Doctor Who: Shining Darkness

Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #27

by Mark Michalowski

For Donna Noble, the Andromeda galaxy is a long, long way from home. But even two and a half million light years from Earth, danger lurks around every corner...

A visit to an art gallery turns into a race across space to uncover the secret behind a shadowy organisation.

From the desert world of Karris to the interplanetary scrapyard of Junk, the Doctor and Donna discover that appearances can be deceptive, that enemies are lurking around every corner - and that the centuries-long peace between humans and machines may be about to come to an end.

Because waiting in the wings to bring chaos to the galaxy is The Cult of Shining Darkness.

Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the hit sci-fi series from BBC Television.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Time Travel, Fantasy, Adventure

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2008

About the author

Mark Michalowski (born 1963 in Chesterfield) is the editor of Shout!, "Yorkshire's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender paper", as well as being an author best known for his work writing spin-offs based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who. He currently lives and works in Leeds.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor and Donna must avert an intergalactic battle between humans and machines.

It’s a fun adventure that really captures this TARDIS team, especially Donna ‘The Ginger Goddess!’

I practically liked the references to previous adventures, including the Robot Santa’s.

[Nemo ☠️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is what good sci-fi is supposed to be like - using some futuristic technology as a commentary on contemporary issues. moffat did it excellently in the episode oxygen, and michalowski did it excellently in this. condemnation of supremacy in all its forms seems only to get more urgent as the days go by, rather than less so, contrary to one would possibly expect - or hope. this combined with a fantastic, vibrant cast of supporting characters, complex morality and classic doctor who twistiness has made this one of my fave dw books.

that, and this was the first book where donna was really donna-ish.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 stars

There are some times when Donna is just there, and then there are other moments when Donna is there. This book is an instance of the latter. I would read about Donna the Ginger Goddess any day.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story, Donna is the queen of everything in my eyes.

Breaks down into accepting others who may seem different to you, put through the story lens that machines with AI are being discriminated against, and about to be genocided by some who think only organics can be real people. Good story, fun characters, hard choices. The Doctor and Donna are a magnificent team, and the author treats them very well. He himself is gay, and it's easy to read into the misunderstanding the rest of the world has to us, and the fear that they may one day up and decide to wipe us out. It's more than just that parallel but that one's in there.

[Kimberley doruyter · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the best dr who i've ever read but not the worst, i really like donna

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024 52 Book Challenge - November Mini Challenge - 1) Related To The Word "Intergalactic"

This was a fun little romp through space as the Doctor and Donna have to fight a cult. It was an enjoyable read

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third time I read this Doctor Who book since it cam out but as it is over 1000s book away since I last read it it was very funny and forgot lot of the elephant taxis and Ginger jokes

[Stuart Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shining Darkness is not quite as good as Mark Michalowski's previous NSA Wetworld but it's a close thing - and in any case Shining Darkness is still a good deal better than most of the soul-less and dull Doctor Who New Series Adventures which came before it. Michalowski's prose tends to stay this side of lyrical, but that's clearly deliberate and no bad thing given the target audience. He's also already proven to be one of the NSA writers who can actually do comedy, and this novel is no less likely to raise a smile than his previous offerings.

Actually the humour really shines through with a particular highlight being Donna and Mesanth discussing humans, the solar system and the sun is brilliant - even if "our galaxy is miles away" makes Donna sound a little bit too thick, suggesting that Michalowski may have had the 'Runaway Bride' Donna a little too much in mind.

Slightly less subtly, the entire section concerning the Jaftee introduction to the Shining Darkess and the alien 'gods' is also very well done - the totally unexpected discovery that they're not stupid savages is funny, and worthy even of the late Douglas Adams (an obvious influence on the passage). Line after line made me laugh out loud ("Darkness, they muttered in awe, that Shone! Cool!", "High Priest of What We Believe Today", "Enchikka, loving the fact that there were lots of capitals", "Sacred Artefacts were just the dog's bollocks" etc.). This style of humour continues into the next section on the planet Junk, where giant gay robots squabble and bitch at one another and our two heroes, whilst the planetary administrator, 77141, comes across like Prosthetic Vogon Jeltz's less successful provincial cousin.

