Doctor Who: I Am The Master: Legends of the Renegade Time Lord

Doctor Who New Series anthologies

by Mark Wright, Peter Anghelides, Mike Tucker

Everything you think you know...is a lie.

The Doctor and the Master; their conflict of light and dark has spanned many times and faces across the universe. This collection - of five short stories and a novella - explores the depths of darkness in the Master’s hearts; the arch-schemer’s secrets and sinister ambitions revealed through brand new adventures and encounters.

Join six incarnations of evil for undreamed of adventures: a quest to free alien warlords... a dangerous mission to save a vital ally... a meeting with Bram Stoker... a shattering of lives on a distant world... a trial of wits to gain untold power... and drop in on the Master’s latest incarnation during his 77 years of imprisonment on Earth.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Time Travel, Adventure, Media Tie In

328 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2020

Reviews

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Congratulations to Matthew Sweet for revamping The Master and Magarita by Mikhail Bulgkov a Russian 1960s classic black comedy into A different Masterful style comedy but has lot of the original features of the Russian original. As last story it is more like novella than short story.
The other really good story is The Skull master Mets Bram Stocker a dark creepy haunting Dracula hints.
It is shame that this in itself incomplete as we only have six Master stories not Eight no War Master or McGann. Love the cover.
And as bowing out of no. 13 this year he will be their to see her go

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit to being a little disappointed in this collection, particularly in the first three stories, which did very little but either irritate or bore me. But the back half of the collection is much more interesting, with a more powerful command of their respective incarnations of the Master, and more interesting supporting characters. Matthew Sweet's concluding novella is easily the best of the bunch, and offers a surprising insight into the current (as of 2021) incarnation of the Master during his enforced exile in the 20th century. This collection doesn't start out very promising, but concludes with a grand flourish.

[Zydeco Lamaze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, this isn’t A Doctor Who short story collection to me. It is THE Doctor Who short story collection. And no, I won’t shut up about it ever and always

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun read although I think some things might have gone right over my head since the only two Masters I'm actually familiar with are the ones from the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors' series. Also kind of sad there doesn't seem to be an audio version right now because I think it would have been amazing to have some of the actors reading this.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars purely for the Bram Stoker short story and the Dhawan!Master novella because they were SO DAMN GOOD. I need a whole Big Finish series dedicated to Dhawan!Master's antics as Yedinitza's scientific advisor because COLD WAR SPY DRAMA AND 70s FASHION.

Also wheezing at the fact that the Master gave himself the alias Gospodinov when gospodin literally means sir or mister. Gallavanting around Soviet Russia calling himself Mr Mister like a fucking dork is so on brand and I love it.

Also can we stop making Missy's gender the focus of her stories?? As much as I love to see her murdering misogynists and fully embracing her new female incarnation, it's very tiring when the male incarnations get to do some deliciously evil mischief in their stories and Missy gets saddled with another plot about how nobody will take her seriously because she's a woman. I live that life, I really don't want to read about it.

[phthalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

in my opinion, the dhawan!master one was the best out of them all, and is actually now one of my favourite stories.
i liked the others too, but every story ever involving missy seems to involve her exterminating misogynists. that's a good thing, but i wish there was more to her than just "oh yeah you think women are weak?" *zaps you with the tissue compression eliminator*

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/i-am-the-master-by-peter-anghelides-et-al/

Six short stories about different incarnations of the Master, by Peter Anghelides (Delgado!Master), Mark Wright (Pratt/Beevors!Master), Jac Rayner (Missy), Mike Tucker (Ainley!Master), Beverley Sanford (Simm!Master) and Matthew Sweet (Dhawan!Master). I thought they were all pretty good; I expect that Matthew Sweet’s Soviet-era riff on a well-known novel, “The Master and Margarita”, will sail over some people’s heads but I enjoyed it too. Recommended.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiercely intelligent, the Master schemes their way through five different adventures.

