Doctor Who: Combat Magicks

Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #63

by Steve Cole

The TARDIS arrives in Gaul in 451AD, on the eve of battle between the forces of Attila the Hun and those of the crumbling Roman Empire. But the Doctor soon finds that both sides are being helped by sinister, supernatural creatures.

While Graham makes allies in the Roman camp and Ryan is pursued by the enigmatic Legion of Smoke, the Doctor and Yasmin are pressed into service as Attila’s personal sorcerers. But the Doctor knows there is science behind the combat magicks- and that the true war will pit all humanity against a ruthless alien threat.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Media Tie In, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

ebook

First published November 22, 2018

About the author

Also publishes as Stephen Cole.

Steve Cole is the slightly crazy, highly frantic, millions-selling, non-stop author of Astrosaurs, Cows In Action, Astrosaurs Academy, The Slime Squad, Z. Rex and many other books (including several original Doctor Who stories).

He used to edit magazines and books but prefers the job of a writer where you can wear pyjamas and eat chocolate all day.

Steve just can't stop writing - if he does, strange robots appear and jostle him vigorously until he starts again.

In his spare time he loves making music, reading old comics, thinking up ideas for new books and slumping in front of a warm TV.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book based on the television show. This one features The Thirteenth Doctor along with her companions of Graham, Yaz, and Ryan. In this one, they travel back in time when the Romans and Attila the Hun lead troops are about to partake in a major battle. This battle is being coerced by a group of aliens that will benefit from all the planned carnage.

This was a decent offering from this universe and fits in perfectly with the state of the show of this time. For me, the show with The Thirteenth Doctor is decent but nothing amazing and that is how I feel about this book. The portrayals of the characters were fine. The standout was Ryan and his sub plot with a new character. This sub plot gives winks to the organization of Torchwood. As for the new characters including Attila there really wasn't a standout. I think this is a missed opportunity as The Doctor meeting Attila could have been fun. I can say the same for the main plot. It was decent but could have been more fun. I did like the concept of the aliens.

Nothing really special here. It was likable but nothing to make me go grab the next Doctor Who novel. Like I said, it fits perfectly with this universe as that is how I feel about The Thirteenth Doctor. I watch it but nothing really special. Maybe the way I feel currently about the show affected my enjoyment of this book and it might be better for a different reader.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s great to see Cole returning to the NSA range having previously written for the Ninth and Tenth Doctor’s, he seems to have a really good handle on the current incarnation.

Those early books in this series helped rekindle my love of reading during my early 20’s, I’ll always buy the current batch of these novels.
Cole’s return felt like and extra treat!

Set during the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul 451 AD the TARDIS team meet Attila the Hun.
Whilst at the same time discovering The Legion of Smoke, a 5th century secret organisation that collects supernatural and alien objects. I really liked the fact that they’re aware of The Doctor’s previous visits to Rome!

All the characterisations of the main cast are perfectly captured and just like the show itself this historical tale is the best Thirteenth Doctor novel to date.

This latest batch of books has been a real return to form for the NSA’s, it’s a shame that the release schedule doesn’t match those days of 2005/06.
Especially when theirs no regular series this year!

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

First the closer bell sounds that bang wallop the Tardis lands in Gaul in 451A.D. at near end of the Roman empire, their is no Astrix the Gaul but There is one horrible Attila the bloody Hun as Graham puts it.
This another weir historical story, but Unlike in Romans they don't dress the part. I have loved to see Graham or Ryan in a toga.
Taken once again for a witch the Doctor is mad bad full of vinaigrette seeing this is France.
But all is not right,no surprise there as an alien force is masked as supernatural sprits & then there is barrier around the planet that caused the Tardis to crash in first place.
This funny, spooky & much better than last 'new' adventure.
We have the Legion of Smoke the Roman Touchwood with references to Romans, Fires of Pompeii, along with audio story with 7th Doctor and Mel. Some body did their homework here. So Good when it has the right background information too. Shame this could not been a episode instead of the frog story.

