold War paranoia. It ends on a cliffhanger, although it’s notable that the first story in the second volume is set earlier than this one, so it isn’t followed up on immediately. 4 stars. ...more

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Doctor Who: The Living Darkness
by Jacqueline Rayner

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An elderly Steven Taylor wakes to find himself trapped on a mysterious spaceship in this 3-hour story. In fact, it's very much a Steven Taylor story, with the Doctor playing a secondary role - he doesn't even show up until 30 minutes in. One might pe An elderly Steven Taylor wakes to find himself trapped on a mysterious spaceship in this 3-hour story. In fact, it's very much a Steven Taylor story, with the Doctor playing a secondary role - he doesn't even show up until 30 minutes in. One might perhaps argue about how effective he is at carrying a story of this length, and some of the scenes are not quite as convincing as they might be, but the support from the Doctor and the guest characters helps, as does Dodo once she eventually turns up. While Noonan's voice is never going to sound like Hartnell's, he is getting better at picking up the intonations and cadence of his performance, and I'm finding it less distracting than I used to as he gets into the character.

As for the story, it moves about between different settings, although always centred on the spaceship, which helps to break up the unusual length. It's also a sequel of sorts to The Dalek Master Plan, with plenty of references to that story. Rather like that story, there are several threads in the plot, although some of them are resolved a little too easily. There are also references to past Big Finish releases filling some of what happened to Steven after The Savages, but these are easily followed, and you don't need to have listened to those to understand what's happening here.

On the plus side, there are some nice ideas in this, and the links back to season three of the classic show are entertaining, including a welcome exploration of what happened at the end of The War Machines. It's also a good character drama, rather than some epic adventure, exploring Steven's fate, and doing some good work with the guest characters, too. It's probably not one for those unfamiliar with the specific era, but it's not one that's been heavily tapped so far (compared with, say, Ian and Barbara) so it remains a little different from the usual. Despite a few flaws, and if taken as the character piece it's intended to be, it broadly succeeds and should be enjoyable for those in the niche market it's aiming for. ...more

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Asian Monsters (5E)
by Miguel Colon

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This contains a large selection of monsters drawn from Asian sources. The highest number are Japanese, but Korean, Chinese, and various Southeast Asian countries are also included, along with India, and even some from Australia. There are also a few ...more

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Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters - Volume 5: Faithful Friends
by John Dorney

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Four more stories in which Doctors from the classic series encounter aliens from the modern version – not all of which are necessarily “monsters”. Since they’ve already used the more famous ones in the earlier volumes, there’s perhaps a hint of ‘scra Four more stories in which Doctors from the classic series encounter aliens from the modern version – not all of which are necessarily “monsters”. Since they’ve already used the more famous ones in the earlier volumes, there’s perhaps a hint of ‘scraping the barrel’ here, but some of the stories are surprisingly good at finding new ways to use their subjects.

The Krillitane Feint
The first story features the Second Doctor blundering into a secret military base where scientists are experimenting on the Krillitane. It is, of course, a base-under-siege, appropriately enough for Two’s era, albeit with the monsters already inside the base and under heavy sedation. There’s good interplay between the Doctor and the military as he tries to make them see his point of view without giving away his cover story in the days before psychic paper. In fact, the whole thing is cleverly constructed, making good use of the Krillitanes’ ability to take on the features of other races. The result is a story that makes minor antagonists from a story far more remembered for something else into something rather scarier. As well as questioning which race it is here that are really the monsters… 5 stars.

The Dying Breed
The next story features the classic lineup of the Fourth Doctor and Leela. They are as good as always, with both playing key roles in the story. There’s also a good mystery at the heart of it, with a king’s heir stricken by an unknown malady as the whole world around the characters appears to be suffering. The primary antagonist is a bit one-dimensional, but many of the other characters are not, and the eventual explanation is an interesting one. A minor downside is that there’s no particular reason for the story to feature the Lupari as opposed to any other random alien race. True, it does give an opportunity to explain some of the background to the race as they appear in Flux – this story being set over 12,000 years earlier, when they’re mostly medieval. There’s also some fun with their reaction to K9, although it doesn’t really go anywhere. That aside, they could have been anything, although the hint of the familiar may help for those listeners who know the new series better than the old one – especially if they’re fans of Thirteen. 4 stars.

The Krillitane Relic
A direct sequel to the first story in the set, this features the Seventh Doctor arriving at a space station dedicated to human cryogenics. His companion here is Ray, much older than she appeared in Delta and the Bannermen, something that will apparently be explained in a regular Seventh Doctor audio released several months after this one was. That’s a little confusing, and unnecessary bit of timey-wimeyness presumably introduced by production schedules, but, if you can get past it, it doesn’t affect the story too much. It’s less inventive than the story it’s a sequel to, but it does manage to build on it in an effective way, dealing with some of the Doctor’s regrets over what happened to Zoe and Jamie at the end of The War Games. Other than that, it’s a fairly straightforward runaround, albeit with the twist that the listener starts off knowing something the Doctor doesn’t. 4 stars.

Five Hundred Ways to Leave Your Lover
The final story in the collection is, frankly, a bit bizarre. The monsters here are the Monks from Lie of the Land, once again playing with perception to obtain freely given consent to their plans. The story jumps between (apparent) realities, tied around a man who believes he is the Doctor’s lover and is trying to break up with him. It’s an interesting premise, but it never quite works, perhaps because the setup is obviously fake, leaving the listener only with the mystery of why the central character thinks otherwise. The first half is particularly disjointed, if intentionally so, perhaps creating more frustration than is intended. It all becomes clearer towards the end, but even then, the Monks themselves remain largely offscreen and, beyond setting things in motion, are largely incidental to the story. Sure, there’s a decent LGBT rom-com in there (which may be a plus or a minus, depending on your tastes), but that only really comes to the fore at the end. 3 stars. ...more

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	Masters of Luck and Death by Greg Stafford (Editor), Stephen Martin (Goodreads Author), David Dunham liked it 3.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anaxial's Roster: Creatures of the Hero Wars (Hero Wars Roleplaying Game, 1103) by Jamie Revell (Goodreads Author), Greg Stafford 3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2000	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of Glorious Joy liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kingdom of the Flamesword liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of Glorious Joy: Adventure in the Gloranthan West 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jamie’s Year In Books

Jamie Revell’s Followers (13)

Jamie’s Bookshelves

Jamie’s Friends (62)

2026 Reading Challenge

Jamie Revell

Goodreads Author

Combine EditionsJamie Revell’s books

Jamie’s Recent Updates

recent postsJamie’s Groups

Jamie’s Friend Comments

Combine Editions
Jamie Revell’s books

recent posts
Jamie’s Groups