Away from the funny, the author is obviously keen to take a look at bigotry and prejudice and imo he hits a decent balance between making the point too subtle for younger readers and mere didacticism. In the main this involves Donna's changing attitude to robot life, but even here Michalowski manages to combine humour with just a hint of the more subversive: "Let him have his way and before you know it, we'll be on the scrap heap – literally – and these… these appliances,' he spat the word, 'will be doing our jobs for us." one of the giant robots says of what are basically other, smaller and faster robots.

If there's any real negative to the book, it might be that it's slightly too linear in plotting, moving rapidly from point a to point b to point c, with little of the digressions you would expect of a novel aimed at an older readership. That said, that's a criticism you could aim at virtually all of the NSAs and Shining Darkness turns it into virtue by acknowledging that the whole story is an extended chase and packing each location in that chase with interest and imagination. As linear(ish) novels go, this is a good 'un.

Other unconnected thoughts that peppered my brain while reading the book:

- someone says the horribly bowdlerised word 'heckuva' early on - it's obviously because the BBC think either that all the readers are under 6 and so have to be protected from even the mildest of profanities, or think that all the readership is American and religious and so have to be protected from even the mildest of blasphemies, but either way it doesn't ring true. Luckily Michalowski's a good enough writer that he manages to subvert that by slipping in a joke about a prostitute only a few pages later.

- "a high speed collision between a truck and steel mill' is a brilliant description

- 'Earthers' vs 'humans' - well it made me laugh.

- I assumed in chapter 4 that Khnu em Llodis was to an anagram, cos that's what Who writers do. Twenty minutes with paper and pencil and the best I could come up with was 'uh, kill demons'? Hmm, maybe not...

- the Wirrn get a mention! I squeed like the sad old fanboy I am when they appeared (given the setting of the Andromeda Galaxy, a mention of Drathro from the Mysterious Planet would also have been pretty cool)

Finally, I spotted the ending about a page before it was revealed.

Which is just about as perfect an ending as you could want...

An excellent contribution to a series of extremely variable quality, Shining Darkness makes Mark Michalowski the first NSA author to turn in two good books. Recommended even if you've been otherwise disappointed with the range.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of the Doctor Who books when I was a kid, but I never got round to reading this one for some reason.
But, I decided to read it now because yesterday was the 13th anniversary of 9 regenerating into 10, and this is a story about 10.
This one, for me, wasn't the best out of the books I've read. I found both 10 and Donna slightly OOC at points, and while I get that writing 10 probably isn't the easiest thing in the world, there were a few character traits missing from him, the same going for Donna.
That being said, this was still a classic Doctor Who story, with a powerful message about racism and treating people differently. It's a much needed story in the current political climate.
Overall, a powerful message wrapped in a great story, I just think that there were a few moments where the Doctor and Donna needed a little more work to be accurate to their TV counterparts.

Edit for 2023:
I thought that I'd never read this, and did not remember a thing about it as I read it, but my points still stand from 2018. I also don't fully agree with the ending - how the Doctor dealt with the villains felt very out of character IMO.
TW for racism, sexist comments, fatphobic comments, xenophobia, attempted genocide, death, murder, guns, mentions of mind control, loss of children.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars.

Review soon.

[Macey · Rating 3 out of 5]

the concept was really cool (one of those 'how conscious are robots how intelligent is ai' ones) except i was mislead, I thought it was all set in an art gallery but they were only there for like. one scene. also whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy would you write a doctordonna book and then keep them separated for The Whole Book like?????? you're missing out on all that character dynamic??????????

also 'robot' was essentially a slur which I though was really interesting, they preferred 'machine intelligences' or 'mechanicals'

[Andrew Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. Much better than the Doctor Trap. It was silly but had a moral message at its core that made you ponder how you would act in a similar circumstance.

I bought this way back in 2008. I don't know why I didn't read it at the time. I will probably read it again in 15 years' time!