[tay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

thasmin…. the story is a little confusing at times but i still enjoyed it also gay yazzy so it was good. i listened to the audio version of it this time and enjoyed it even more because of mandip gills performance <3

[Paul Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done Steve Cole,’filling out the first 13th Doctor trilogy of novels with a cracking action packed pseudo-historical. Would love to see more of the Roman UNIT, The Legion of Smoke!

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if I got hit by the slump or something but It did start off so well but when I passed the halfway mark, it felt dragged.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I pick up a "Doctor Who" novel by Steve Cole, I'll either be disappointed or happily surprised; he doesn't tend to leave me with any middle ground. Happily, he hits this one out of the park: there is a fantastic use of historical figures, a solid grasp of the new 13th Doctor and her companions, and some great fanwank with past Roman stories, and an ancient version of "Torchwood" at work. Some of the opening character action is turned a bit too high past 11, and it occasionally rambles in the middle sections...but none of this really stood in the way of an enjoyable & surprisingly intense historical adventure.

[Ulises Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freaking love this book, this it's what you expect to get when you read a book of Doctor Who ,it was so good and so sad,the story and the characters and battles were so well written and the bad guys were really scary

[Esther Jardine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I think splitting the fam up gave them each more to do, and it had more time to develop fun side characters like Liss and Vitus than 13's era has had onscreen. The tenctrama are interesting and unique antagonists (was it genocide if the doctor gave them new life as plants, sort of?) and the concept of Atilla the Hun's army forming a truce with the Roman legion to fight them fit well with the doctor's belief that war is always ultimately pointless. There were so many little moments of characterisation that I liked too, and I always appreciate the tenderness between the doctor and Yaz, especially now I can read it canonically as gay yearning. It's not a period of history I know much about, but I think the exploration of what "witchcraft" means was well done in this. I got through it very quickly!

[Lucy-May · Rating 3 out of 5]

No matter how hard I tried I really couldn’t get into this novel; I liked the idea behind the alien villains but the storyline felt dragged out, with far too much of it hard to understand. This book felt a lot longer than the other two 13th Doctor novels & I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. The Doctor, Ryan, Yasmine & Graham were portrayed well though.

⚠️ This book contains a lot of violence & death ⚠️

Extended Review to follow.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thrilling adventure that I found very enjoyable to read, the writing style was often quite amusing, but it was balanced well with some emotional moments. It was certainly as good as watching an episode of Doctor Who, which was great considering we still have a few months before the series returns next year!

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still find myself absolutely shocked that people don't love Thirteen. Add this novel and I love her and the gang even more. This is the perfect type of setting for this cast of characters. It was exciting and the plot lines didn't fight eachother to be the most important either. I would love to see this turned into a two part episode. Just fantastic!

[Ianto Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to love about this book, magical doctor who - very nice. It certainly tied in with series 11 and the general themes explored in that series.
The companions are all split up and given their own things to do, which I very much liked. However, there was a lot left to be desired, I did like most of the concepts in this book and I couldn't quite decide on a rating, but near middle to the end, it just sort of lacked luster, which was a huge shame. I feel like this book had much potential and got off to a brilliant start before slowly grounding to a halt. There were also some dialogue and descriptions which I question are suitable for the intended audience of the book. The main thing that turned me off this book, which is an issue I have with lots of other doctor who books, is the complicated names of the fictional characters and various tribes, they all seem a bit over the top, with too much character building in a short space of time. It can make it quite confusing to follow.
The magic aspect of this novel, I did like. However I feel like there was also a missed opportunity, rushing to end the story.
This is the last of the tie in series 11 books I had to read, and on the whole they all make excellent companions to the series, doing lots of things the series itself did not, I would argue that these three books would have made better episodes than some of the series 11 episodes themselves, especially in terms of character development for the companions.

