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Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - The Novels #2
Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - All Flesh is Grass
Even a Time Lord can’t change the past.
A wasteland. A dead world… No, there is a biodome, rising from the ash. Here, life teems and flourishes, with strange and lush plants, and many-winged insects with bright carapaces – and one solitary sentient creature, who spends its days watering the plants, talking to the insects, and tending this lonely garden. This is Inyit, the Last of the Kotturuh.
In All Flesh is Grass we are transported back to The Dark Times. The Tenth Doctor has sworn to stop the Kotturuh, ending Death and bringing Life to the universe. But his plan is unravelling – instead of bringing Life, nothing has changed and all around him people are dying. Death is everywhere. Now he must confront his former selves – one in league with their greatest nemesis and the other manning a ship of the undead…
A wasteland. A dead world… No, there is a biodome, rising from the ash. Here, life teems and flourishes, with strange and lush plants, and many-winged insects with bright carapaces – and one solitary sentient creature, who spends its days watering the plants, talking to the insects, and tending this lonely garden. This is Inyit, the Last of the Kotturuh.
In All Flesh is Grass we are transported back to The Dark Times. The Tenth Doctor has sworn to stop the Kotturuh, ending Death and bringing Life to the universe. But his plan is unravelling – instead of bringing Life, nothing has changed and all around him people are dying. Death is everywhere. Now he must confront his former selves – one in league with their greatest nemesis and the other manning a ship of the undead…
201 pages, Hardcover
First published December 10, 2020
74 people are currently reading
557 people want to read
About the author
Una McCormack
103 books358 followersUna McCormack is a British writer and the author of several Star Trek novels and stories.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
December 12, 2020
The second part of BBC books contribution to the whole Time Lord Victorious arc really is the center piece of the whole project.
It was great to see all the various strands from the comics, audios and magazine strips converge to one big pay off.
All multi-Doctor stories are fun and the big selling point was seeing my Doctor (Eight) interact with two of the modern series counterparts (Nine and Ten), there's a moment near the end of the book that specifically made McGann's incarnation separate from the modern era and I loved that this scene was included.
With so many elements to tie up means that the plot bouncing along at quite a pace, it helps that McCormack easily differentiates the three Doctors as she captures their persona's really well.
Which leads to enjoying the story with it's various suprises along the way.
It was great to see all the various strands from the comics, audios and magazine strips converge to one big pay off.
All multi-Doctor stories are fun and the big selling point was seeing my Doctor (Eight) interact with two of the modern series counterparts (Nine and Ten), there's a moment near the end of the book that specifically made McGann's incarnation separate from the modern era and I loved that this scene was included.
With so many elements to tie up means that the plot bouncing along at quite a pace, it helps that McCormack easily differentiates the three Doctors as she captures their persona's really well.
Which leads to enjoying the story with it's various suprises along the way.
December 31, 2020
Picking right back up from where "The Knight, The Fool, and the Dead" left off, The Tenth Doctor comes face to face with two of his former selves - the Eighth and Ninth Doctors.
The Eighth Doctor is onboard a Dalek ship and the Ninth is on a Coffin ship, full of vampires. Via a video link between the ships’ screens, both of them implore with Ten to cease with his current mission.
However, donning the Time Lord robes, Ten is stubborn as he believes this is his destiny as the Time Lord Victorious.
My favourite character in this is most definitely Brian the Ood - a trained assassin Ood, who may be a little bit mad.
A Multi-Doctor story never fails to excite me. The author manages to capture each of the Doctors’ different personalities and voices very well. It is joyous when the three of them are interacting with one another.
Also the Ninth Doctor mentions my hometown, Rhyl! (Well I live in a nice little village just outside of it but STILL it says Rhyl on my address so it counts!).
These short, fast paced, books really just suit Doctor Who. I need to listen to the Time Lord Victorious Big Finish audio dramas and also read the comic books next.
I always long for more Eighth and Ninth Doctor content, so I'm very excited for adventures with them by listening to more Big Finish.
The Eighth Doctor is onboard a Dalek ship and the Ninth is on a Coffin ship, full of vampires. Via a video link between the ships’ screens, both of them implore with Ten to cease with his current mission.
However, donning the Time Lord robes, Ten is stubborn as he believes this is his destiny as the Time Lord Victorious.
My favourite character in this is most definitely Brian the Ood - a trained assassin Ood, who may be a little bit mad.
A Multi-Doctor story never fails to excite me. The author manages to capture each of the Doctors’ different personalities and voices very well. It is joyous when the three of them are interacting with one another.
Also the Ninth Doctor mentions my hometown, Rhyl! (Well I live in a nice little village just outside of it but STILL it says Rhyl on my address so it counts!).
These short, fast paced, books really just suit Doctor Who. I need to listen to the Time Lord Victorious Big Finish audio dramas and also read the comic books next.
I always long for more Eighth and Ninth Doctor content, so I'm very excited for adventures with them by listening to more Big Finish.
December 11, 2020
Where to begin...
I must admit I am somewhat disappointed in the books for Time Lord Victorious. That is not to say they are badly written, as I believe they are actually written rather well, but they just left me wanting for more. So much more.
The biggest issue with the books in my opinion is that they were just too short. It often feels as if they were rushing from point to point without leaving much room to breathe and take in any of the new status quo. One of the biggest disappointments for me was that for an event that titles itself Time Lord Victorious, there is very little in the way of exploration of that theme. It seems almost like an afterthought at times, with the Doctor merely just being himself with a bit of extra bitterness thrown in. The closest he came to really living up to that title in my mind is at the end of Knight and the beginning of All Flesh. Throughout the rest, it's just the Tenth Doctor.
And while we're on the subject of Doctors, while I love Una McCormack's writing, the characterisation for each of the individual Doctors felt... lacking. Again, this is something that I think could have benefitted from the books either being longer, or there being three books in total, to truly explore the Doctors and the theme of the Time Lord Victorious.
Ultimately, while I am satisfied to say that the story was well written, and included wonderful side characters such as Inyit and Ikalla, I felt vastly underwhelmed at the exploration of the main title of the event. Furthermore, I was disappointed that the end of it all came down to what was ultimately a
Honestly, if I was able to personally change anything about TLV, it would be that one thing. Don't
All in all, I am happy with the story, but it could have been far better. I think perhaps if they do another event like TLV, they should concentrate around something totally
I must admit I am somewhat disappointed in the books for Time Lord Victorious. That is not to say they are badly written, as I believe they are actually written rather well, but they just left me wanting for more. So much more.
The biggest issue with the books in my opinion is that they were just too short. It often feels as if they were rushing from point to point without leaving much room to breathe and take in any of the new status quo. One of the biggest disappointments for me was that for an event that titles itself Time Lord Victorious, there is very little in the way of exploration of that theme. It seems almost like an afterthought at times, with the Doctor merely just being himself with a bit of extra bitterness thrown in. The closest he came to really living up to that title in my mind is at the end of Knight and the beginning of All Flesh. Throughout the rest, it's just the Tenth Doctor.
And while we're on the subject of Doctors, while I love Una McCormack's writing, the characterisation for each of the individual Doctors felt... lacking. Again, this is something that I think could have benefitted from the books either being longer, or there being three books in total, to truly explore the Doctors and the theme of the Time Lord Victorious.
Ultimately, while I am satisfied to say that the story was well written, and included wonderful side characters such as Inyit and Ikalla, I felt vastly underwhelmed at the exploration of the main title of the event. Furthermore, I was disappointed that the end of it all came down to what was ultimately a
Honestly, if I was able to personally change anything about TLV, it would be that one thing. Don't
All in all, I am happy with the story, but it could have been far better. I think perhaps if they do another event like TLV, they should concentrate around something totally
March 6, 2021
2/10 A bad sequel with no payoff for reading all the way through a.
This was disappointing. I really enjoyed the first book, but spent this whole book confused. While the last book was fresh, interesting, and setup a morally conflicted choice for the Doctor, this book should have been about dealing with the consequences of that. Instead, it’s a weird scattered romp around the dark times... which are now being invaded by daleks and space vampires? This story abandons everything that made the last one great, and doesn’t sufficiently explain the motivations of the new actors.
For starters, what actual consequences did tens actions actually have in the future? Will we ever know? That’s the interesting material we should be exploring, but instead the other doctors briefly admonish ten but never explain why.
And a better question, how? How did nine and a bunch of space vampires hook up and both end up wanting to go to the past? And why would space vampires ever want to do that? Same question extends to the Daleks... the book briefly mentions the futures been affected, but won’t tell us in detail how, and why that’s a bad thing? I’m left wondering what tens choice actually did, but we’ll never know.
I expect the other TLD books address some of these questions, but to be frank im no longer interested. It should have been addressed here. I suffered through the whole book hoping that they would explain it all, but instead the book builds to a typical “Daleks destroy planet” type situation, and I’m left regretting reading this.
There are a lot of other problems with the book:
Nines characterization is weak. We don’t get a strong sense of his motivations. Same goes for eight. And just about everyone really. Characters don’t have clear goals and compelling reasons for those goals.
Beyond character, the setting is wasted in this one. In the last book we got to explore what made the dark times so different. This book touches little of that, instead importing Daleks and space vampires.
Worst of all, it’s not even a fun space romp. It should be, it’s the Doctors vs daleks plus space vampires. But everyone’s left dashing about, and not really working together in any meaningful way. The doctor never has any cool plan, he just gets Brian to fire some ancient weapons every time they get into battle. The doctors also should’ve worked together, or been at direct odds with another. Those are interesting dynamics. Instead they just bicker, or briefly go their own separate ways to do their own little mission. Why??
And it’s for these reasons that this doesn’t feel like a satisfying sequel. Instead of deeply diving into the consequences of tens genocide, we have a surface level squabble about it and wrap up the whole story without any meaningful character arcs or idea of what consequences there actually we’re. The way the book presents it, ten genociding an entire race has vague implications, which is the most anti-DW ending I can think of. If he did something wrong, he should suffer the consequences and learn. And because there are three doctors present, they should TALK about it.
Well that’s enough. Feels good to get that off my chest. I’m glad other people have managed to enjoy this. But I really wouldn’t recommend these books to anyone. There’s a lot of other great DW content to enjoy, it’s just not here.
This was disappointing. I really enjoyed the first book, but spent this whole book confused. While the last book was fresh, interesting, and setup a morally conflicted choice for the Doctor, this book should have been about dealing with the consequences of that. Instead, it’s a weird scattered romp around the dark times... which are now being invaded by daleks and space vampires? This story abandons everything that made the last one great, and doesn’t sufficiently explain the motivations of the new actors.
For starters, what actual consequences did tens actions actually have in the future? Will we ever know? That’s the interesting material we should be exploring, but instead the other doctors briefly admonish ten but never explain why.
And a better question, how? How did nine and a bunch of space vampires hook up and both end up wanting to go to the past? And why would space vampires ever want to do that? Same question extends to the Daleks... the book briefly mentions the futures been affected, but won’t tell us in detail how, and why that’s a bad thing? I’m left wondering what tens choice actually did, but we’ll never know.
I expect the other TLD books address some of these questions, but to be frank im no longer interested. It should have been addressed here. I suffered through the whole book hoping that they would explain it all, but instead the book builds to a typical “Daleks destroy planet” type situation, and I’m left regretting reading this.
There are a lot of other problems with the book:
Nines characterization is weak. We don’t get a strong sense of his motivations. Same goes for eight. And just about everyone really. Characters don’t have clear goals and compelling reasons for those goals.
Beyond character, the setting is wasted in this one. In the last book we got to explore what made the dark times so different. This book touches little of that, instead importing Daleks and space vampires.
Worst of all, it’s not even a fun space romp. It should be, it’s the Doctors vs daleks plus space vampires. But everyone’s left dashing about, and not really working together in any meaningful way. The doctor never has any cool plan, he just gets Brian to fire some ancient weapons every time they get into battle. The doctors also should’ve worked together, or been at direct odds with another. Those are interesting dynamics. Instead they just bicker, or briefly go their own separate ways to do their own little mission. Why??
And it’s for these reasons that this doesn’t feel like a satisfying sequel. Instead of deeply diving into the consequences of tens genocide, we have a surface level squabble about it and wrap up the whole story without any meaningful character arcs or idea of what consequences there actually we’re. The way the book presents it, ten genociding an entire race has vague implications, which is the most anti-DW ending I can think of. If he did something wrong, he should suffer the consequences and learn. And because there are three doctors present, they should TALK about it.
Well that’s enough. Feels good to get that off my chest. I’m glad other people have managed to enjoy this. But I really wouldn’t recommend these books to anyone. There’s a lot of other great DW content to enjoy, it’s just not here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2021
I admit that this was not my cup of tea.
Basically one big confusing run around, breathless pacing, space battles and Daleks screeching Exterminate.
I also could not get my head around the 10th Doctors motivations for behaving so out of character.
In retrospect, the whole TLV event left me a bit disappointed.
It just did not gel that well together and it was not really what I had expected.
Basically one big confusing run around, breathless pacing, space battles and Daleks screeching Exterminate.
I also could not get my head around the 10th Doctors motivations for behaving so out of character.
In retrospect, the whole TLV event left me a bit disappointed.
It just did not gel that well together and it was not really what I had expected.
December 30, 2020
Three Doctors, daleks, daleks and more daleks, a great vampire, undead oh and lot of daleks.
Action exterminate exterminate all Three Doctors an Ood called Brian and new company called Hector this best Doctor Who of 2020.
Action exterminate exterminate all Three Doctors an Ood called Brian and new company called Hector this best Doctor Who of 2020.
January 24, 2021
So, is that it? Is it finished? I mean, I know there's a couple of other things to come out - one more audio and the short pieces that come with the figures, and the immersive theatre? But is that it ... finished? I think I read something by James Goss that said everything came to a head in his story.
This was one of the better stories, because some of them have been pretty lame, like "He kills me, he kills me not". But even so, I expected it to be a bit more .... epic. I wanted the strands of the story to come together. What happened to the Master after his Short Trips experience. What about Rose after her encounter with ... the creatures from Monstrous Beauty.
The thing about print and audio media is that it doesn't cost anything to create the image. Just imagine an army of scorpion-daleks facing down the unnamable creatures creatures from the darkest of age Dark Times, dalek lasers bounding harmlessly off their scales shining black like polished obsidian, leathery wings flapping in chaotic unison, raising a billowing tornado across the battlefield littered this the bodies fallen, and then, as one, there is an inhalation and the winds draw back like the tides. And when they exhale, they spit a tsunami of acid. THAT was the kind of tone I was hoping for ...
There was a really GOOD creature here. It is revealed on p.177. That could have really unleashed TERROR on the Universe and could have really commanded a few releases of its own. But the novel finishes on p.199, and a lot of that acts as an epilogue. A really good creature that could have really given the Doctors a run for their money, but dismissed in 13 pages. Spoilers, the Doctors defeat it. Kind of. A really wasted opportunity.
With so much hype and with so many platforms getting involved this really should have been enormous, but it's not sustained the momentum of the first couple of releases and really not lived up to what it promised.
This was one of the better stories, because some of them have been pretty lame, like "He kills me, he kills me not". But even so, I expected it to be a bit more .... epic. I wanted the strands of the story to come together. What happened to the Master after his Short Trips experience. What about Rose after her encounter with ... the creatures from Monstrous Beauty.
The thing about print and audio media is that it doesn't cost anything to create the image. Just imagine an army of scorpion-daleks facing down the unnamable creatures creatures from the darkest of age Dark Times, dalek lasers bounding harmlessly off their scales shining black like polished obsidian, leathery wings flapping in chaotic unison, raising a billowing tornado across the battlefield littered this the bodies fallen, and then, as one, there is an inhalation and the winds draw back like the tides. And when they exhale, they spit a tsunami of acid. THAT was the kind of tone I was hoping for ...
There was a really GOOD creature here. It is revealed on p.177. That could have really unleashed TERROR on the Universe and could have really commanded a few releases of its own. But the novel finishes on p.199, and a lot of that acts as an epilogue. A really good creature that could have really given the Doctors a run for their money, but dismissed in 13 pages. Spoilers, the Doctors defeat it. Kind of. A really wasted opportunity.
With so much hype and with so many platforms getting involved this really should have been enormous, but it's not sustained the momentum of the first couple of releases and really not lived up to what it promised.
March 1, 2021
Boring, redundant, and shockingly underwritten. A completely uninspired conclusion that wastes a lot of great potential wholely.
December 28, 2020
A lovely conclusion to the TLV, an interesting multi-media epic that has brought at lot of creativity to the Whoniverse in the last few months.
This book is less stand-alone than previous adventures; I'd recommend the previous book (kind of obvious), the Minds of Magnox and probably the 2nd 8th Doctor audio to get most of what is going on here (and probably Monstrous Beauty but I haven't read that myself).
I was sceptical for TLV, but now we've (sorta) reached the end, I'm really glad it exists. Full of fun storytelling, morally grey protagonists and an abundance of creative SF, this is Who at it's best.
This book is less stand-alone than previous adventures; I'd recommend the previous book (kind of obvious), the Minds of Magnox and probably the 2nd 8th Doctor audio to get most of what is going on here (and probably Monstrous Beauty but I haven't read that myself).
