Doctor Who: Doom's Day: Extraction Point

Doctor Who: Doom’s Day #11-14

by M.G. Harris

It's the Doctor's universe. 24 hours to find them.

24 hours to escape death.

The finest time-travelling assassin in the cosmos is running scared. Doom's own death is coming for him in a matter of hours. And the only person in the universe who might just be able to save him is the Doctor - so long as it's the right Doctor.

But as Doom searches for aid, the hits keep coming in. Kill a crabby Kraal and his replica world! Assassinate a ghost on Satellite Five! Eliminate a living asteroid! Doom finds his talents - and his patience - stretched to breaking point.

But these apparently random jobs are linked in a way Doom could never imagine. And when not one but TWO different Doctors get involved, on the trail of an old enemy, the ensuing fireworks might just end the lives of billions. Can Doom solve the mystery before his allotted hours are up? It's not only a planet he must save from destruction, but himself...

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Time Travel

227 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2023

About the author

Author Bio:

MG (Maria Guadalupe) Harris was born in Mexico City but moved to England as a young child. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a scientist and ran an Internet business.

On regular visits back to Mexico, MG became fascinated by Mayan archaeology and made several trips to Mayan ruins in Yucatan and Chiapas. One such trip planted the seed of the idea for THE JOSHUA FILES, a best-selling series of books for middle-grade readers which was translated into 17 foreign languages.

MG Harris is also the author of GEMINI FORCE ONE, a trilogy of action-adventure novels created with Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson and funded initially via a hugely popular Kickstarter campaign. As M.G. Reyes she has is the author of the EMANCIPATED trilogy, a crime-drama for older teenagers. Her latest series, THE MIND GAME, is a mystery spy thriller for teens and young adults.

Favourite living authors are RF Kuang, Haruki Murakami, Mario Vargas Llosa and Junot Diaz.

Reviews

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Congratulations This wins the Headache Award 2023 because that is what I got reading this. The cover by Lee Binding is only good thing about this book, but it does give the villains away.
This a good action science fiction packed full of action but I ordered a Doctor Who special with two Doctors.
Here we get the wrong ones, the ninth was always with Rose she is missing it doesn't add up it would have worked with the tenth but don't worry because the Doctor is a guest in the book.
There is 31 blank pages in 227 page book it reads as if the beginning is missing. Doom is anti hero she is in the Lesser Order of Oberon payed hit women so idea of the Doctor helping her which is plot for the book is silly he not help a murder someone who is worse than the Master.
This was not bad book but it just seems wrong that 2nd Doctor is late and the 9th should not be there.
I think Maria is showing off. But then uses a Doctor that was not available because he was fighting the Daleks at the time.and another that was unavailable because was on trail it stinks the plots full of holes deep holes and Doom is a wooden devil.
The author should have stuck to what she knows YA books not Doctor Who this wast of money and does not celebrate the 60th anniversary at all. A wooden plot with ghastly plot that give you headache

[Christopher M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a jumping on point for the multimedia Doom's Day event; it's straight into the action with barely a recap and no Who content for about quarter of the story. It is, however, far and away the best episode so far. The narrative is lively, witty and gives Doom a fully rounded persona at last, and one that feels like it could be being played by Sooz Kempner thanks to little touches like a karaoke scene. The plot begins with a Bond style ski slope stuntfest, balances relentless action with a fiendish scheme that finally starts to tie all of the hours together, and offers some growth and potential redemption for Doom, whose murders we've kind of been asked to cheer on thus far. It's firmly rooted in the Eccleston era as the cover suggests, and recreates it lovingly before a last minute appearance by a resolutely Season 6b Troughton. Recommended.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly solid attempt at a stand-alone novel, set in the midst of the "Doom's Day" side-story being run to celebrate "Doctor Who's" 60th anniversary. It's not going to set the world on fire, but it's a pleasant distraction using a number of interesting continuity touches from past decades, and it particularly shines whenever the 9th Doctor shows up...with an added cameo from the 2nd Doctor near the climax. It made for a diverting afternoon read.

[Jai The Thembo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun I guess. Some nice little nods but I just don’t really see the point of it?

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing says "Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special" to me like stories that almost entirely sideline the Doctor to focus on a character that, let's be honest, would take immense effort to find the slightest bit interesting. The BBC has historically gone through bouts of loathing for this series -- destroying master copies of episodes, cancellation, selling the series to Fox, letting Chris Chibnall near it -- and this seems to be the latest slap in the face.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

In Extraction Point, Doom's search for the Doctor leads her to an icy planet besieged by a planet-ending catastrophe, a mysterious space station haunted by ghosts, and a living asteroid in need of a good old-fashioned execution. But are these seemingly random jobs connected by some overarching plot? And just why does the (wrong) Doctor keep turning up at exactly the right moment? Doom's race against time brings her in the crosshairs of one of the Doctor's oldest enemies, and straight into a criminal plot of planet-ending proportions.

Of the two major installments so far, Extraction Point is easily the best. Harris's prose is nice and breezy, immediately sweeping you into Doom's story. The novel's separated into four parts - one for each hour. And the nice thing here is that despite each hour technically being a different mission, all four missions are very much tied together; all part of a grander scheme. It makes for a far more engaging read. It's a universe-trotting, time-spanning mystery that leans heavily into Doctor Who's past - especially the Ninth Doctor's era. To go into any real detail risks spoiling the fun, but eagle-eyed readers are sure to spot a metric ton of Easter eggs.