[Mesh'la Cyar'ika · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Combat Magicks" has to be one of the best Doctor Who books I've ever read. It's rare to find a really well written and captivating Doctor Who novel, but "Combat Magicks" ticked all the right boxes for me. I love the 13th Doctor's era (as controversial as that is) and I think that any 13 fan that's looking for more content with her should read this book. All the characters manage to have their own unique side stories in this book and there aren't any moments where you aren't on the edge of your seat. It feels like you're watching one of the best Doctor Who episodes, when you're reading it.

[Ella Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read a book in the BBC Books New Doctors line, but I found Combat Magicks better than I remembered the Ninth Doctor books being. This is one of three books featuring the Thirteenth Doctor (as played by Jodie Whittaker on the BBC Series) and her companions, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham. The book opens with everyone in the TARDIS discussing where they want to go next when the TARDIS crashes into something. The TARDIS crash lands, and the Doctor and her companions find themselves in Gaul during Roman times, just before a major battle between the Huns and the Romans.
Speaking of Huns, they meet Attila (the Hun) though at first, he's incognito as Attila's first aide de camp. Attila says that the Doctor is a witch, but that's OK since both he and the Roman commander have been employing witches to help them in combat.
The group is attacked and split up. The Doctor and Yaz are taken to Attila's camp, Graham is captured by the Romans and assumed to be a wizard after he used some of the Doctor's healing gel to heal people, and Ryan is captured by the mysterious Legion of Smoke. The Legion of Smoke is fascinating - sort of a Roman Torchwood. They investigate the supernatural but also keep alien tech hidden.
Graham tries to help the Romans where he can and discovers the Doctor's alien healing gel is poison to the alien Tenctrama, which present as witches to the locals. And the Tenctrama also seem to be carefully avoiding giving either side an advantage. When one side is given genetically-engineered fighting animals, so is the other side, and so it is with every weapon and battle technique that the aliens give to either the Romans or the Huns. As much as they seem to want a level playing field, they also seem to be promoting as much death as possible. And both sides are using their tech to raise the dead as fighting zombie soldiers.
As often is the case, there's a lot of running around as Graham, Ryan, Yaz, and the Doctor all learn bits and pieces of information slowly to figure out what the Tenctrama are up to, and why the Doctor's healing gel is poison to them (and any person healed by the gel also cannot be absorbed by the Tenctrama and explodes instead).
The Tenctrama are rather inefficient genetic farmers, taking a thousand years to genetically modify their stock (all humans and animals) and then gaining energy from the animals' deaths. With help from Liss and Vitus of the Legion of Smoke, Atilla general of the Huns, Aetius general of the Romans, and a few others, the Doctor and her companions are able to defeat the Tenctrama, but not without cost.
I enjoyed this novel. It does follow the typical Doctor Who pattern of splitting up the Doctor and her companions so everyone can discover something and then bringing them back together to trade intelligence and put together a solution, but it's a well-written story. I liked the historical detail, and it was neat that Attila was portrayed as an intelligent leader with actual goals rather than just being a hacking and raiding barbarian. I loved the Legion of Smoke - rather than being paranoid, they were intelligent and motivated, like Torchwood. Plus, they had prior knowledge of the Doctor, which was a nice bit of continuity.
I recommend Combat Magicks and look forward to getting the other two books in the series featuring the Thirteenth Doctor.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the three new releases featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham, this one is hands down my favorite. I loved that it was darker than most stories and had more adult language and situations; I thought that the inclusion of the Legion of Smoke was a nice touch, a pre-Torchwood, Torchwood if you will. I also loved the references to the Doctor's past encounters with ancient Rome. It's funny to me that this one gets a lot of criticism for being boring and for not being a "message" story like the other Thirteenth Doctor era stories; that's exactly why I liked it. Part of the reason that I wasn't a huge fan of series 11 was because the writers tried so hard to make every story into a "message story" condemning racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. While I feel that those things are definitely wrong, at its heart Doctor Who is not a political tool, it is source of entertainment with roots in education; I prefer my DW with the overtly political messages not included. #sorrynotsorry

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3190596.html

The two best episodes of last year's Doctor Who series were the two historical settings which are up for the Hugo this year; here, Steve Cole takes the Tardis crew to a less well known historical moment, the conflict between Attila the Hun and the Roman general Flavius Ætius which culminated in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451, near what is now Troyes in France. As it turns out, there are aliens involved as well as human factions; the Tardis crew get split up four ways - to facilitate the plot of course, but it also gives Cole a chance to show off his grasp of detail in the setting and the characterisation. Cole is one of the most prolific Who writers, and I felt he was well on form.

