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Lethbridge-Stewart #a.2
Lethbridge-Stewart The HAVOC Files 2: Special Edition
Ghosts in Cornwall, zombies in Australia, aliens at Wembley, trouble in Egypt, a siege on the Kent coast, and an investigation into the strange goings on in a small house in Mevagissey, which sees Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers cut down to size. And, much later, the ashes from a destroyed Earth fall on Lethbridge-Stewart and his family.
Just a few things our heroes have to face in this volume of collected short stories.
This new revised version of The HAVOC Files 2 contains the original six short stories, plus a new version of Ashes of the Inferno, and two new stories exclusively published in print for the first time.
‘Piece of Mind’ by James Middleditch. Lethbridge-Stewart and Sally are sent on a retreat with a difference.
‘Vampires of the Night’ by Chris Thomas. World War II and Professor Travers is called in to help with a deadly experiment on British soldiers.
Just a few things our heroes have to face in this volume of collected short stories.
This new revised version of The HAVOC Files 2 contains the original six short stories, plus a new version of Ashes of the Inferno, and two new stories exclusively published in print for the first time.
‘Piece of Mind’ by James Middleditch. Lethbridge-Stewart and Sally are sent on a retreat with a difference.
‘Vampires of the Night’ by Chris Thomas. World War II and Professor Travers is called in to help with a deadly experiment on British soldiers.
- GenresDoctor Who
237 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Andy Frankham-Allen
65 books46 followersWelsh-born Andy Frankham-Allen's passion for writing began with a love of Doctor Who. He's been writing since as far back as he can remember, and, although unsuccessful, he wrote a Doctor Who novel for BBC Books in 1996 after an accident caused him to be out of work for four months. Following that writing fell back into a hobby until 2001 when he began an ongoing fan-fiction series called Doctor Who: The Legacy, which carried on until 2006.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 27, 2021
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3752798.html
Really enjoying the expanding universe of the hidden history of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. This is a collection of short stories and out-takes from the novels, all decent enough, some really memorable - "Ashes of the Inferno" by Andy Frankham-Allen, the overall show-runner (if a book series can have such a person) is a follow-up to the TV story Inferno, and "House of Giants" by Rick Cross is a nice postscript to the First Doctor story Planet of Giants. Best of all is "The Lock-In", by Sarah Groenewegen, set at the end of Lethbridge-Stewart's life and looking back to a forgotten adventure.
Really enjoying the expanding universe of the hidden history of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. This is a collection of short stories and out-takes from the novels, all decent enough, some really memorable - "Ashes of the Inferno" by Andy Frankham-Allen, the overall show-runner (if a book series can have such a person) is a follow-up to the TV story Inferno, and "House of Giants" by Rick Cross is a nice postscript to the First Doctor story Planet of Giants. Best of all is "The Lock-In", by Sarah Groenewegen, set at the end of Lethbridge-Stewart's life and looking back to a forgotten adventure.
November 16, 2016
This is the second collection of short stories from the Lethbridge-Stewart series of books.
Ashes of the Inferno by Andy Frankham-Allen: This story links the parallel worlds of Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth and the Doctor Who story 'Inferno'. It's a nice exploration of parallel worlds and the idea of how they might affect those that find out about them. What I really liked from this story was the hints at how the Lethbridge-Stewart novels work with Doctor Who and why there seems to be more to the Brigadier than we ever saw on TV.
House of Giants by Rick Cross: Another story which deals with the aftermath of a Who story, this time First Doctor story 'Planet of the Giants'. It sees Anne Travers become miniaturized and the Brig attempt to clear things up. It's a lot of fun and sets up an element Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation well.
In His Kiss by Sue Hampton: A different style this one, set in 1945 and featuring a young Alastair through the eyes of his friend Jemima. It deals with the aftermath of James Lethbridge-Stewart's death and is really a dark story about a young girl dealing with grief.
The Lock-In by Sarah Groenewegen BEM: Another different style. This is set late in the Brigadier's life and sees an exchange of letters between a woman called Pearl Hammond and the Brig in his care home as she recounts an encounter with the Fifth Operational Corps and aliens. I liked the style but felt the plot didn't quite work.
The Black Eggs of Khufu by Tom Dexter: Lethbridge-Stewart arrives at the Great Pyramid in Egypt where ancient alien activity has been uncovered. There's an alien body and mysterious black eggs but when a group of Russians get involved Lethbridge-Stewart finds himself racing across the desert on a camel. It's a decent story and I liked the alien explanation for the pyramids. It certainly made good use of the locale although it's never really explained how on Earth Lethbridge-Stewart ending up going there.
The Band of Evil by Roger J Simmonds & Shaun Russell: An alien band called Totem Pole is brainwashing it's fans. It's a plot that has been used before but done well here. The story also introduces Captain Younghusband who is immediately a great character.
The Playing Dead by Adrian Sherlock: Sherlock wrote a Lethbridge-Stewart novel set in Australia which I thought was never published but will apparently be next year. This follows on from that future book. Bishop and Anne Travers are in Darwin and find themselves in a zombie apocalypse. Whilst I am a big zombie fan it felt out of sorts with the feel of the series. It worked in a Torchwood novel but I don't think it works here.