I was sceptical for TLV, but now we've (sorta) reached the end, I'm really glad it exists. Full of fun storytelling, morally grey protagonists and an abundance of creative SF, this is Who at it's best.
March 27, 2025
2021 52 Book Challenge - 18) Author With A Nine Letter Last Name
I love this book so much. When I learnt about the Time Lord Victorious series, and that were would be a novel with the 8th Doctor, I was so happy I could have cried happy tears. And then it was a novel with the 8th Doctor, 9th Doctor and 10th Doctor, and it was amazing. I loved all of the interactions between the different Doctors, and the interactions around the spider plant, it was just fantastic.
I also love the end part when they go to Gallifrey, and you have the 8th Doctor pre-Time War and the 9th and 10th Doctors post-Time War, it was just a lovely little moment.
Also, the idea of an assassin Ood named Brian, I just love it.
This is part of a series, and I originally read this first, and while there were bits that I didn't get because I hadn't read the rest of the series, it was still pretty easy to read it as a singular novel. Now on my reread in 2025, having recently read a lot more of the Time Lord Victorious series, I can say that it's still just as easy to read it on its own.
I love this book so much. When I learnt about the Time Lord Victorious series, and that were would be a novel with the 8th Doctor, I was so happy I could have cried happy tears. And then it was a novel with the 8th Doctor, 9th Doctor and 10th Doctor, and it was amazing. I loved all of the interactions between the different Doctors, and the interactions around the spider plant, it was just fantastic.
I also love the end part when they go to Gallifrey, and you have the 8th Doctor pre-Time War and the 9th and 10th Doctors post-Time War, it was just a lovely little moment.
Also, the idea of an assassin Ood named Brian, I just love it.
This is part of a series, and I originally read this first, and while there were bits that I didn't get because I hadn't read the rest of the series, it was still pretty easy to read it as a singular novel. Now on my reread in 2025, having recently read a lot more of the Time Lord Victorious series, I can say that it's still just as easy to read it on its own.
December 14, 2020
Let me start by saying that the Tenth Doctor was very well written here. McCormack perfectly captures Ten's anger and ferocity at the peak of his Time-Lord-Victorious mindset. Unfortunately most of the other elements don't live up to Ten. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors are both poorly written and fail to capture the essence of McGann and Eccleston's performances. The Vampires which cross-over from the Monstrous Beauty comics have a confusing and wasted storyline, the Daleks fare a little better although their masterplan to destroy an early Gallifrey is regulated to the final quarter of the book. That should be a whole epic by itself! Brian the Ood is still pretty cool though.
This was a very fast read for me, not because the plot was particularly gripping but because the sequence of uninspired and melodramatic scenes seemed to slip by without me noticing. This book hasn't been the worst part of Time Lord Victorious by far, it has just sadly missed the mark.
This was a very fast read for me, not because the plot was particularly gripping but because the sequence of uninspired and melodramatic scenes seemed to slip by without me noticing. This book hasn't been the worst part of Time Lord Victorious by far, it has just sadly missed the mark.
February 16, 2021
The Kotturuh are about to be wiped out by the Time Lord Victorious. The Eighth Doctor has brought the Daleks and the Ninth has brought a small army of Vampires to stop their future self from destroying all of space and time.
Some good character work in a multi Doctor storyline, which looks at the hubris of the Tenth Doctor effectively.
Some good character work in a multi Doctor storyline, which looks at the hubris of the Tenth Doctor effectively.
December 24, 2020
Would have rated it higher, but for the fact that it failed to catch one up on the other non-book media stories that transpired between the first Time Lord Victorious book and this one.
February 13, 2021
It's all-out war in the Dark Times. Three Doctors navigate moral dilemmas created by organising the extinction of the death-dealing Kotturuh, forming uneasy alliances with the Daleks and Great Vampires and how far their oldest incarnation should go to save the universe from cruel judgement.
All Flesh is Grass is a very ambitious novel that manages to pack grand battles, redemption arcs and yet another terrifying alien hybrid into a multi-Doctor story. While the Great Vampire element of the plot left me in the dark and I got lost with specific foot-soldier allegiances, I really enjoyed how McCormack manages to balance the personalities of the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors and retain their unique voices in dialogue. Most of all, it invigorated me to imagine Eccleston's interpretation interacting with his innocent past and worrying future.
Other key players that stood out for me were Brian the Ood who remains a delightfully opportunistic rogue, the Dalek Strategist who is somehow more repugnant than the rest of its kind and the vampire Madam Ikalla who has surprising chemistry with the Ninth Doctor. I would have quite liked to see these two go on more adventures.
Suffice to say McCormack has succeeded in maintaining the thrilling standard set by Steve Cole in The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, even if the plot becomes a little dense. All Flesh is Grass is certainly not a book to be picked up out of context, it requires a comprehensive knowledge of the fandom and of what has gone on during this Time Lord Victorious arc. While reading this novel doesn't require earlier consumption of the rest of the multimedia storytelling, I do believe it would help readers to keep up.
Nevertheless I enjoyed this plot about morality in the face of mortality. It shows just how dangerous the Doctor can be at times and why it's important that companions keep him/her in check. I recommend Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: All Flesh is Grass to those who read and enjoyed The Knight, The Fool and The Dead and are keenly-observant Whovians.
All Flesh is Grass is a very ambitious novel that manages to pack grand battles, redemption arcs and yet another terrifying alien hybrid into a multi-Doctor story. While the Great Vampire element of the plot left me in the dark and I got lost with specific foot-soldier allegiances, I really enjoyed how McCormack manages to balance the personalities of the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors and retain their unique voices in dialogue. Most of all, it invigorated me to imagine Eccleston's interpretation interacting with his innocent past and worrying future.
Other key players that stood out for me were Brian the Ood who remains a delightfully opportunistic rogue, the Dalek Strategist who is somehow more repugnant than the rest of its kind and the vampire Madam Ikalla who has surprising chemistry with the Ninth Doctor. I would have quite liked to see these two go on more adventures.
Suffice to say McCormack has succeeded in maintaining the thrilling standard set by Steve Cole in The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, even if the plot becomes a little dense. All Flesh is Grass is certainly not a book to be picked up out of context, it requires a comprehensive knowledge of the fandom and of what has gone on during this Time Lord Victorious arc. While reading this novel doesn't require earlier consumption of the rest of the multimedia storytelling, I do believe it would help readers to keep up.
Nevertheless I enjoyed this plot about morality in the face of mortality. It shows just how dangerous the Doctor can be at times and why it's important that companions keep him/her in check. I recommend Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: All Flesh is Grass to those who read and enjoyed The Knight, The Fool and The Dead and are keenly-observant Whovians.
October 29, 2024
A direct continuation from The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, this book is definitely part two of that story, a predecessor that played the part of complete setup for the bombastic sequel All Flesh Is Grass.
Moving at an absolutely breakneck speed, this book serves as the endgame for the Time Lord Victorious narrative, which everything builds toward. It's an epic, ambitious multi-Doctor story that feels enormous for a Doctor Who novel. It works.
The Tenth Doctor's actions in the previous novel have sent shockwaves up and down the timeline, forcing two of his former selves to team up with some of their biggest nemeses.
Like any good multi-Doctor that has come before it, the biggest charm of this story is the interactions of The Doctor's different perspectives and personalities, something author Una McCormack understood very well, perfectly capturing the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctor's unique personalities as well as their core similarities. Even with The Tenth Doctor slightly framed as an antagonist for much of this book's duration. Making the inner Doctor conflict (both internally and amongst his previous incarnations) more interesting than many previous multi-Doctor stories.
Daleks, Vampires, and Koturrah make up the core set of villains in different and genuinely interesting ways. Though short in length, All Flesh Is Grass is epic in scale and incredibly fun time.
Whilst you certainly don't need to digest everything in the multi medium narrative that is Time Lord Victorious to enjoy this. This is not a book you can jump into without at least reading The Knight, The Fool and The Dead.
Moving at an absolutely breakneck speed, this book serves as the endgame for the Time Lord Victorious narrative, which everything builds toward. It's an epic, ambitious multi-Doctor story that feels enormous for a Doctor Who novel. It works.
The Tenth Doctor's actions in the previous novel have sent shockwaves up and down the timeline, forcing two of his former selves to team up with some of their biggest nemeses.
Like any good multi-Doctor that has come before it, the biggest charm of this story is the interactions of The Doctor's different perspectives and personalities, something author Una McCormack understood very well, perfectly capturing the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctor's unique personalities as well as their core similarities. Even with The Tenth Doctor slightly framed as an antagonist for much of this book's duration. Making the inner Doctor conflict (both internally and amongst his previous incarnations) more interesting than many previous multi-Doctor stories.
