Time Hunter: The Winning Side

Time Hunter #1

by Lance Parkin

Emily is dead! Killed by an unknown assailant. Honore Lechasseur is called to identify the body, but who should arrive there as well, but Emily! Honore and Emily find themselves caught up in a plot reaching from the future to their past, and with their very existence, not to mention the future of the entire world, at stake, can they unravel the mystery before it's too late? Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction ... original adventures in time and space.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction

82 pages, Hardcover

First published January 13, 2004

About the author

Lance Parkin is an author who has written professional Doctor Who fiction since the 1990s. He is one of the few authors to write for both the 1963 and 2005 version of the programme — though much of his fiction has actually been based on the 1996 iteration. Indeed, he was notably the first author to write original prose for the Eighth Doctor in The Dying Days. He was also the author chosen to deliver the nominal 35th anniversary story, The Infinity Doctors, and the final volume in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range, The Gallifrey Chronicles. More recently, he has written for the Tenth Doctor in The Eyeless.

He is further notable for his work with Big Finish Productions, where he is arguably most known for writing the Sixth Doctor adventure, Davros.

Outside of Doctor Who, he has written things like Warlords of Utopia and (with Mark Jones) Dark Matter, a guide to the author Philip Pullman.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I am still relatively new to the world (or is that worlds) of Doctor Who fiction and more importantly the spin off stories of their companions and associates.

The Time Hunter series by Telos is a perfect point in case. Introduced in the story "The cabinet of light" we have a totally standalone story using familiar characters and locations but they now have their own story to follow.

Now I cannot really comment too much about the story as yes I follow my own rule of no spoilers but what can I say is that the story was short - over 80 pages - but felt well rounded although to be honest it really only serves to introduce the characters and the formation of the collaboration that is to lead them through the series.

Yes this is the first in a series of books which if this first book is anything to go by will feel more like episodes that a series of novels.

Reading this book (and I apologise if it was not intended) but I cannot stop thinking of episodes of Sapphire and Steel - an equally obscure and yes unsettling series where things were not as they seemed.

Now personally I think that feeling unease in a story has long since been over looked for more in your face over the top experiences - if this keeps up through the series I think I am going to like these books.

[Richard Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this Doctor Who pseudo-spinoff. Still getting a feel for the characters but it's an interesting series to start. Bonus points for Louise Jameson's narration of the audiobook, always a big fan of hers.

[Bookcollector · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the time hunter series. It was originally published in 2003 and based on characters from a doctor who novella, the cabinet of light. When telos lost the rights to publish doctor who books they created the time hunter series featuring the two characters fom the original doctor who novella, Emily Blandish and Honorè Lechasseur. (Eighteen years later telos have reprinted the eleven time hunter novellas and as a bonus have presented an alternative cabinet of light as book zero, making twelve time hunter books.)
I enjoyed this novella. It's very well written and establishes the premise of the series well. The story is good and the characters well drawn. I didn't read these at the time they were originally released and decided to read them after seeing they had been reprinted. Very enjoyable book.

[Amane Kabbaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected. It was mentioned in a doctor who video so I assumed that something of DW would appear in this story. But still an enjoyable listen on Spotify

[Karol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but a little hard to keep track of time period.