[Stephen Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was fluffy, and I guess I wasn't in the mood for fluffy. It sometimes seems like writers of the Doctor Who books say to themselves "Oh, here's my chance to do some Douglas Adams humor" and they add too much silliness. Yes, there can be silly in Doctor Who, but it's usually mixed in with serious and sad scenes as well. And then there was a scene where Donna just didn't act like Donna at all. Yes, it was to make a point, but it really didn't seem, to me, to fit her character. And I'll give the author a pass on the silly robot. I guess if you're writing a book about machines being sentient, a silly robot is acceptable.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fun! I liked Donna in this book, a lot, especially the scene with the Ginger Goddess - that quite possibly was my favorite scene in the whole book! There were some parts I didn't care for as much, such as Donna's abrupt change in feelings/beliefs towards the machines when she changed ships - it just didn't seem believable. Why the sudden change? Either I missed something or it wasn't explained. Overall, this was an good story, but it just didn't grip me as much as I hoped it would.

3.5 stars

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Doctor Who you will love this book.

If you are not a fan of Doctor Who then you should read this book so that you can come into the light.


p.s. All hail Donna Noble

Honestly, she's brilliant, my favourite companion of Doctor Who.

[Sarah Brehm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me miss Donna.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly standard plot, but handled well.
Loved Donna as the Ginger Goddess!

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how Donna was able to expand her understanding of sentient life and how that played into this story. Overall a good book.

[Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who – Shining Darkness, by Mark Michalowski, BBC Books 2008. 243 pages.
ISBN 978 1 846 07557 5.

This adventure features the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble.

Two and a half million light years from Earth in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Doctor takes Donna to an art gallery on the planet Uhlala. The Andromeda Galaxy seems to have a population of robots, or mechanical life forms, of a variety of sizes, shapes, intelligence, and sentience that coexists with the biological, or organic life forms. A coexistence that is threatened by hate.

While observing an artifact in the gallery, the Doctor gets some strange readings from it on his sonic. When he turns to a guide to ask about the piece of art, suddenly the artifact is whisked away by transmat beam. Along with Donna.

The Doctor uses the sonic to trace the transmat signal and is on his way to the TARDIS when he is intercepted by a young-looking boy named Boonie and a large robot called Mother. They, in turn, are transmatted away, along with the TARDIS.

Donna materializes on a ship called the Dark Light and meets two humanoids, Garaman and Ogmunee, and a tri-pod lizard-like creature called Mesanth. The Doctor arrives on a ship called the Sword of Justice. There he meets two humanoids, Li'ian and Kellique.

In the ensuing story, the reader learns that the Sword of Justice is in pursuit of the Dark Light. It seems that the crew of the Dark Light isn't art thieves but are a group of the anti-mechanical, pro-organic Cult of Shining Darkness. The artifacts they are collecting aren't just for looks but are indeed part of something big.

A chase across the Andromeda Galaxy, with the Cult collecting more artifacts for their mysterious use, and a ship-swap for the Doctor and Donna, comes to a finish after the Cult assembles their device from the artifacts. The device opens a black hole to allow a much larger ship called the Torch passage. A betrayal of trust, a spy, a death-defying escape to danger, and a forgotten object lead to a thrilling conclusion.

I thought this was a fun adventure. Michalowski got the Doctor and Donna just right. The dialogue and and action fit the characterizations perfectly. The story has a good pace the builds the reader's interest and keeps them reading to see what happens next. Even with the variety of characters, Michalowski's writing style makes it fairly easy to tell them apart and makes the story structure work. I love his metaphors for descriptions, such as the one for Mother: “looking like the result of a high-speed collision between a truck and steel mill.” It doesn't really tell the reader what she looks like but gives the reader the freedom to draw their own impression. It's good writing. The Ginger Goddess is classic!

This story also has an important message about “othering” people and judging on first appearance, about prejudice and racism, about fear and fear-mongering. Messages that are relevant and resonate today. Messages that are told in a relatable way without preaching.

Doctor Who – Shining Darkness is a must read for 10th Doctor and Donna fans. Highly recommended!

[Itami · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I give this book only one star doesn't mean it's a bad story. It really isn't. It's a good sci-fi story with a very satisfying and clever ending. My rating is so low because I -personally- just didn't enjoy reading it. Simple and easy. And that's mainly because this book wants to make a certain point and it does it so horribly.