Schädengeist’s First Love by Jonathan Cooper: This is a deleted scene from Lethbridge-Stewart: The Showstoppers. It delves into how Schadengeist/ Mondegreene ended up as the villain of the book. I really liked this and felt it would have worked well in the book.
Exodus from Venus by John Peel: The original prologue from Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation. It sees a failed invasion of Venus by the grandfathers. It's a good story but I can see why it was cut as it reveals too much of the aliens of the book.
The Lost Skin: Episode One by Andy Frankham-Allen: The first part of a longer story which is set parallel to Lethbridge-Stewart: Times Squared. Whilst the Brig is away in New York, Anne Travers, Bishop and Samson have their own problems to deal with. Harold Chorley and Larry Green are investigating the Brigadier so a distraction involved Anne's father Professor Travers is conceived. Travers inevitably finds a myth to investigate... It's a fantastic first part of the story and I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Overall, I thought this was a great collection. It's great to see how the publisher's have decided to expand it's short stories for this range and experiment with different styles and eras of the character. As with any short story collection some are better than others but I thought generally the standard was very high.
Ashes of the Inferno by Andy Frankham-Allen: This story links the parallel worlds of Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth and the Doctor Who story 'Inferno'. It's a nice exploration of parallel worlds and the idea of how they might affect those that find out about them. What I really liked from this story was the hints at how the Lethbridge-Stewart novels work with Doctor Who and why there seems to be more to the Brigadier than we ever saw on TV.
House of Giants by Rick Cross: Another story which deals with the aftermath of a Who story, this time First Doctor story 'Planet of the Giants'. It sees Anne Travers become miniaturized and the Brig attempt to clear things up. It's a lot of fun and sets up an element Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation well.
In His Kiss by Sue Hampton: A different style this one, set in 1945 and featuring a young Alastair through the eyes of his friend Jemima. It deals with the aftermath of James Lethbridge-Stewart's death and is really a dark story about a young girl dealing with grief.
The Lock-In by Sarah Groenewegen BEM: Another different style. This is set late in the Brigadier's life and sees an exchange of letters between a woman called Pearl Hammond and the Brig in his care home as she recounts an encounter with the Fifth Operational Corps and aliens. I liked the style but felt the plot didn't quite work.
The Black Eggs of Khufu by Tom Dexter: Lethbridge-Stewart arrives at the Great Pyramid in Egypt where ancient alien activity has been uncovered. There's an alien body and mysterious black eggs but when a group of Russians get involved Lethbridge-Stewart finds himself racing across the desert on a camel. It's a decent story and I liked the alien explanation for the pyramids. It certainly made good use of the locale although it's never really explained how on Earth Lethbridge-Stewart ending up going there.
The Band of Evil by Roger J Simmonds & Shaun Russell: An alien band called Totem Pole is brainwashing it's fans. It's a plot that has been used before but done well here. The story also introduces Captain Younghusband who is immediately a great character.
The Playing Dead by Adrian Sherlock: Sherlock wrote a Lethbridge-Stewart novel set in Australia which I thought was never published but will apparently be next year. This follows on from that future book. Bishop and Anne Travers are in Darwin and find themselves in a zombie apocalypse. Whilst I am a big zombie fan it felt out of sorts with the feel of the series. It worked in a Torchwood novel but I don't think it works here.
Schädengeist’s First Love by Jonathan Cooper: This is a deleted scene from Lethbridge-Stewart: The Showstoppers. It delves into how Schadengeist/ Mondegreene ended up as the villain of the book. I really liked this and felt it would have worked well in the book.
Exodus from Venus by John Peel: The original prologue from Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation. It sees a failed invasion of Venus by the grandfathers. It's a good story but I can see why it was cut as it reveals too much of the aliens of the book.
The Lost Skin: Episode One by Andy Frankham-Allen: The first part of a longer story which is set parallel to Lethbridge-Stewart: Times Squared. Whilst the Brig is away in New York, Anne Travers, Bishop and Samson have their own problems to deal with. Harold Chorley and Larry Green are investigating the Brigadier so a distraction involved Anne's father Professor Travers is conceived. Travers inevitably finds a myth to investigate... It's a fantastic first part of the story and I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Overall, I thought this was a great collection. It's great to see how the publisher's have decided to expand it's short stories for this range and experiment with different styles and eras of the character. As with any short story collection some are better than others but I thought generally the standard was very high.
November 28, 2016
Another outstanding collection of short stories from the Lethbridge-Stewart Universe of Doctor Who. Some stand-outs include:
House Of Giants by Rick Cross
The Black Eggs Of Khufu by Tom Dexter
Ashes Of The Inferno by Andy Frankham-Allen
There's also a couple of excised chapter bits from two of the novels, and while the content is outstanding, it's easy to see why these elements were cut from the larger story. Highly recommend this series, for a full review, check out www.travelingthevortex.com.
House Of Giants by Rick Cross
The Black Eggs Of Khufu by Tom Dexter
Ashes Of The Inferno by Andy Frankham-Allen
There's also a couple of excised chapter bits from two of the novels, and while the content is outstanding, it's easy to see why these elements were cut from the larger story. Highly recommend this series, for a full review, check out www.travelingthevortex.com.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews