The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words

The Death and Life of River Song #1

by Robert Valentine

Wrenched from her digital afterlife in the Library, River Song finds herself on sixty-first century Earth, resurrected in a clone body. Billionaire tech mogul Garrison Clay has a mystery to solve, and he's selected River as the person to solve it.

Armed with only her sonic screwdriver and a fake ID, River heads out into a world soon to be ravaged by solar flares... where danger stalks her at every turn.

Book 1 - Apokalypsis
Book 2 - Fate & Fatality
Book 3 - The Black Hours
Book 4 - Book of the Dead

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published August 1, 2024

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This starts out as seemingly just another chapter in the Diary of River Song, and even though it has that BEAUTIFUL theme music and stars the incomparable Alex Kingston, it just felt like a reboot of the whole Diary shtick. Not necessarily bad, just not very imaginative or interesting, so I thought I was finally going to be really disappointed with a River Song release. But no. Not at all. There’s a point when the audience becomes aware of what actually happening and that this entire story is a prequel to the classic Doctor Who serial Doctor Who and the Ark in Space: A 4th Doctor Novelisation and that really raised my investment in the narrative and boosted it by at least two stars for me. Brilliant 4-part narrative, and Kingston shines like she always does!

[Dilos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aslında Diary of River Song serisine devam ediyor gibiyiz. Jenerik müziği bile aynı. Ama isimlendirmedeki farklılığın neden gerekli olduğunu anlıyorum. River’ın günlüğü artık bitti ve bu seride onun hikayesine kütüphaneden sonrasında devam ediyoruz.
Hikaye River’ın zihninin kütüphaneden çekilip kendi bedeninin bir kopyasına aktarılmasıyla başlıyor. River Song diziye girdiği andan beri Doktor’un yapmasını hayal ettiğim şeydi bu. Şimdi birisinin bunu sırf River’ı kullanmak için yapması fikri beni çok rahatsız ediyor. Bu en başından beri Doktor’un göreviydi. River’ın deyişiyle bir kitap gibi onu orada bıraktı.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new River Song release, coming as one big 4 hour story!

Supposedly, this is set after River's time in the library.
However, the story appears to be a "normal" Diary of River song release, that was slightly re-written to fit into the new setting of "reanimated post library".
If you take out the few exposition scenes of River being brought back to life, then this works perfectly well as a Diary of River Song release.

As for the story and writing-
It is VERY well done.
This is a great story, an action thriller, chasing the bad guy, uncovering a conspiracy, that kind of thing.
There are a few mentions of the Doctor and Nerva beacon is featured, but otherwise, returning elements are kept to an absolute minimum.
And it works perfectly!
My previous favorite River release was "Friend of the Family", and that also is a self contained story without returning elements.
Sadly, "Last Words" does not quite reach the quality and emotional rollercoaster of "Friend of the Family", I also think the characters are not developed as well.
But as an action thriller, this is also a completely different type of story, with much higher stakes (here, the world is indeed ending, "Friend of the Family" was a tragic family story).
The pacing is good, and like in "Friend of the Family", there is also some clever layering of the plot, to create a kind of puzzle structure for the listener. Especially the second episode features this strongly and you have to concentrate to unravel the different layers of the plot, to be able to follow the story. I LOVE this kind of stuff.
So yes, this is a very good River release, even if it is not quite as good as "Friend of the Family".

[Eliza ☀︎︎ ☺︎︎ ‎✵ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I will always love you River Song

[Carter Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my guilty pleasure… $40 Doctor Who Audiodramas

[Joseph S · Rating 5 out of 5]

River is bae. Glad it’s a four story box set and not a three story box set or a single, monthly stories.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure how they could continue this with River’s afterlife and all, but I think they pulled it off. And it’s interesting how she speaks of and looks back on The Doctor.

[Clark Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love a good River Song story.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this one and River's husband wouldn't have either. 😕

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rob Valentine's The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words breathes new life into the continuing adventures of River Song. While crammed with more ideas than it can fully explore, Last Words delivers a very Doctor Who take on a pulp detective noir. Alex Kingston brings a heartbreaking sense of loss to River but she tempers it with real, genuine hope. This is a River Song who's come to grips with her death and with the ending of her relationship with the Doctor, and that makes for a fascinating character study that Kingston proves eager to delve into. Though Last Words doesn't quite explore all of its grander ideas to their fullest potential, it nails its emotional center brilliantly. Put simply, Last Words is a must-listen for fans of the character and an exciting new direction for River's ongoing adventures.

Full review available at Geek Vibes Nation.