Instead of showing us that robots can be just as "human" as we are, the book tells us that you either see robots as human-like (then you are a good person like the Doctor) or you see them as worthless (then you are a bad person like Garaman). This topic could've been explored much better, much more nuanced, with more insight into what makes a person a person or a life-form a life-form but that's not what the author wants. The author wants to judge characters based on their opinion, nothing else. Calling someone rac*st because they make a difference between a living creature and a robot is just.. just... no. What makes it even worse in my opinion is that even the robots agree that not every robot should have the same rights. A robot with a sentience under 40 is considered an object (no personality, no rights, can be harmed), whereas a robot with a sentience above that is considered a person (has personality, has rights, can't be harmed). Idk but that sounds more like rac*sm to me than anything else in that book... And what about a robot with a sentience of 39? Hmm? That robot is less of a person than a robot with a 40? Are you sure?
Sorry, I wanted to keep this review short exactly because the whole rac*sm metaphor in this book is so terrible and at the same time I bet there are people out there who celebrate the book because of it. Nah, sorry, at the end of the day a person is a person, no matter what they look like or what they are made of. But looking down on a robot because they are a machine is not the same as looking down on another human being because they have a different skin color.

[Hidekisohma · Rating 3 out of 5]

So i've read quite a few 10th doc novels, but they were all Martha books. This was my first Donna one. But i want to read all the donna and marthas, so i finally dug into one (i can't believe it's been over a year and a half since i read a 10th doc book). So was it any good? um.. eh?

This one's basically about Robot racism. Are robots people? There's a group arguing they are and a group arguing they're not. and the doc and donna are caught between the two.

For the first part of the book, Donna's pretty insufferable. she complains, is annoying, and argues a lot. She chills out later in the book, but for the first 1/3, she's extremely annoying. this is my first foray into a Donna novel, so i have no idea if this is typical, or if this is just a one-off. (i've only watched a few episodes of Donna)

The doc, is pretty spot on. acts like he should, is funny and quirky where he needs to be and i absolutely believed it was Tennant that was in the story.

The issue i had was with the other characters. several are interchangeable to when the villain came along i was basically like "...who?" the only real interesting character i came across was MOTHER, a robot who was trying to show that robots are just like people. she was cool and i liked her. other than that, the rest of the characters were very forgettable.

Donna is a bit irritating at times about her views on robots as sentients as it seems to be all over the place. one second she's super pro-machine, the next moment she's verbally bashing robots. but then again donna in GENERAL is kind of annoying, so that's par for the course.

But overall, was it any good? i mean....it was...fine? i read it in 4 days which is average for one of these. Wasn't incredibly excited to finish it, but wasn't dreading it, so there's that.

All in all, solid 3 out of 5. not great, not bad, but 100% not keeping this book. and it's not a book i'd recommend as the 'pinnacle of doctor who novels'.

3 out of 5.

[Dale Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off on another adventure go the Doctor and Donna. This time, in a challenge from his companion to stop being a know-it-all (perfect Donna!!!), the Doctor takes them on a trip to somewhere and somewhen he has never visited. And...as the Andromeda Galaxy isn't THAT far away... the journey begins. But, as is typical fare for the Doctor and all, they soon find themselves caught up in a conflict between two parties who have diametrically opposed beliefs in the meaning of life and intelligence. As the conflict escalates, it soon becomes evident that not only will it lead to a change to every intelligent being in the galaxy they are visiting, but, that change threatens to come home to roost in the Milky Way.

Mark Michalowski takes a turn at writing a story of the 10th Doctor and his third companion and hits the ball out of the park. The Tennant quirks and idiosyncrasies that made him one of the all time Doctors are all here and Michalowski's Donna has Catherine Tate written all over it with all the snarkiness and fun that she brought to the role.

I mean..."THE GINGER GODDESS!!" perfection!!!

As with the best of the new stories in novel form only, this captures the fun and essence of the TV series and would make a wonderful "reverse" adaption BACK to the television screen.

[John Parungao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people have mixed opinions about Donna Noble, I'm one of the people who enjoyed Catherine Tate's over the top performance. People who read Shining Darkness will appreciate the accuracy of Mark Michalowski's portrayal of Donna. The highlight of which is Donna convincing a group of natives that she is a deity named "The Ginger Goddess".