[Sarah Baines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happily admit to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor being my second favourite after David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and I could really visualise her in Combat Magicks. (For some reason in the last one I read, The Dalek Generation, it was David Tennant's and not Matt Smith's Doctor i had in in my head) It's a great, far-fetched book but with a hint of sadness to it.
Great stuff.

[Cyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Combat Magicks so much! It’s definitely my favorite out of the three novels featuring the 13th Doctor.
It reminded me of the Witchfinders episode, though it was a lot darker and featured a lot more death.
The relationships between the companions and the Doctor were so sweet and especially Ryan has quite a few incredibly pure moments. All in all, loved this book!

[Steven Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Argh

[hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the few books i preferred as an audiobook - it’s a good read in general but mandip’s narration and the sound effects made it a lot more compelling and easier to follow

[Iain Hawkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I expected nothing, and was still disappointed."

Yeah, Dewy basically sums up my thoughts on this book. I knew going in that there were a number of things going against my potential enjoyment of this book. The Thirteenth Doctor isn't my favourite (to put it mildly), and in the scope of DW episodes, I tend to prefer future episodes to historical ones. Not that this rules out enjoying said episodes, but this book was the rule, not the exception.

Basically, Thirteen and her "fam" (I refuse to use "Team Tardis") land in 5th century Gaul, during the waning days of the Western Roman Empire. Rome has allied with the Visgoths to defeat the Huns, led by Atilla. Meanwhile, evil aliens are pulling the strings, and turns out, have been pulling the strings on human empires for a long time (or at least Eurasian empires).

So far, so standard. Part of the gripes I had was how clunkily exposition was delivered to the characters as to the time period in question. I get that background has to be delivered somehow, but I'd like to remind you that Ryan, Brian, and Yaz have all grown up in the UK, so I'd have assumed (correct me if I'm wrong) that this period of history could be standard in UK history lessons, and yet, none of them seem to know anything about the time period in question. For instance, I'm no expert, but even I know who groups like the Huns, Gauls, Goths, Vandals, and Visgoths were.

Apart from that, there's not much to say. It's standard DW tropes that have been done before, and done, well, I don't know if done better necessarily, but at this point, at least for me, it's old hat. One aspect I did like is the revelation that the Roman Empire has its own equivalent of UNIT (or Torchwood, I guess) via the Legion of Smoke - recovering alien artifacts and whatnot. But apart from that, nothing really stands out for better or worse. Standard fare.

[Dalian "Kuro no Yomihime" · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked:
-I might have wanted more from it but I can't say I was ever bored reading it.
-Liss. Unnecessary romance with Ryan aside, I genuinely enjoyed her character and her interactions with the fam. I do think she should have had a bigger role in the plot though.
-The tenctrama were interesting villains. It was fun trying to figure out what their goal was and how they were achieving it.
-Thasmin is always good though there wasn't much of it.
-We learnt a bit more about Ryan and Yaz and how they think.
-Ryan's dyspraxia came up in small and relevant ways.

What I didn't like:
-Despite supposedly being the focus character of the story, Yaz was often side-lined and at one point even became a damsel in distress. It's frustrating because she has all the makings of an excellent character but most of the writers working on the series don't seem to know what to do with her.
-It feels more like a Moffat or RTD-era story. So far, Chibnall-era stories have had a message to learn from them and, no matter how simple the message was, I've ended up thinking back to them after first experiencing the stories. This is simply an entertaining story that I probably won't remember or ever re-read.
-Despite it being a historical story, I didn't come out of the book feeling like I'd learnt much about this period in time or wanting to learn more.
-The writing doesn't feel polished and should have been edited more. There are way too many nnecessary sentences.

[Garry Elric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hello, yes, tis I.

I hate zombies. I hate them. Ever since my first time seeing my dad play call of duty zombies and they are the president. Absolutely terrifying for a five year old.

So naturally, I get to the doctor who book where the main premise is the dead coming back to life and I grit my teeth and bear it because I’m dedicated to reading every single Doctor Who book, personal grievances aside. The writing itself is enjoyable, the characters are fun. I really like seeing a lighter side of historical figures (or seeing them do things that they’re very much not known for doing, like bickering like impatient children over a loudspeaker. But. The living dead.

If you love zombies, if you don’t have a crippling disgust for anything close to zombies that seems to plague you, you’ll like this. If you’re me, and can’t even play Plants Vs Zombies without modding the zombies out, then give it a pass.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

あらすじ

航行中にターディスが異常をきたし、AD451年のガリアに到着。ドクターがターディスを修理している間にヤスミンとライアンとグラハムは探索へと外に出かける。



しかし、3人はローマ軍の追っ手から逃げるフン族の戦士と遭遇し、あわや斬られそうになるところをドクターが割って入って止める。フン族の戦士は名をブレダといいアッティラ大王の戦士でローマ人と交戦中だったが、ローマ側の魔女にハメられたフン族の兵士たちはほぼ殺されたという事情をきくドクター。ローマ人に仕える魔女軍団に不信感を覚えるが、そこへ凶暴化したカラスに襲われ、ドクターとヤズ、ライアンとグラハムは逸れてしまう。ドクターとヤズはブレダの捕虜となりフン族の宿営地につれていかれ、ライアンは途中で知り合ったリシニアという少女が所属するスモーク軍団の元へ、ライアンはローマ兵に捕まりローマ兵の宿営地につれていかれる。



感想

フン族、ゴート族、アッティラ大王なんて目にしたの世界史の教科書ぶり。舞台はカタラウヌムの戦い。魔女の力で戦闘で命を落とした兵士がかったっぱしから生き返って戦いを続けるカタラウヌムの戦いにドクターとグラハム、ライアン、ヤズミンが巻き込まれていく。わかりやすく普通に面白く読めた。ラストのアッティラとアエティウスに対するドクターの所感と話の締めくくり方がタイムトラベルものならではの余韻を感じられてよかったと思う。TVエンディングテーマが聴こえてきそうなラストだった。

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice fun little story. There were quite a few funny character moments and we got some good moments of characters interacting with each other. About halfway through the book you really start to feel like the writer gets a grasp on the characters. It paints an image in your mind and you can really see them. However, the start is a bit dodgy. There are bits where I feel like a sensitivty reader could have been useful as well as someone to check that everything was accurate to 13s run. The plot was also sometimes difficult to follow with lots of characters all over the place.

[Wendy Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Exciting adventures of the 13th Dr Who and her companions in Roman Gaul at the time of the invasion by the forces of Attila the Hun and a less historical intrusion by parasitic aliens posing as combat magic wielding witches. While things got a little chaotic at times, it was good to see all the team having their own stories and the Roman version of Torchwood was fun. I liked that the story didn't gloss over the tragic toll of war; whether it was Huns v Romans or Humans v aliens. Also every story need a heroic horse.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characterization was spot-on. I could hear each line of dialogue from the Doctor and her companions in their distinct voices, so kudos on that. The pace and plot of this book, however, were sluggish. It suffered, I think, from splitting the characters up early on, and really only picked up again near the end, once they were all reunited. Generally an amusing read overall, but not one I'm likely to revisit.

[Olivia Panzica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting Doctor Who adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her fam. I didn't know what to expect going into this novel, not knowing anything about the huns, however, I was pleasantly surprised. The characters were all compelling and the book had a mystical tone about it. A highlight was definetly the Doctor and Graham separately both being confused for sorcerers.

This novel is an exciting and historical ride I'd recomend it to all.