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Past Doctor Adventures #62
Doctor Who: Wolfsbane
Harry is dead. Having left him abandoned and alone in pre-war Britain, the Doctor and Sarah try to solve the mystery of his death. But the only witness is in a lunatic asylum, driven mad by what he has seen. He tells of murder and mutilation, of living trees and long-dead legends, of wolfmen and war...And of a mysterious stranger known only as the Doctor. Can it be true that Harry discovered the last resting place of the Holy Grail? Why are the flowers and trees in a Somerset village in full bloom at Christmas? And is it just a coincidence that Harry died under a full moon? This adventure features the Fourth and Eighth Doctors, Sarah Jane and Harry.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2003
1 person is currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Rayner
133 books168 followersJacqueline Rayner is a best selling British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Paul Cornell's Virgin New Adventure novel Oh No It Isn't! for the audio format, the first release by Big Finish. (The novel featured the character of Bernice Summerfield and was part of a spin-off series from Doctor Who.) She went on to do five of the six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations and further work for Big Finish before going to work for BBC Books on their Doctor Who lines.
Her first novels came in 2001, with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel EarthWorld for BBC Books and the Bernice Summerfield novel The Squire's Crystal for Big Finish. Rayner has written several other Doctor Who spin-offs and was also for a period the executive producer for the BBC on the Big Finish range of Doctor Who audio dramas. She has also contributed to the audio range as a writer. In all, her Doctor Who and related work (Bernice Summerfield stories), consists of five novels, a number of short stories and four original audio plays.
Rayner has edited several anthologies of Doctor Who short stories, mainly for Big Finish, and done work for Doctor Who Magazine. Beyond Doctor Who, her work includes the children's television tie-in book Horses Like Blaze.
With the start of the new television series of Doctor Who in 2005 and a shift in the BBC's Doctor Who related book output, Rayner has become, along with Justin Richards and Stephen Cole, one of the regular authors of the BBC's New Series Adventures. She has also abridged several of the books to be made into audiobooks.
She was also a member of Doctor Who Magazine's original Time Team.
Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Paul Cornell's Virgin New Adventure novel Oh No It Isn't! for the audio format, the first release by Big Finish. (The novel featured the character of Bernice Summerfield and was part of a spin-off series from Doctor Who.) She went on to do five of the six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations and further work for Big Finish before going to work for BBC Books on their Doctor Who lines.
Her first novels came in 2001, with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel EarthWorld for BBC Books and the Bernice Summerfield novel The Squire's Crystal for Big Finish. Rayner has written several other Doctor Who spin-offs and was also for a period the executive producer for the BBC on the Big Finish range of Doctor Who audio dramas. She has also contributed to the audio range as a writer. In all, her Doctor Who and related work (Bernice Summerfield stories), consists of five novels, a number of short stories and four original audio plays.
Rayner has edited several anthologies of Doctor Who short stories, mainly for Big Finish, and done work for Doctor Who Magazine. Beyond Doctor Who, her work includes the children's television tie-in book Horses Like Blaze.
With the start of the new television series of Doctor Who in 2005 and a shift in the BBC's Doctor Who related book output, Rayner has become, along with Justin Richards and Stephen Cole, one of the regular authors of the BBC's New Series Adventures. She has also abridged several of the books to be made into audiobooks.
She was also a member of Doctor Who Magazine's original Time Team.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 7, 2023
Who doesn't love a multi-Doctor story?
Published just before the shows 40th anniversary, this feels like a unique way to mark that milestone as the Fourth (the most popular) and Eighth (the then current) Doctor's don't actually meet.
I'm currently reading through the EDA'S and this Past Doctor Adventure fits in during Eight's Earth Arc in those series of books.
The only way this story works is due to the events in that range.
Whilst from the Fourth Doctor's perspective it's between Seasons 12 and 13...
It's McGann's Doctor that discover the mystery alongside Harry Sullian in November 1936, whilst Baker's incarnation with Sarah Jane tie up the loose ends a month later in December.
The wintery setting and fantasy elements of werewolves and medieval magic made for an interesting pairing too.
Whilst the characterisation of the two Time Lords were quite enjoyable, there were a few instances where I was initially confused with which part of the plot I was in.
Though this books strengths are with the companions as both Harry and Sarah Jane shine.
Published just before the shows 40th anniversary, this feels like a unique way to mark that milestone as the Fourth (the most popular) and Eighth (the then current) Doctor's don't actually meet.
I'm currently reading through the EDA'S and this Past Doctor Adventure fits in during Eight's Earth Arc in those series of books.