Daleks, Vampires, and Koturrah make up the core set of villains in different and genuinely interesting ways. Though short in length, All Flesh Is Grass is epic in scale and incredibly fun time.
Whilst you certainly don't need to digest everything in the multi medium narrative that is Time Lord Victorious to enjoy this. This is not a book you can jump into without at least reading The Knight, The Fool and The Dead.
December 10, 2020
I love this 3 doctors story
The story all flesh is Glass is a fast read. About 3.5 hours for me to cover the 200 page book . I enjoyed the fast paced action and the integration of humor across 3 distinct eras of doctor who. I felt like I was in the Russel T Davies Era when then 9th spoke. I shifted easily into the childish charm of the 8th . And the terrified and terrible madness of the Timelord Victorious. All 10th doctor shouty about almost everything as he is under stress.
I loved every minute of the three doctors. Together. Robed or Not. Although I loved the robes mind you.
"The ultimate end" is a bit on the nose so no real surprises with that "mystery plan" but the Kotturugh was a fun antagonist and I loved the Vampires and the Daleks so much.
I do think I need to listen to the related 8th doctor who Audios which lead into this that I missed.... and only read one of the 9th doctor who tie in comics. I have to find the other leading into this book.
Overall the story was solid. Maybe I wanted more answers.
But the Journey and the 3 doctors distinct eras and interactions were fantastic in prose and I look forward to listening to this in Audio.
Sometimes I lost track of where the 9th Tardis is along the way. So that is a bit I was confused on.
I really enjoyed this story very much. It was easy to read and a fun character adventure with a solid plot.
Well written for each doctors lines and the feeling that we just switch scenes and eras of production of the tv series.
Way to go UMA and the BBC.
The story all flesh is Glass is a fast read. About 3.5 hours for me to cover the 200 page book . I enjoyed the fast paced action and the integration of humor across 3 distinct eras of doctor who. I felt like I was in the Russel T Davies Era when then 9th spoke. I shifted easily into the childish charm of the 8th . And the terrified and terrible madness of the Timelord Victorious. All 10th doctor shouty about almost everything as he is under stress.
I loved every minute of the three doctors. Together. Robed or Not. Although I loved the robes mind you.
"The ultimate end" is a bit on the nose so no real surprises with that "mystery plan" but the Kotturugh was a fun antagonist and I loved the Vampires and the Daleks so much.
I do think I need to listen to the related 8th doctor who Audios which lead into this that I missed.... and only read one of the 9th doctor who tie in comics. I have to find the other leading into this book.
Overall the story was solid. Maybe I wanted more answers.
But the Journey and the 3 doctors distinct eras and interactions were fantastic in prose and I look forward to listening to this in Audio.
Sometimes I lost track of where the 9th Tardis is along the way. So that is a bit I was confused on.
I really enjoyed this story very much. It was easy to read and a fun character adventure with a solid plot.
Well written for each doctors lines and the feeling that we just switch scenes and eras of production of the tv series.
Way to go UMA and the BBC.
January 23, 2021
Finale deludente per il progetto del Time Lord Victorious.
Anche se manca ancora un audiodrama all'appello (l'uscita di Echoes of Extinction, con l'ottavo e il decimo Dottore, è stata posticipata a febbraio 2021), Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: All Flesh is Grass è il romanzo che raccoglie tutti i fili e conclude il tutto.
In questo il risultato è perfetto. Ci sono rimandi a tutte le varie produzioni, tutto va al proprio posto... ma nel farlo sfrutta una narrazione troppo frammentata e frettolosa.
Le vicende dei tre Dottori (Nove e i suoi vampiri, Otto e la Dalek Time Squad e Dieci con Brian) si alternano creando troppo caos.
Il passaggio del tempo non si riesce a quantificare e troppo tempo è passato a sparare o farsi sparare dai Dalek.
A mio parere potevano uscirne almeno quattro di volumi, uno a Dottore e uno con un epilogo meno di corsa.
Le voci dei Dottori sono abbastanza identificabili, i loro manierismo sono perfetti ma, nonostante ciò, spesso si sovrappongono.
Un vero peccato perché la costruzione dei vari episodi preparatori era stata più che entusiasmante.
Anche se manca ancora un audiodrama all'appello (l'uscita di Echoes of Extinction, con l'ottavo e il decimo Dottore, è stata posticipata a febbraio 2021), Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: All Flesh is Grass è il romanzo che raccoglie tutti i fili e conclude il tutto.
In questo il risultato è perfetto. Ci sono rimandi a tutte le varie produzioni, tutto va al proprio posto... ma nel farlo sfrutta una narrazione troppo frammentata e frettolosa.
Le vicende dei tre Dottori (Nove e i suoi vampiri, Otto e la Dalek Time Squad e Dieci con Brian) si alternano creando troppo caos.
Il passaggio del tempo non si riesce a quantificare e troppo tempo è passato a sparare o farsi sparare dai Dalek.
A mio parere potevano uscirne almeno quattro di volumi, uno a Dottore e uno con un epilogo meno di corsa.
Le voci dei Dottori sono abbastanza identificabili, i loro manierismo sono perfetti ma, nonostante ciò, spesso si sovrappongono.
Un vero peccato perché la costruzione dei vari episodi preparatori era stata più che entusiasmante.
August 21, 2022
This book didn’t stick the landing.
After reading “The Knight, the Fool and the Dead”, I was hyped for this book. More hyped than I had been for a Doctor Who story in a long time. But this book left me disappointed.
Now that’s not to say its terrible. Its still a solid book whose prose flows as well as its predecessor and is a good Doctor Who adventure. However, it has a lot of problems. I will list them accordingly below. But of course…
***Spoilers***
Firstly, the Tenth Doctor abandons his Time Lord Victorious rage so fast. He becomes the Tenth Doctor again with only a bit of a telling off from the Eighth and Ninth Doctors. The scene of them doing it is a much weaker version of what fans experience between Eleven, Ten and War’s confrontation in the Elizabethan dungeons during “The Day of the Doctor”. This feels rushed and doesn’t justify Ten getting over a child’s death, Estinee, whom he had emotional scenes with connecting with and protecting her, he witnessed in person only hours earlier. I should have known from the sixth page when the Doctor was fussing over his collar feeling too tight rather than the sheer rage and righteousness he felt at the end of the last book that this story wasn’t going to commit to the Time Lord Victorious idea. Part of me wishes Steve Cole had wrote this book instead of Una McCormack because the shift in writing and tone is so jarring it is like Ten’s experiences in the last 50 pages “The Knight, The Fool and the Dead” didn’t happen. McCormack nails Ten’s character, but this really should have been more like he was in “Waters of Mars’” last 10 minutes than the typical Ten.
Secondly, the inclusion of the Eighth and Ninth Doctors not living up to the hype. This stems from the book being a similar length to its predecessor but now having three Doctors to juggle. They don’t get as much breathing room as Ten did and suffer for it. Further, one is expected to have read/heard their tales leading up to them encountering Ten. Now I wouldn’t mind this too much - part of the fun of Doctor Who’s stories branching across media is the ability to revisit it but from another Doctor’s perspective - but this book expects you to have experienced those stories; no proper summary is given for why Nine and Eight are here and with who they are with beyond “we sensed you were causing a paradox”. This means the book doesn’t really stand on its own, so hurts its accessibility, especially because the narrative is experienced through all three Doctors rather than solely Ten.
This sharing of the narrative leads into the third flaw, which is the Eighth and Ninth’s characterisation. Bar the scene setting of who they are around (Nine with vampires and Eight with Daleks) and Nine’s occasional “Ullo”, I wouldn’t know the Eighth and Ninth Doctors were talking. Unlike Ten, their characterisation isn’t distinct. Yeah, they are still the Doctor and do Doctor things but they aren’t *their* Doctor. Apart from the part near end when Eight marvels at Gallifrey while Nine and Ten look on knowing what happens to it in the future, the essence of McGann and Eccleston’s portrayals isn’t felt.
Fourthly, the Daleks become the main threat. I knew this would happen (when don’t the Daleks become the big bad?) but it happens wayyy too soon and they don’t do anything…distinctive. Blow up Gallifrey? Hate the Doctor? Its all the same and not done in a stylistic or amazing way to make it stand out from the dozens of times this has happened before. I would have much preferred the Time Lord Victorious to be the novel’s big bad, especially as that is what “The Knight, The Fool and the Dead” had setup - The Doctor usurping the Kotturuh as the Master of Death or even have the Kotturuh replace him as the main enemy again after he reconciles and becomes the Tenth Doctor again. The Daleks are the Doctor’s most iconic enemy but they weren’t the enemy for this story.