The problem is that Doom doesn't have any real character arc. There's a lot of exposition about how talented and dangerous she is and how she's trying to outrun Death. And Harris gives a fair amount of insight into Doom's thoughts throughout the story. But we're given very little reason to care about her as a character yet. And that's a shame because Extraction Point is otherwise quite engaging. It's well-paced and the overarching mystery is quite fun to untangle. Extraction Point's just missing a central character arc to hang its delightfully pulpy plot off of.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hours 11 to 14: Marginally … maybe fractionally would be the more correct word here … better than the previous comic book chapters of the Doom’s Day multi-media crossover event (Doctor Who: Doom's Day. A Doctor In The House? & Doctor Who: Four Hours Of Doom's Day) or the online introduction (Doctor Who: Doom's Day: Hour One), but this was still pretty bad. Part of the problem for me is the very premise, and absurdity (and unbelievably) of the protagonist, Doom. So far, I’ve seen nothing that makes me think she’s in any way shape or form a competent assassin and I’ve seen nothing to make me even like the character or empathize with her.

Up next is Doctor Who: Four from Doom's Day: Doom's Day Audio Original and then the contribution from Big Finish Doctor Who: Doom’s Day: Dying Hours. Hopefully these audios will be better (but I’m not holding my breath).

[John Parungao · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one for fans of modern Doctor Who, most modern fans are familiar with the concept of a Doctorless, or Doctor lite adventure. That is what we get with this novel. I'm not that big a fan of these multi media , multi part events that BBC has started making; but I think I enjoy Doom as a lead character, and that's who she is in this book.

Doom, a time -traveling assassin is the protagonist in this story. She feels to me like a cross between Jack Harkness and River Song. Doom is the lead character here. She accepts assignments which she eventually discovers are connected. She has a puzzle to solve and only gets occasional help from The Doctor.
I like Doom as a character, she would make a great lead character for a spin off series, hopefully either from Big Finish or Disney.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/dooms-day-24-doctor-who-stories-in-different-media-of-which-less-than-half-feature-the-doctor/

Four more stories in which the Ninth Doctor appears briefly in the first and the Second Doctor plays a larger role in the last. (There is a confusing misprint on page 220: “The Doctor was already lowering herself into the elevator” which from context should clearly be “himself”.) It’s Harris’s first contribution to Who, and as with some of the other Doom’s Day components I found it a bit rushed. Still, interesting use of shape-changing aliens – the Kraals and Slitheen do have that in common.

[Rachel Redhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most substantial chunk of the DD arc so far and yet it still feels like candyfloss at times as every aspect of the story feels forcibly curtailed and not by the events of the story itself, still the characters are all well presented even if certain ones featured on the cover feel more like cameos than real appearances, the plot is well crafted and is nicely time winey but not overly so. All in all it's an enjoyable romp, in spite of what feels like several attempts to stop it being so, so congrats to the author for this success, but with another 150 pages to really give it room to breathe, oh what a belter this book would have been.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a quick read, but that might be part of the problem. Doom hasn’t really felt like a fully formed and fleshed out character. For the comics, I thought the limitations of the medium might have contributed to that. But even here in a novel, where I would have thought she’d be further developed, she feels like a passive POV character. The Ninth Doctor pops up for a little bit a couple of times, and then the Second Doctor doesn’t show up until toward the end. While the cover looks amazing, the story feels very by the numbers. I feel like maybe the author was not given enough to work with when it came to this story and the overall path of Doom’s Day.

[Jon Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably as good a job as any author could make of the awkward assignment of constructing a satisfying story while progressing the Doom’s Day arc. The emphasis is very much on the Doom story with the Doctors reduced to fairly random cameos but if you’re looking for a Doctor Who story you might want to pick up any of the hundreds of other novels.

Some nice continuity references (including a throwback to one of the ninth Doctor novels) brighten things up, and the plot’s neater than it sometimes appears early on, but really the cover and blurb give rather too much away about what’s going on. Fun but inessential.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I would have liked this better if I’d known Doom going in but alas I read this for the second doctor and he was barely in it… that said Doom was an interesting character and it being set during her trying to escape death while carrying out assassination assignments was cool. That said I didn’t really buy that she was the best assassin in the universe nor her attempts at having morals that aligned with that, it felt quite contradictory if she had to have moral qualms I would have like to actually spent more time on them which would have helped me believe them because frankly she seemed quite happy to kill people!

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an irony not lost on her, the temporal assassin Doom is being pursued by Death. Her only hope lies in her ability to complete her assignments and time travel to escape. Well, that or being saved by the enigmatic Time Lord known only as the Doctor.

Harris' short novel is punchy and exciting. Aimed at readers of all ages, it works as a stand alone novel, but connects itself to the multimedia experience of "Doom's Day".

[Mic · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 rounded up to 3

I thought it was fine. One got he better entries in the doomsday. I find it annoying how much money you have to spend to get the full story. But by itself as a stand-alone it was solid. I liked seeing the Ninth Doctor and Doom interact, it was a lot of fun and I wish the whole book was them together

[Jason]

Not bad....not good

Thankfully the stories are too reliant on the death is coming story arc. In fact you could be forgiven for thinking it bearly mattered. The story in the book is an OK Dr Who story. But there are better.

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you MG Harris for writing this phenomenal book and story. Read this book.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting and fun story that is told from a unique perspective in with familiar elements from the Doctor Who universe. Perfect for an anniversary story.

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best (so far) of the Doom's Day event.