The only way this story works is due to the events in that range.
Whilst from the Fourth Doctor's perspective it's between Seasons 12 and 13...
It's McGann's Doctor that discover the mystery alongside Harry Sullian in November 1936, whilst Baker's incarnation with Sarah Jane tie up the loose ends a month later in December.
The wintery setting and fantasy elements of werewolves and medieval magic made for an interesting pairing too.
Whilst the characterisation of the two Time Lords were quite enjoyable, there were a few instances where I was initially confused with which part of the plot I was in.
Though this books strengths are with the companions as both Harry and Sarah Jane shine.
October 11, 2018
Doctor Who books are comfort books for me. It's always a familiar character, an intriguing mystery, some science-fiction(at least in the books), and by the end of the book, I'm certain I'll be entertained by the Doctor's antics, wit and humor, and warmed by his companions' loyalty, bravery and occasional hilarity(think Fitz Kreiner).
This book claimed on it's back cover, to feature both the Fourth and the Eighth Doctors, as well as Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, which probably comes down to it being my all time favourite book cast. The only way this book could have been more ideal is if it also featured Fitz, but that's really too much to ask for.
The book is set between two parallel timelines, the Fourth Doctor exploring with Sarah Jane and Harry, and the Eighth Doctor taking the long way around living through the 1900s after the destruction of Gallifrey and loss of his memory. Harry ends up being sent back in time, and conveniently meets the Eighth Doctor, who doesn't remember him because of the deplorable state of his memory. The two stories run in parallel, with the Eighth Doctor and Harry pursuing a large chunk of the puzzle in the past, while the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane investigate the events of the past and attempt to piece together what happened to Harry Sullivan. Sounds like the perfect setting to tell a good story.
Here's the flaws in the story for me.
The science fiction in this book is absent. It isn't stretched, it isn't shaky, its just not there in the book at all. Over time I have learnt to not hold the show to any kind of standards on scientific robustness, but the books have always had enough room to explain their phenomena within the paradigm created.
The book also relies heavily on Arthurian and English folklore for explanations, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but it has little to do with Doctor Who lore. On occasion the story gets choppy jumping between the two doctors, and the Fourth Doctor is done well, in all his glory but is given a relatively small part to play, while the Eighth Doctor has been drawn vaguely and takes center-stage through the book. The plot hinges on the driving force of the reader wondering how Harry Sullivan apparently "died" and how he would make his way back to the Fourth Doctor in the future, both of which can be easily guessed by a seasoned Whovian. That does take the wind out of the reader's metaphorical sails a bit.
Aside from this, there is precious little to complain about. There's humour, mystery, wit and enough Doctorness to please any Whovian who happens to pick this book up. Most likely, there are parts of the story that are not immediately apparent to me, and will become clearer when I read the book again, as is the case with most Doctor Who books.
Re-Readability Score: 4/5
This book claimed on it's back cover, to feature both the Fourth and the Eighth Doctors, as well as Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, which probably comes down to it being my all time favourite book cast. The only way this book could have been more ideal is if it also featured Fitz, but that's really too much to ask for.
The book is set between two parallel timelines, the Fourth Doctor exploring with Sarah Jane and Harry, and the Eighth Doctor taking the long way around living through the 1900s after the destruction of Gallifrey and loss of his memory. Harry ends up being sent back in time, and conveniently meets the Eighth Doctor, who doesn't remember him because of the deplorable state of his memory. The two stories run in parallel, with the Eighth Doctor and Harry pursuing a large chunk of the puzzle in the past, while the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane investigate the events of the past and attempt to piece together what happened to Harry Sullivan. Sounds like the perfect setting to tell a good story.
Here's the flaws in the story for me.
The science fiction in this book is absent. It isn't stretched, it isn't shaky, its just not there in the book at all. Over time I have learnt to not hold the show to any kind of standards on scientific robustness, but the books have always had enough room to explain their phenomena within the paradigm created.
The book also relies heavily on Arthurian and English folklore for explanations, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but it has little to do with Doctor Who lore. On occasion the story gets choppy jumping between the two doctors, and the Fourth Doctor is done well, in all his glory but is given a relatively small part to play, while the Eighth Doctor has been drawn vaguely and takes center-stage through the book. The plot hinges on the driving force of the reader wondering how Harry Sullivan apparently "died" and how he would make his way back to the Fourth Doctor in the future, both of which can be easily guessed by a seasoned Whovian. That does take the wind out of the reader's metaphorical sails a bit.