In short, this story is like a worse “The Day of the Doctor”. How I feel about this book is much like how I felt after watching “Hell Bent”. This book is what “Hell Bent” was to “Heaven Sent”. A story that quickly disregards what its predecessor setup and tells its own story while tangentially appreciating the thematic focus that it was building to (Ten confronting his darkness compared to Twelve grieving Clara’s death.)
All of this is a shame. The book isn’t bad. Its well written and well paced. However, it is lacking and really is a disappointment coming off of how amazing Steve Cole’s book was. I can only think this book suffers because it is the last(?) in the Time Lord Victorious tale so relies on readers having experienced the whole thing to fully enjoy it. But even then, if all the series built up to was for Ten to not really be the Time Lord Victorious and for it to be another “beat the Daleks” run of the mill story, then this is a heavy crash landing.
***Spoilers end***
Based on sheer disappointment, I am so tempted to give this a 2/5, but then I would be undercutting the fact this is still a well written tale. If I view it in isolation, its definitely a 2/5: lacks in detail, no vivid descriptions of the characters and doesn’t do loads with its premise. As a sequel, its a 3/5: capable conclusion but leaves a lot of disappointment for the place the story was heading.
To summarise: if you’re thinking of reading this after reading “The Knight, the Fool and the Dead”, don’t. This novel doesn’t do the story its predecessor built towards justice.
After reading “The Knight, the Fool and the Dead”, I was hyped for this book. More hyped than I had been for a Doctor Who story in a long time. But this book left me disappointed.
Now that’s not to say its terrible. Its still a solid book whose prose flows as well as its predecessor and is a good Doctor Who adventure. However, it has a lot of problems. I will list them accordingly below. But of course…
***Spoilers***
Firstly, the Tenth Doctor abandons his Time Lord Victorious rage so fast. He becomes the Tenth Doctor again with only a bit of a telling off from the Eighth and Ninth Doctors. The scene of them doing it is a much weaker version of what fans experience between Eleven, Ten and War’s confrontation in the Elizabethan dungeons during “The Day of the Doctor”. This feels rushed and doesn’t justify Ten getting over a child’s death, Estinee, whom he had emotional scenes with connecting with and protecting her, he witnessed in person only hours earlier. I should have known from the sixth page when the Doctor was fussing over his collar feeling too tight rather than the sheer rage and righteousness he felt at the end of the last book that this story wasn’t going to commit to the Time Lord Victorious idea. Part of me wishes Steve Cole had wrote this book instead of Una McCormack because the shift in writing and tone is so jarring it is like Ten’s experiences in the last 50 pages “The Knight, The Fool and the Dead” didn’t happen. McCormack nails Ten’s character, but this really should have been more like he was in “Waters of Mars’” last 10 minutes than the typical Ten.
Secondly, the inclusion of the Eighth and Ninth Doctors not living up to the hype. This stems from the book being a similar length to its predecessor but now having three Doctors to juggle. They don’t get as much breathing room as Ten did and suffer for it. Further, one is expected to have read/heard their tales leading up to them encountering Ten. Now I wouldn’t mind this too much - part of the fun of Doctor Who’s stories branching across media is the ability to revisit it but from another Doctor’s perspective - but this book expects you to have experienced those stories; no proper summary is given for why Nine and Eight are here and with who they are with beyond “we sensed you were causing a paradox”. This means the book doesn’t really stand on its own, so hurts its accessibility, especially because the narrative is experienced through all three Doctors rather than solely Ten.
This sharing of the narrative leads into the third flaw, which is the Eighth and Ninth’s characterisation. Bar the scene setting of who they are around (Nine with vampires and Eight with Daleks) and Nine’s occasional “Ullo”, I wouldn’t know the Eighth and Ninth Doctors were talking. Unlike Ten, their characterisation isn’t distinct. Yeah, they are still the Doctor and do Doctor things but they aren’t *their* Doctor. Apart from the part near end when Eight marvels at Gallifrey while Nine and Ten look on knowing what happens to it in the future, the essence of McGann and Eccleston’s portrayals isn’t felt.
Fourthly, the Daleks become the main threat. I knew this would happen (when don’t the Daleks become the big bad?) but it happens wayyy too soon and they don’t do anything…distinctive. Blow up Gallifrey? Hate the Doctor? Its all the same and not done in a stylistic or amazing way to make it stand out from the dozens of times this has happened before. I would have much preferred the Time Lord Victorious to be the novel’s big bad, especially as that is what “The Knight, The Fool and the Dead” had setup - The Doctor usurping the Kotturuh as the Master of Death or even have the Kotturuh replace him as the main enemy again after he reconciles and becomes the Tenth Doctor again. The Daleks are the Doctor’s most iconic enemy but they weren’t the enemy for this story.
In short, this story is like a worse “The Day of the Doctor”. How I feel about this book is much like how I felt after watching “Hell Bent”. This book is what “Hell Bent” was to “Heaven Sent”. A story that quickly disregards what its predecessor setup and tells its own story while tangentially appreciating the thematic focus that it was building to (Ten confronting his darkness compared to Twelve grieving Clara’s death.)
All of this is a shame. The book isn’t bad. Its well written and well paced. However, it is lacking and really is a disappointment coming off of how amazing Steve Cole’s book was. I can only think this book suffers because it is the last(?) in the Time Lord Victorious tale so relies on readers having experienced the whole thing to fully enjoy it. But even then, if all the series built up to was for Ten to not really be the Time Lord Victorious and for it to be another “beat the Daleks” run of the mill story, then this is a heavy crash landing.
***Spoilers end***
Based on sheer disappointment, I am so tempted to give this a 2/5, but then I would be undercutting the fact this is still a well written tale. If I view it in isolation, its definitely a 2/5: lacks in detail, no vivid descriptions of the characters and doesn’t do loads with its premise. As a sequel, its a 3/5: capable conclusion but leaves a lot of disappointment for the place the story was heading.
To summarise: if you’re thinking of reading this after reading “The Knight, the Fool and the Dead”, don’t. This novel doesn’t do the story its predecessor built towards justice.
January 30, 2021
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3579834.html
The Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors are brought together, together with Brian the Ood assassin and a Dalek time squad to confront the Kotturuh. Sparkling repartee between the three of them.
The Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors are brought together, together with Brian the Ood assassin and a Dalek time squad to confront the Kotturuh. Sparkling repartee between the three of them.
March 5, 2021
i really loved this one - very cool ❤️🤟
December 21, 2020
So far, the Time Lord Victorious event has been a bit of a mixed bag. The first novel, The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead, set up a solid premise but didn't explore any of its ideas with the depth needed to make them memorable. The two comics were well-written and illustrated but short and seemingly-disconnected from the larger story. And, as of this review, I haven't listened to any of the Big Finish audios, so I can't speak on them. But those parts of Time Lord Victorious that I have consumed have left me conflicted. I really want to enjoy Time Lord Victorious—I like a lot of the ideas and many of the stories are solid on their own, but the whole event hasn't felt like it was coalescing into anything yet. So, I hoped that this second (and final) novel, the conclusion of the storyline, All Flesh is Grass, would tick those boxes. And it sort of does—it deftly ties together the seemingly disparate elements of the story into an explosive conclusion. However, it also maintains all of the flaws of the first book and wastes the intriguing premise set up in that novel by devolving into another Doctor vs Dalek story.
Picking up exactly where the previous novel, The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead left off, All Flesh is Grass sees the Eighth and Ninth Doctors confronting the Tenth Doctor over his actions at the end of the previous novel. There is quite a bit of tension between the three of them—the Eighth and Ninth Doctors obviously do not approve of what the Tenth Doctor has done but the Tenth Doctor feels justified in his actions. However, the Eighth and Ninth Doctors are too late to stop him from using the Kotturah’s gift against them. All three incarnations of the Doctor quickly find themselves tangled in a web of consequences from all three of their actions. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors did not travel back to the Dark Times alone—the Eighth Doctor journeyed back with the Daleks (a story that is explained in the Big Finish audios) and the Ninth Doctor journeyed back with the Great Vampires (a story that is explained in the Doctor Who Magazine comic Monstrous Beauty). Both Doctors soon realize that their enemies-turned-companions are probably not to be trusted—especially the Daleks.