Although the stories are strong, there is a sense that the editor missed a chance to cast the Master in their own light, rather than in opposition to the Doctor. This lost chance casts a pall over the book somewhat, as it would have made it better, but the text accomplishes what it set out to do and readers should enjoy it immensely.

[Chris Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Am The Master contains 6 short stories - each starring a different Master. It’s an impressively strong collection of stories.

Anger Management by Peter Angelides

The Delgado Master is forced to help a biomechanoid capture 3 alien warlords hiding on Earth. It’s a fun story with some good ideas. I don’t think it’s likely to surprise anyone (or that it’s meant to) but it’s enjoyable. Delgado’s voice is recognisable without it ever needed to be explicit that it’s his Master.

The Dead Travel Fast by Mark Wright

A Dracula tribute with Bram Stoker and the decaying Master. Stoker narrates and is very readable and it captures the voice and tone of a Dracula story perfectly. The Master as a genuine villain in it is brilliantly creepy. There’s not a huge amount of story to it though.

Missy’s Magical Mystery Mission by Jacqueline Rayner

Missy, disguised as a hologram, summons some of the most evil beings in the universe and a cleaner named Daphne. Rayner’s story in the Missy Chronicles was the best of the bunch there and she proves again here that she and Missy are a perfect match. My favourite of the six stories, it’s clever, it’s engaging and it’s laugh out loud funny.

A Master of Disguise by Mike Tucker

The Master’s disguise maker is dying unless the newly regenerated Ainley Master can pull off a daring heist. Featuring an appearance by the Fourth Doctor! This one surprised me with how great it was. It’s fun the whole way through and even touching at times. Definitely a stand out.

The Night Harvest by Beverly Sanford

The Simm Master investigates mysterious plant life with a native farm worker called Tala to discover a horrific secret.
I think this pretty much the first time I’ve encountered the Simm Doctor out of the tv show (apart from a very small role in the Missy Chronicles) and as he was my childhood Master I was prepared to judge this one harshly. In fact, I loved it. He has a hilariously sadistic voice in it as he should and I could picture him perfectly the whole way through. It also gives a fantastic sense of scale by the end of the story that shows us how much evil he was able to achieve between his goodbye to the 10th Doctor in The End of Time and his actual ending in World Enough and Time in The Doctor Falls. It’s just nice to actually see his Master out there doing his thing in his own time. He might be a little too nice for some people at points in this but it worked really well for me.

The Master and Margarita by Matthew Sweet

Finally in the main story of the book, the Dhawan teams up with a Silurian in the Soviet Union during his 77 years stranded in his own past on Earth. A much longer story than the others, Sweet gives us a lot in a very readable story: Soviet politics, mushroom science, Silurians, The Master remembering Jo Grant, a 3rd Doctor cameo, a mysterious adversary named Comrade Cap and an obsessed neighbour with a pet parrot (Margarita). For our first out of show appearance of our new Master, it’s definitely not bad. It didn’t all quite click for me and the manic energy of the new Master isn’t captured, but a lot of the rest of his portrayal is, and there is a lot to love. It’s an ambitious story and more works than doesn’t, making it a fun read. Plus who doesn’t want a spin off about the Master and his pet parrot?

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this book deal with different periods in the life of the Doctor's old adversary, the Master. All the stories are good, frankly. One tale involves the author Bram Stoker encountering a cadaverous, badly injured Master -presumably just after the television story "The Deadly Assassin". It is implied that this meeting inspired Stoker to write his most famous novel! The stories involving the "Missy" and "Harold Saxon" versions of the Master are also very good. However, I think the real highlight is the last and longest story, written by Matthew Sweet, called "The Master and Margarita". This puts the most recent version of the Master in Russia at the time of the Soviet Union, and also involves the Silurians - or at least one Silurian, who is a great character, a bit like Madam Vastra (but not as friendly!). It is, I feel, a truly excellent yarn which sheds a bit of light on the Master's tormented, contradictory character. All in all, a great book for Whovians - highly recommended.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un recueil de 6 nouvelles autour de la figure du Master avec au moins six incarnations différentes. La variété des nouvelles est très appréciée et arrivent à proposer des histoires autour du Master sans le Docteur (sauf mention évidemment).