Doctor Who also has a certain formula that often works. Step one separate The Doctor from his companion: check; Donna is kidnapped by an anti machine cult during an art heist. Step two The Doctor has to chase after the companion; The Doctor is captured by a group pursuing the cultists. Step three, separate The Doctor from the Tardis.
As the story progresses the Doctor and Donna although separated move the plot along by learning from both the cultists and a group dedicated to stopping them. A chase ensues as the Cult of the Shining Darkness tries to assemble their ultimate weapon against machine kind.
Which brings us to step four, The Doctor does something sneaky to turn the tables on the cult. It's the usual last minute surprise that dooms the villains. I might say more, but as River Song might say: "Spoilers".

[Rie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can never get enough of this power pair. I think at the end of the book, it wants to convey that machines can also be very human too, despite the fact that they are made of circuits and whatnot. Even with the tiny teensy bit of potential to be sentient, they should be respected. It drew a comparison between how organic and non-organic were not much different and I kinda like it, and I also liked reading it from Donna's pov because unlike the Time Lord who would have gotten used to see all kinds of species, she is based on us so, as usual, nice to see it from a companion's perspective.

The plot twist at the end wasn't too surprising, more like an "ah-ha!" moment when you remembered the clues that were planted way ahead. That bit was nice. And... yeah. It's a lovely read because of Doctor and Donna. I love them. I will continue to read stories about them.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

A generous 2 stars rating, because the prose was good and thus, from a technical point of view, easy to read.

The plot and core idea of the story on the other hand…well. Doctor Who is no stranger in bringing heavy or delicate topics into its episodes. However, generally speaking, these tends to be handled with care. The idea of showing racism through robots and AI is not particularly a good move, especially, since robots in fact differentiate between themselves as well in the story. Also, if I am, as the reader, suppose to feel the robots’ personalities and self-awareness on par with the human(oid) characters the author should have actually done something for it using that 249 pages. The first time some robot actually talk and have a couple of pages is after the halfway mark of the book…

All in all, could have been better but alright for a quick read.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one. It read very much like an episode. I think the author had Ten and Donna's voice down. There were a couple of cringey lines from Donna, but they were easily looked passed. I loved the aliens that collected religions, the whole concept was absurdest, but delightful. Donna at one point pretends to be a goddess, and it had me smiling from ear to ear. The story did also have a deeper message about treating others who are different than you as people, using robots and humans as the opposite sides, and it pretty much worked, but wasn't a prefect analogy. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and original characters. My only complainant is that the Doctor and Donna spend the majority of the novel apart and I really missed their banter and how they work as a team.

[Liam1662 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love dr who and its books and i especially love donna and the doctor together. I was exicited for this book but really stuggled to read it and only got to chapter 3. I found it to be too wordy and difficult to read. Over explaining the smallest details and jumping from one thing to another made it hard for me to follow.

[Sarah Baines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but it seemed very odd to me but hey! Brilliant fun (but also with a serious tale) with quite possibly my favourite pairing - The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble - All Hail The Ginger Goddess!! That line does make me smile. To quote The Ninth Doctor "Fantastic".

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

ドナのリクエストでドクター自身あまり馴染みのない星域のとある美術館を訪れた2人。しかし、ドクターが興味を示した展示物と共にドナはトランスマットで突然見知らぬ宇宙船に移動させられてしまい、ドナの行方を追跡しようとしたドクターは展示物を追う組織に捕らえられてしまう。展示物を盗んだのはロボットを憎み排除を目論むカルト組織。ドクターはドナを取り戻すため、カルト組織の真の目的を探る。

ロボットのマザーとドクターの関係が可愛いらしい。ドナの逞しさはドクターにとっての救い。最後のどんでん返しはとてもドクターらしくてよかった。

[Midziak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved to bits.
Especially that bit about the Chicken of Apocalypse. xD
And Donna.
Brilliant, surprisingly... modern? actual? even tho it is almost 20 years old. I've read it in one go. Truly unputdownable. At least to me ;)