And that’s mostly what the novel is about. The Kotturah take a backseat to the three Doctors’ (and Brian the Ood and the Great Vampires’) quest to stop the Daleks from destroying all life in the Dark Times and ruining the future. And, in all honesty, it’s where the whole book falls apart a bit. Compared with a villain intended to be Death personified, the Daleks just aren’t that interesting. We’ve countless stories featuring them and I don’t know that Time Lord Victorious needed to be another such story. But that’s mostly what All Flesh is Grass is. Sure, it explores a bit of the Tenth Doctor’s personal fallout from his actions, but a lot of that gets glossed over as the impending threat of the Daleks has to be dealt with. What could’ve been an interesting look at a Doctor going too far over the edge and subsequently having to be rehabilitated by his past selves instead devolves into another bog-standard Doctor vs Daleks story—except this time there’s a Dalek Strategist who wants to create a Dalek mutant with DNA from creatures who lived and died in the Dark Times. This could have been interesting if the book explored that idea more. To be fair, I don’t blame McCormack for the Daleks being the ultimate villain here; I suspect that’s an edict that came from on high. That’s the trouble with these big multi-media events—the story is all planned out ahead of time and the individual pieces just have to work towards that end, regardless of whether or not it’s the best thing for the narrative. I will never understand why the powers that be created a villain like the Kotturah only to have the big climax of the story be the Doctors vs the Daleks. But that’s what they did.
All Flesh is Grass is plagued by the same problem that plagued The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead—there are too many ideas to explore in too short of a book. The book is extremely short (it clocks in at around 200 pages) and there is just too much going on at any given time to explore any of it with any depth. It’s mostly just a collection of scenes that move us from point a to point b as quickly as possible. It’s a bit like reading a Wikipedia article, honestly. The book moves at a brisk pace, which isn’t necessarily an inherently bad thing, but it moves at too brisk a pace. There is no time to explore the ramifications of anything. The Tenth Doctor has sentenced an entire species to death and there is very little time spent on that. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors tell him off briefly, but they are all quickly forced to deal with other things and the weight of such a confrontation between the three of them is, subsequently, never felt. What should’ve been the heart of the story is relegated to an under-explored subplot in favor of repeating some of Day of the Doctor’s plot—three Doctors trying to save a world from the Daleks. Even then, the Daleks’ plan feels underexplored as well. There’s some mumbo jumbo about an Ultimate End, but its big reveal feels rather disappointing as it’s never set up as well as it could be and ends up being a retread of other Doctor Who stories. There’s just so much going on in the book that everything feels relegated to the shadows. The Daleks are up to something, the Ninth Doctor and a vampire are up to something with the last Kotturah, and the Eighth and Tenth Doctors and Brian are up to something trying to defeat the Daleks. But we don’t spend enough time with any of these plotlines to fully understand what’s going on in them. Everything mostly makes sense by the book’s climax, but I can’t help but wish more time had been spent with each plotline, developing it into something that had more weight. Instead, it just felt like a standard Doctor Who story and not a big, monumental crossover event.
Similar to the previous novel, All Flesh is Grass’ characterizations suffer from its lack of page count too. With even more main characters than the previous novel, there’s just not enough space in the novel to properly explore any of them. McCormack does a solid job of capturing the voices of each of the Doctors, but there’s not enough room for her to delve into who these Doctors are as people. Understandably, the Tenth Doctor gets the most focus—but even his arc is underexplored. I found it somewhat difficult to track the events that made him realize he’d made a mistake in ridding the universe of the Kotturah. He was stubborn for much of the book and then, suddenly, he’d acquiesced. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors end up being fairly stereotypical representations of who they are—which, again, isn’t inherently problematic, but is a bit disappointing in a novel where the opportunity to delve deeper into their characters is plenty. Brian, the Daleks, and the Great Vampires sort of just fade into the background. Even though the Daleks are the villains, we don’t spend much time with them. I guess some of their motivations are explored in the Big Finish storyline, but I’d have liked to see some of that here as well. These novels should contain the bulk of the storyline, but they frequently feel as though they are missing elements.
To be fair, I don’t entirely blame McCormack for these problems, either. I have read some of her previous work and have greatly enjoyed them. She’s had a good grasp on character and plot before, and her previous Doctor Who work has been executed strongly. So, honestly, I suspect the problem with All Flesh is Grass is its page count—the novel was doomed to fail from the beginning by restricting it to such a ludicrously short page count. Even in the context of other Doctor Who novels, it’s short. Most of them have at least fifty more pages than either of the Time Lord Victorious books have, with many of them having a hundred or more additional pages. And all of those books have explored their ideas more fully than Time Lord Victorious has. I don’t know why these Time Lord Victorious novels have been restricted to such short lengths, but this restriction has hurt them both in every way.
Ultimately, I found All Flesh is Grass to be as disappointing as the previous novel was. It does bring the events set up in The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead to a somewhat satisfying close, but its short length and determination to devolve a unique story into a standard Dalek vs Doctors one squander much of its potential. Still, McCormack is a more-than-competent writer, and her prose carries much of the novel. It moves at a brisk pace—which ends up being both a good thing and a bad thing. The quickness of the story keeps the energy high, but it also keeps the audience from investing in the story and feeling the stakes of it all. The characterization is a similarly mixed bag, with McCormack capturing the voices of the characters well but not having the space needed to explore them with the depth one might desire. It’s not a bad novel, by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s also not as good as it could have been—a statement which applies to all of Time Lord Victorious.
I had honestly hoped that Time Lord Victorious was building to something exciting, something that would expand upon all of the ideas that were so briefly touched upon in other parts of the storyline. But, in the end, that’s not what I got. All Flesh is Grass is as brief a story as all the other text-based parts of Time Lord Victorious have been. As a multimedia event, I feel like each part of Time Lord Victorious should have been engineered to feel like a wholly complete and satisfying experience. Instead, each aspect I’ve consumed so far has felt like a less part of a whole that never coalesced into something worthy of its potential. And that’s a real shame because there was a superb premise here that could’ve been mined. As it is, it’s not a bad experience. I still enjoyed it for what it was. But, compared to its potential, it’s a letdown.
Picking up exactly where the previous novel, The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead left off, All Flesh is Grass sees the Eighth and Ninth Doctors confronting the Tenth Doctor over his actions at the end of the previous novel. There is quite a bit of tension between the three of them—the Eighth and Ninth Doctors obviously do not approve of what the Tenth Doctor has done but the Tenth Doctor feels justified in his actions. However, the Eighth and Ninth Doctors are too late to stop him from using the Kotturah’s gift against them. All three incarnations of the Doctor quickly find themselves tangled in a web of consequences from all three of their actions. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors did not travel back to the Dark Times alone—the Eighth Doctor journeyed back with the Daleks (a story that is explained in the Big Finish audios) and the Ninth Doctor journeyed back with the Great Vampires (a story that is explained in the Doctor Who Magazine comic Monstrous Beauty). Both Doctors soon realize that their enemies-turned-companions are probably not to be trusted—especially the Daleks.
And that’s mostly what the novel is about. The Kotturah take a backseat to the three Doctors’ (and Brian the Ood and the Great Vampires’) quest to stop the Daleks from destroying all life in the Dark Times and ruining the future. And, in all honesty, it’s where the whole book falls apart a bit. Compared with a villain intended to be Death personified, the Daleks just aren’t that interesting. We’ve countless stories featuring them and I don’t know that Time Lord Victorious needed to be another such story. But that’s mostly what All Flesh is Grass is. Sure, it explores a bit of the Tenth Doctor’s personal fallout from his actions, but a lot of that gets glossed over as the impending threat of the Daleks has to be dealt with. What could’ve been an interesting look at a Doctor going too far over the edge and subsequently having to be rehabilitated by his past selves instead devolves into another bog-standard Doctor vs Daleks story—except this time there’s a Dalek Strategist who wants to create a Dalek mutant with DNA from creatures who lived and died in the Dark Times. This could have been interesting if the book explored that idea more. To be fair, I don’t blame McCormack for the Daleks being the ultimate villain here; I suspect that’s an edict that came from on high. That’s the trouble with these big multi-media events—the story is all planned out ahead of time and the individual pieces just have to work towards that end, regardless of whether or not it’s the best thing for the narrative. I will never understand why the powers that be created a villain like the Kotturah only to have the big climax of the story be the Doctors vs the Daleks. But that’s what they did.