Plusieurs nouvelles sont définitivement superbes, je pense que la qualité du recueil vient que le public ciblé est un peu plus vieux que les romans Doctor Who le sont d'habitude. J'ai particulièrement aimé plusieurs nouvelles que je liste ici, et même celles que je ne recense pas ici était aussi très bien.

A Master of Disguise de Mike Tucker qui rend hommage aux déguisements du Master sous la forme d'un personnage qui a passé sa vie à créer les masques qui lui ont permis de se faufiler un peu partout et de nous surprendre régulièrement.

The Dead Travel Fast de Mark Wright est particulièrement intéressant en ce sens qu'il propose une sorte de récit d'origine au roman de Dracula en une rencontre de son auteur, Bram Stoker, avec le Master en déclin. Sans tracer directement le Master comme une figure vampirique, on le voit tout de même essayer de prendre le contrôle hypnotique de Stoker, lui demander des vies (d'abord de petites créatures jusqu'à demander des vies humaines) pour qu'il puisse se stabiliser, l'auteur qui devient très très malade et questionne la réalité de son vécu. Bref, plusieurs petits éléments à droite à gauche qui aurait pu servir d'inspiration au roman de Dracula. Un bel hommage au genre et une bonne histoire en soi.

Missy's Magical Mystery Mission est aussi digne de mention, ne serait-ce que pour son humour d'un bout à l'autre dans une nouvelle qui s'inspire de concours d'élimination, mais poussé à l'extrême avec des guerriers légendaires et une femme très ordinaire qui ne veut que plaire à tout le monde.

La dernière nouvelle, The Master and the Margarita de Matthew Sweet se distingue de part sa longueur (une centaine de pages, elle fait le tiers du recueil) et présente le Master incarné par Sacha Dhawan à la télévision. Dans une intrigue qui tourne autour d'un parallélisme entre lui et le Troisième Docteur: les deux sont coincés sur Terre en attendant un dénouement et aide une branche scientifique et militaire, l'un en Angleterre, le Master en Russie, à enquêter sur des phénomènes qui sortent de l'ordinaire et repousser des invasions extraterrestres. Beaucoup de rebondissements surviennent, mais il y a aussi beaucoup de récits enchevêtrés les uns dans les autres dans cette nouvelle. Je pense que la nouvelle arrive a bien cerner une des caractéristiques de la dernière incarnation à la télévision au moment de la création du livre, celle de pouvoir être très ordinaire, de pouvoir créer des relations, de vivre une vie, d'avoir le désir d'être le héros de l'histoire, de faire les choses bien, mais de toujours CHOISIR d'être manipulateur, de prendre le choix le plus cruel et d'effectuer le tout consciemment alors qu'il pourrait absolument ne pas effectuer ces choix. C'est probablement ce qui est le plus terrifiant dans cette figure et elle est bien mise de l'avant malgré la panoplie des récits et de personnages qui sont présents dans ce court récit.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five short stories and one novella, each telling a tale of a different incarnation of the Doctor's arch-enemy the Master.
Represented are the original Roger Delgado incarnation, the hooded and cloaked decaying Master, Michelle Gomez's iconic Missy, the Anthony Ainlee incarnation, John Simm's manic Master and the latest incarnation as portrayed in Series 12 by Sacha Dhawan.

I genuinely love the concept of putting together an anthology of different incarnations of the Master, there have certainly been plenty of collections of different Doctor incarnations after all, but as with any anthology this is a somewhat mixed bag in terms of how good the stories are.
Special credit should go to Anghelides and Sanford for giving pitch-perfect representations of the incarnations featured though. Anghelides does a great job of capturing Delgado's suave charm and simmering anger at the universe in general, whilst Sandford perfectly captures the manic energy of John Simm's version of the character, with you simultaneously loving his gleeful exuberance whilst constantly being terrified for the life of the story's main character who encounters him.