All Flesh is Grass is plagued by the same problem that plagued The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead—there are too many ideas to explore in too short of a book. The book is extremely short (it clocks in at around 200 pages) and there is just too much going on at any given time to explore any of it with any depth. It’s mostly just a collection of scenes that move us from point a to point b as quickly as possible. It’s a bit like reading a Wikipedia article, honestly. The book moves at a brisk pace, which isn’t necessarily an inherently bad thing, but it moves at too brisk a pace. There is no time to explore the ramifications of anything. The Tenth Doctor has sentenced an entire species to death and there is very little time spent on that. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors tell him off briefly, but they are all quickly forced to deal with other things and the weight of such a confrontation between the three of them is, subsequently, never felt. What should’ve been the heart of the story is relegated to an under-explored subplot in favor of repeating some of Day of the Doctor’s plot—three Doctors trying to save a world from the Daleks. Even then, the Daleks’ plan feels underexplored as well. There’s some mumbo jumbo about an Ultimate End, but its big reveal feels rather disappointing as it’s never set up as well as it could be and ends up being a retread of other Doctor Who stories. There’s just so much going on in the book that everything feels relegated to the shadows. The Daleks are up to something, the Ninth Doctor and a vampire are up to something with the last Kotturah, and the Eighth and Tenth Doctors and Brian are up to something trying to defeat the Daleks. But we don’t spend enough time with any of these plotlines to fully understand what’s going on in them. Everything mostly makes sense by the book’s climax, but I can’t help but wish more time had been spent with each plotline, developing it into something that had more weight. Instead, it just felt like a standard Doctor Who story and not a big, monumental crossover event.
Similar to the previous novel, All Flesh is Grass’ characterizations suffer from its lack of page count too. With even more main characters than the previous novel, there’s just not enough space in the novel to properly explore any of them. McCormack does a solid job of capturing the voices of each of the Doctors, but there’s not enough room for her to delve into who these Doctors are as people. Understandably, the Tenth Doctor gets the most focus—but even his arc is underexplored. I found it somewhat difficult to track the events that made him realize he’d made a mistake in ridding the universe of the Kotturah. He was stubborn for much of the book and then, suddenly, he’d acquiesced. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors end up being fairly stereotypical representations of who they are—which, again, isn’t inherently problematic, but is a bit disappointing in a novel where the opportunity to delve deeper into their characters is plenty. Brian, the Daleks, and the Great Vampires sort of just fade into the background. Even though the Daleks are the villains, we don’t spend much time with them. I guess some of their motivations are explored in the Big Finish storyline, but I’d have liked to see some of that here as well. These novels should contain the bulk of the storyline, but they frequently feel as though they are missing elements.
To be fair, I don’t entirely blame McCormack for these problems, either. I have read some of her previous work and have greatly enjoyed them. She’s had a good grasp on character and plot before, and her previous Doctor Who work has been executed strongly. So, honestly, I suspect the problem with All Flesh is Grass is its page count—the novel was doomed to fail from the beginning by restricting it to such a ludicrously short page count. Even in the context of other Doctor Who novels, it’s short. Most of them have at least fifty more pages than either of the Time Lord Victorious books have, with many of them having a hundred or more additional pages. And all of those books have explored their ideas more fully than Time Lord Victorious has. I don’t know why these Time Lord Victorious novels have been restricted to such short lengths, but this restriction has hurt them both in every way.
Ultimately, I found All Flesh is Grass to be as disappointing as the previous novel was. It does bring the events set up in The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead to a somewhat satisfying close, but its short length and determination to devolve a unique story into a standard Dalek vs Doctors one squander much of its potential. Still, McCormack is a more-than-competent writer, and her prose carries much of the novel. It moves at a brisk pace—which ends up being both a good thing and a bad thing. The quickness of the story keeps the energy high, but it also keeps the audience from investing in the story and feeling the stakes of it all. The characterization is a similarly mixed bag, with McCormack capturing the voices of the characters well but not having the space needed to explore them with the depth one might desire. It’s not a bad novel, by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s also not as good as it could have been—a statement which applies to all of Time Lord Victorious.
I had honestly hoped that Time Lord Victorious was building to something exciting, something that would expand upon all of the ideas that were so briefly touched upon in other parts of the storyline. But, in the end, that’s not what I got. All Flesh is Grass is as brief a story as all the other text-based parts of Time Lord Victorious have been. As a multimedia event, I feel like each part of Time Lord Victorious should have been engineered to feel like a wholly complete and satisfying experience. Instead, each aspect I’ve consumed so far has felt like a less part of a whole that never coalesced into something worthy of its potential. And that’s a real shame because there was a superb premise here that could’ve been mined. As it is, it’s not a bad experience. I still enjoyed it for what it was. But, compared to its potential, it’s a letdown.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2021
Rapid paced writing, enjoyable characterisation of the three doctors, fun dialogue.
December 11, 2020
I liked All Flesh is Grass and to be honest, it should be better, I mean I like how it is, my problem is that The Daleks we're the main villain in this book of course it was seen miles away as they play a very huge role in this storyline but I did wish that this book was gonna be full-on Doctor vs. Doctor, the Time Lord Victorious be combating with his other selves but of course they can't do much as the Kotturuh extinction has already occurred.
I do like the interactions with the Three Doctor especially the Eighth Doctor and his wittiness, despite the typical plan of Daleks want to rid Gallifrey before the Time Lord Genisis, I do enjoy the second half of the book and the ending especially scenes on the planet Birinji, ad my favorite character has to be Inyit who’s basically a Renegade Kotturuh and the last of her kind, I actually grew fond of her.
I did like the meaning of the title of the last book. The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead are the description of the three incarnations of the Doctor.
10 = The Knight
8 = The Fool
9 = The Dead
It's a good conclusion to the Time Lord Victorious but it should’ve been Bigger.
I do like the interactions with the Three Doctor especially the Eighth Doctor and his wittiness, despite the typical plan of Daleks want to rid Gallifrey before the Time Lord Genisis, I do enjoy the second half of the book and the ending especially scenes on the planet Birinji, ad my favorite character has to be Inyit who’s basically a Renegade Kotturuh and the last of her kind, I actually grew fond of her.
I did like the meaning of the title of the last book. The Knight, The Fool, and The Dead are the description of the three incarnations of the Doctor.
10 = The Knight
8 = The Fool
9 = The Dead
It's a good conclusion to the Time Lord Victorious but it should’ve been Bigger.
December 17, 2020
All Flesh is Grass follows directly on from the end of The Knight, The Fool & the Dead &, despite the change in writer, it fits together with the first book perfectly, continuing the adventure with a different pace & focus, whilst staying relevant & exciting. I sped through Una’s contribution to the Time Lord Victorious collection & loved running around The Dark Times with three generations of the Doctor; I was fascinated by the aliens in the first book, but I really enjoyed the introduction of Madam Ikalla in this one - I also loved having more of Brian, of course. I think it would be great for Brian & Ikalla to have their own spin-offs!
I will of course continue to ramble lovingly in my blog review, but, to finish, Una’s conclusion to this particular part of the TLV story was fantastic & I loved the different sides of each Doctor we got to see toward the end - Una’s writing was brilliant, as always, & she picked up from the end of Steve Cole’s work perfectly.
⚠️ Classic Doctor Who violence, death & weapon use ⚠️
Extended Review to follow.
I will of course continue to ramble lovingly in my blog review, but, to finish, Una’s conclusion to this particular part of the TLV story was fantastic & I loved the different sides of each Doctor we got to see toward the end - Una’s writing was brilliant, as always, & she picked up from the end of Steve Cole’s work perfectly.
⚠️ Classic Doctor Who violence, death & weapon use ⚠️
Extended Review to follow.
September 24, 2022
UPDATE:
The problem with The Timelord Victorious series as a whole it does suffer from the fact that over time your opinion changes on it simply because they are enjoyable and fun to read at the time but when put into perspective or if you think more on it compared to what other who novels or audios you can experience, they really aren't the best in terms of quality.
It is fun reading Una McCormack for the first time and she has a really good handle on The Doctors but it's nothing really too exciting and inspiring which arguably is the norm for a multi-Doctor event but honestly for a series as big as this you kind of expect more.
There is so much to unpack from this story from Daleks, Vampires, Kotturuh, and a story dealing with The Doctor's morality! You could say for a 199 paged novel it is a little too short and I confess it is a little rushed in places and could have had a little more expansion on but yet at the same time, it makes it more accessible for younger readers to enjoy this epic.
An alright conclusion to an otherwise hit-and-miss storyline. 6/10
The problem with The Timelord Victorious series as a whole it does suffer from the fact that over time your opinion changes on it simply because they are enjoyable and fun to read at the time but when put into perspective or if you think more on it compared to what other who novels or audios you can experience, they really aren't the best in terms of quality.
It is fun reading Una McCormack for the first time and she has a really good handle on The Doctors but it's nothing really too exciting and inspiring which arguably is the norm for a multi-Doctor event but honestly for a series as big as this you kind of expect more.
There is so much to unpack from this story from Daleks, Vampires, Kotturuh, and a story dealing with The Doctor's morality! You could say for a 199 paged novel it is a little too short and I confess it is a little rushed in places and could have had a little more expansion on but yet at the same time, it makes it more accessible for younger readers to enjoy this epic.