The highpoint of the whole anthology for me was Mark Wright's 'The Dead Travel Fast', told in the idiom of Bram Stoker by that author himself as, whilst on holiday in Whitby, he encounters a monstrous man consuming the life energies of others.
At the other end of the scale, the lowpoint of the book was 'Missy's Magical Mystery Mission', which is an attempt at a comical farce but just feels tonally wrong for this anthology, not to mention being a total waste of one of the most individualistic incarnations of the titular Time Lord.

Fully a third of this book is devoted to the latest (as of 2021) incarnation of the Master in Matthew Sweet's 'The Master and Margarita'.
This story is pure brilliance in concept but, sadly, falls down in its execution. Set within the events of the TV episode 'Spyfall Part 2', here the Master has been stranded in the 20th Century by the Doctor and has to pass the decades until he can take up his ongoing scheme in 2020 again. The brilliant idea that Sweet comes up with is that during the 70s the Master, trying to keep away from his own timeline, decides to become the scientific adviser of the USSR's equivalent of UNIT. It's a dark parallel to the Doctor's 70s escapades which is perfectly fitting for the Master who has always been a dark reflection of the Doctor to a certain extent.
As I mentioned, however, the execution of the idea isn't nearly as brilliant. The story is disjointed and tonally all over the place and the Master shown here simply doesn't feel like the Dhawan incarnation. Sure, we've not had a lot of time with Dhawan's character ourselves but we've had enough to recognise him or, in this case, fail to do so.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book honestly feels like you can split it in half with some chapters being absolutely brilliant and others being pretty awful. Some of the chapters fall short when it comes to characterising the Master which is very disappointing considering how camp and OTT Classic Who Masters and Dhawan are. That being said, Missy, Simm and even Crispy (to an extent) were really well done. The writers clearly got the Doctor Who vibe and understood the character that they were writing. All of the concepts were really creative and some were followed through well until the end, keeping the reader guessing and engaged throughout. Missy’s chapter was exceptional for this but I also appreciate the creativity of the Crispy chapter. Some chapters, however, do struggle to actually follow through on the insane plots which they’ve set out in so few pages. A couple of these chapters which fall short in plot also contain some questionable handling of POC characters and some downright bad settings. For example, Dhawan!Master teaming up with the Nazi’s was god awful in the show but him joining the Soviet Union isn’t much better. Altogether, this is a recommendation for any fan of the Master but if you’re not into Doctor Who enough to be conscious of but slightly overlook problematic elements in favour of scratching the Who part of your brain then you probably shouldn’t read.

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Am The Master: Legends of the Renegade Time Lord

This is a collection of short stories, each focusing on one of the villainous Master’s incarnations from Doctor Who.

As a major fan of Doctor Who, this book was so exciting to get into. The first story features the Delgado!Master. I was disappointed by this story. The Delgado!Master is one of my favorites. The characterization of him was excellent, but the actual plot of the story wasn’t that interesting. He deserved more.

The one about the Crispy!Master features Bram Stoker, an excellent choice for the tone. It reads like a classic horror novel, similar to Bram Stoker’s own work. It was delightfully creepy and fitting for Crispy.

Missy’s story was great, I loved how it captured her sense of fun with evil. There was a feminist message, which was good, although I wish Missy could stand without the focus being on her being a woman. But I was very entertained by this tale.

The Ainley!Master one was awesome. We finally get to learn where the Master gets their lifelike masks, and see him pull off a heist. This one increases the lore and had two excellent plot twists.

The Simm!Master one was the creepiest. The twist was horrifying. It was interesting to see the Master have a human companion in a sense, something always relegated to the Doctor. That was the most fascinating part for me.