An alright conclusion to an otherwise hit-and-miss storyline. 6/10
December 28, 2020
Time Lord Victorious joins the eighth ninth and tenth doctors in the Gallifreyan dark times, the time of the Time Lord war with the great vampires as revealed in the fourth Doctor story State of Decay. Told across strips, audios and novels , plus an animated series on YouTube , it’s featured Eccleston encountering vampires, McGann reluctantly in alliance with the Daleks against the Kuturreh who bring death and try to define each species lifespan , while Ten , still in his Victorious mode after Waters of Mars , wants to eliminate death but reluctantly realises he’s not as big as he thinks he is. It’s a nice prelude to Matt Smith’s humbler view of his place in the universe.
While Covid has forced another gap year on the series, this has been an interesting , if Dalek heavy, epic ahead of Eccelston’s return to audio who next year . Here, as the Daleks try to combine Dalek and vampire DNA to prevent the time lords evolving , things begin to conclude . These three Doctors together is nice and it’s good fare for those moments when you have a Christmas glass of port in you.
While Covid has forced another gap year on the series, this has been an interesting , if Dalek heavy, epic ahead of Eccelston’s return to audio who next year . Here, as the Daleks try to combine Dalek and vampire DNA to prevent the time lords evolving , things begin to conclude . These three Doctors together is nice and it’s good fare for those moments when you have a Christmas glass of port in you.
December 4, 2021
Really enjoyed it
second time and the story feels a lot more complete, with the various parts of other bits making sense now when they didn't so much before, but then isn't that the benefit of hindsight?
December 2021
A very fun read, the cognitive dissonance between the Doctor's is funny at times, vampire Daleks less so, and the end of the death bringers is both good and tragic at the same time.
second time and the story feels a lot more complete, with the various parts of other bits making sense now when they didn't so much before, but then isn't that the benefit of hindsight?
December 2021
A very fun read, the cognitive dissonance between the Doctor's is funny at times, vampire Daleks less so, and the end of the death bringers is both good and tragic at the same time.
December 27, 2020
These "Time Lord Victorious" books are still far too short and lacking substance. But thanks to the skill of Una McCormack, it's made up for with speed, zest, and lovely characterization of the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors. This is quick reading, but much fun...and Ms McCormack still manages to squeeze out as much emotion and empathy as she can from the situation established in book one.
December 22, 2020
Much better than the first.
Funnier. Less gimmicky. 17 more words required I have thoughts but they’re currently empty. Six more words required. And there.
Funnier. Less gimmicky. 17 more words required I have thoughts but they’re currently empty. Six more words required. And there.
May 22, 2022
Following directly on from the events of the prior Time Lord Victorious novel, The Knight, The Fool and The Dead; Una Mcormack takes over writing responsibility with the next addition to 10's dark story called All Flesh is Grass.
Where we left off we saw the 10th Doctor double down on his stance as the master of time which he titles himself the Time Lord Victorious. In the wake of his cold and calculated destruction of the Kotturuh, he is the midst of preparing a planetary assault on their home planet of Mordeela when he is interrupted by fleets of Daleks and Vampires each led by his 8th and 9th incarnations. Seeing the risk to time 10 poses in his current mentality, 8 and 9 have sought the aid of these unlikely forces to even the odds and help 10 realise the stakes of the damage to time he is causing in the wake of his actions. As the story goes we see 8, 9 and 10 come together in many confrontations as they seek to settle the events 10 has set in motion before all of time is damaged beyond the state of repair.
The story is really fun to follow just for the interactions of 8, 9 and 10. These are characters we've never seen interact in the show itself so having this dynamic displayed in written form is so fun to follow. I think the narrative doesn't follow the setup from the prior book all to strongly though as I feel the Daleks take over the role of antagonist all too quickly. I liked the idea of 10 being so hell bent on his righteous crusade that he is the big bad of the story, but his Time Lord Victorious stance sadly fades into the background to work with his prior incarnations to take on the Dalek threat. I was under the impression that this multimedia story would tackle 10 as the overarching force but the events of Waters of Mars and The Knight, The Food and the Dead seem to be the extend of 10's darker nature and I just felt this story had a lot more potential to do so much more. Besides 10's change of characters stance, the overall story isn't all bad. I like how it does tackle the consequences of 10's actions in wiping out the Kotturuh and how their fate ties into the state of time. Seeing 8, 9 and 10 work together to resolve the threat established in the wake of 10's actions and the Daleks ultimate plan is definitely the most engaging aspect of the story and I'm happy to note the narrative banks on a it a lot throughout the book.
I like how much time it gives to separate the independent perspectives of the 8th Doctor, the 9th Doctor and the 10th Doctor as they form up and split off on their own missions throughout the story. These incarnations are all distinct from one another in personality and mannerisms but it's worth noting they are all tied together through their relationship to the Time War and the scales of war in general. They each challenge one another on their actions and perspectives and that dynamic is the crux of the story. On the supporting side we have Brian the Ood continuing to be the most polite assassin in the galaxy and I adored how he took on the Daleks in his own unique ways. The introduction of the space vampires and their ambiguous relationship with the last of the Kotturuh was also interesting to follow.
All Flesh is Grass took the Time Lord Victorious story in a direction I wasn't expecting. Una McCormack shows she get's Doctor Who quite well in how she utilises 3 historic incarnations of the Doctor to tell a compelling narrative which feels respectful to who each of these characters are. I can't pretend I'm not disappointed that 10's dark nature was put on the sideline so quickly because I was hoping for that to be the centre crux of this entire multimedia story. The Daleks turning on the Doctor was incredibly predictable too but they at least lay out a tease for their role in this multimedia story both past and present. Part of the fun of Doctor Who is following a story in a non0linear fashion and I hope to see the ripple effects of this book in the remainder of this storyline!
Where we left off we saw the 10th Doctor double down on his stance as the master of time which he titles himself the Time Lord Victorious. In the wake of his cold and calculated destruction of the Kotturuh, he is the midst of preparing a planetary assault on their home planet of Mordeela when he is interrupted by fleets of Daleks and Vampires each led by his 8th and 9th incarnations. Seeing the risk to time 10 poses in his current mentality, 8 and 9 have sought the aid of these unlikely forces to even the odds and help 10 realise the stakes of the damage to time he is causing in the wake of his actions. As the story goes we see 8, 9 and 10 come together in many confrontations as they seek to settle the events 10 has set in motion before all of time is damaged beyond the state of repair.
The story is really fun to follow just for the interactions of 8, 9 and 10. These are characters we've never seen interact in the show itself so having this dynamic displayed in written form is so fun to follow. I think the narrative doesn't follow the setup from the prior book all to strongly though as I feel the Daleks take over the role of antagonist all too quickly. I liked the idea of 10 being so hell bent on his righteous crusade that he is the big bad of the story, but his Time Lord Victorious stance sadly fades into the background to work with his prior incarnations to take on the Dalek threat. I was under the impression that this multimedia story would tackle 10 as the overarching force but the events of Waters of Mars and The Knight, The Food and the Dead seem to be the extend of 10's darker nature and I just felt this story had a lot more potential to do so much more. Besides 10's change of characters stance, the overall story isn't all bad. I like how it does tackle the consequences of 10's actions in wiping out the Kotturuh and how their fate ties into the state of time. Seeing 8, 9 and 10 work together to resolve the threat established in the wake of 10's actions and the Daleks ultimate plan is definitely the most engaging aspect of the story and I'm happy to note the narrative banks on a it a lot throughout the book.
I like how much time it gives to separate the independent perspectives of the 8th Doctor, the 9th Doctor and the 10th Doctor as they form up and split off on their own missions throughout the story. These incarnations are all distinct from one another in personality and mannerisms but it's worth noting they are all tied together through their relationship to the Time War and the scales of war in general. They each challenge one another on their actions and perspectives and that dynamic is the crux of the story. On the supporting side we have Brian the Ood continuing to be the most polite assassin in the galaxy and I adored how he took on the Daleks in his own unique ways. The introduction of the space vampires and their ambiguous relationship with the last of the Kotturuh was also interesting to follow.
All Flesh is Grass took the Time Lord Victorious story in a direction I wasn't expecting. Una McCormack shows she get's Doctor Who quite well in how she utilises 3 historic incarnations of the Doctor to tell a compelling narrative which feels respectful to who each of these characters are. I can't pretend I'm not disappointed that 10's dark nature was put on the sideline so quickly because I was hoping for that to be the centre crux of this entire multimedia story. The Daleks turning on the Doctor was incredibly predictable too but they at least lay out a tease for their role in this multimedia story both past and present. Part of the fun of Doctor Who is following a story in a non0linear fashion and I hope to see the ripple effects of this book in the remainder of this storyline!
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