The novella features the Dhawan!Master working for the Soviet Union. Character development is really shown in this one, while the Master is still evil you can see an almost soft side to him as he bonds with his neighbor. He also seems to genuinely be working for the Soviets and believe in the cause, a rarity as the Master typically hates all humanity. It was so interesting to see this rarely revealed side of him.

I loved this collection. Almost all the stories were excellent. The Master is an amazing villain and I loved the expanded lore.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of stories. It gives us our first piece of prose featuring Sacha Dhawan's incarnation of the Master, alongside other Masters from Doctor Who's long and varied history.

My favourites in the collection were probably 'The Dead Travel Fast' and 'Missy's Magical Mystery Tour'. The former is an inspired Whoniverse take on Bram Stoker's Dracula featuring the Geoffrey Beevers' Master, and the latter is a joyous and manic adventure for Michelle Gomez's iteration.

If you like the Master, then this is definitely one for you.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book overall.
Not the best thing I have ever read but the first 5 short stories were short enough that I could read one just when I had a bit of spare time and finish them and I enjoyed that.
The last one took me a little longer to get through, partially owing to me having acquired another book that I am very excited to start so I kept flicking through the pages of that and getting distracted from 'The Master and Margarita', but I managed. This book was enjoyable, and that's what a book's meant to do, right?

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the stories but the last one holds a special place in my heart.
As every book should where a quote like this is possible:

The Director cleared his throat. ‘I’d like to introduce you to K’vo,’ he said. ‘She hatched 40 million years ago. She rode a Diplodocus across the plains of Pangea and swam in the prehistoric superocean of Panthalassa. Then she was put into suspended animation. Now she’s awake. And she’s ready to become a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.’

[Hannah Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this collection of stories. The Master and Margarita was the star story and it was really fascinating to get some insight into what happened during those 77 years on earth. I really liked the character Pelageya, her and the master couldve made a great pair, its a shame how things ended (or maybe for the best!)

I think ultimately my favourite story was probably The Night Harvest. I loved getting to watch the master's exploits from the perspective of the adoring character Tala, I was very glad she managed to survive until the end of the story

[Edina Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the stories had merit, and I particularly enjoyed the missy segment, but overall the majority of the stories could have been any master. The 'voice' of each one wasn't completely captured, the only way of knowing for sure which master we were following was a costume description. Also, I have to admit I was expecting more from the last one, during the Master's 77 year exile. Mushrooms really?

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love getting a set of adventures taking place with each incarnation of the Master. My favorites were the twist with Crispy!Master inspiring Bram Stoker to write horror and Simm!Master with Tala which just made a great team altogether! I did find some of the stories to be slow, lengthy and a bit hard to follow, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[ags · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found myself enjoying this quite a lot, actually!
i really liked the missy short story, as well as the master & margarita one.

one thing i was struggling with though was differentiating the incarnations of the master - i think it could’ve been better described at times. especially as i was a tad lost, at first.

[Lis · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading the first few stories i thought i was gonna be like. not much to say abt it. 3 stars. but it really did something to me the last story was kinda insane and crazy. it was. something. i love reading doctor who books its always an experience

[Rebecca Farren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short Story Collection: 7/10
Dhawan!Master Novella: 10/10
Overall: 8/10

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first five stories are the usual fun fayre that we come to expect from the Doctor Who anthology books but the final story, by Matthew Sweet, is on another level. What a treat to end on.

[Saamoxi Smith]

I am blown away by how great this is.
This book is truly great.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anger Management - 2/5
The Dead Travel Fast - 3/5
Missy’s Magical Mystery Mission - 5/5
A Master In Disguise - 5/5
The Night Harvest - 5/5
The Master and the Margarita - 2/5

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars but the last story felt meandering, pointless and out of character.

[Grog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I beg they stop describing the master as dark hair and beard, it's so hard to differentiate between all of them

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love anything doctor who but I needed a sci-fi book to break up all the other stuff I am reading

[Marisol Kochan · Rating 2 out of 5]

the last two stories were very fun