Aside from this, there is precious little to complain about. There's humour, mystery, wit and enough Doctorness to please any Whovian who happens to pick this book up. Most likely, there are parts of the story that are not immediately apparent to me, and will become clearer when I read the book again, as is the case with most Doctor Who books.
Re-Readability Score: 4/5
February 8, 2013
I'm not normally a fan of taking horror or fantasy concepts and then dressing them up in vaguely SF terms so that you can use them in your books about spaceships and time travel (ooh, he's not a werewolf, he's an alien that has nanite imprintations of the local fauna!) but I will say that one thing "Doctor Who" has done well over the years is take those classic horror elements and subverted them until they become distinctly "of" Doctor Who. Most of this was accomplished during the Tom Baker reign, with successes ("Pyramids of Mars") and some, er, interesting attempts ("State of Decay", which as the first episode I ever watched, scared the crap out of me and almost made me never watch the show again . . . now I'd probably find it silly), all given a blend of SF and horror that gave the show a unique feel.
However, there's subversion and there's just outright using werewolves, which is the tactic this novel uses. And I'm not sure that's a really good idea. Especially with the presentation given here.
Rayner's written one "Who" novel that I read already, "Earthworld", that had its moments but was redeemed by a gut-wrenching coda, but here without the emotional hook of Anji's recent grief she seems a bit lost at times in how to center this. To some extent it seems like she was handed a jumble of concepts and told "Make something out of this" . . . considering how complicated she attempts to make it I do give her credit that any of it is at all coherent but it seems mostly to hover in its own momentum, only proceeding because fictional inertia makes it possible.
What gives? There's problems from the onset, where Harry Sullivan is stranded outside the TARDIS because . . . people forget? So the Doctor leaves without him and by the time he manages to finagle the TARDIS back to the start, it turns out that Harry is dead and buried, apparently killed by a werewolf, along with a whole bunch of other people. From there the story shifts back and forth in time, with the Fourth Doctor's and Sarah Jane's investigations paralleling Harry's own travails as he not only encounters possible werewolves but a mysterious man in velvety clothing who has a big blue box that definitely isn't bigger on the inside than out.
Yup, it's the Eighth Doctor (something I missed right away because I didn't read the back cover that closely) in the midst of his "Do I know who I am?" period, tantalizing Harry with the possibility that this guy who calls himself the Doctor may indeed be another version of THE Doctor, but . . . nah. Honestly, I first thought it was meant to hint at a future incarnation (shades of "Battlefield") and only reading other reviews and actually looking at the back cover copy did I realize. Which isn't a good thing, since for the most part the Doctor comes across as rather bland, only occasionally showing flashes of himself and often kept at a distance. In fact, this could go for both Doctors, in that the Fourth Doctor seems unnecessarily subdued. To me he should be a booming presence, indulging in getting attention while performing slight of hand, dazzling and confusing in equal measure. Here it seems more perfunctory, like he knows that he can't do anything to affect the plot so keeps going through his paces until the book is over.
The whole novel feels like that, honestly. The split nature of the plot is intriguing at first, especially when we don't know what the heck has happened, but none of the secondary characters are very compelling, and don't get anymore revelatory when they appear in later guises. So Harry sees them, and we see them later and then have to wait until the book tells us how they got from there to there. Which means that Sarah Jane and the Doctor go in circles most of the time waiting for Harry's plot to do something so it can be revealed. Which means the Doctor gets to drive cool cars and rescue werewolves while Sarah Jane gets hungry, tired and cold, digging up graves and freezing and being generally miserable, which doesn't make her feel like an integral part of the plot so much as giving the lady something to do.
Ultimately, it's not just the werewolves that become problematic. The core of the problem seems to be an angry earth and winds up not just involving the wolf-people but Arthurian legend and dryads, among others and unfortunately comes across as an awkward attempt to fuse the magical strangeness that works so well in the Eighth Doctor stories with the horror that often informed Tom Baker's tenure. However, it's a bad match as this kind of dimensional mythological weirdness doesn't work for his Doctor and its telling that he's kept far away from it as possible, not really having to talk to, say, the dryads. Which means that the story wants to give us both concrete and vague explanations at the same time, instead giving us an ending that feels like a whole bunch of ideas for an ending without really resolving anything. There seems to be no sense of urgency or drama at times, once it becomes clear that Harry isn't really dead, it's a matter of waiting for the Fourth Doctor to come in and tidy up, meaning all the time twisty complications don't add up to a whole lot (unlike, as others have noted, the Fourth Doctor novel "Festival of Death", which takes the temporal choppiness and makes it work).
As a solo vehicle for Harry Sullivan, it works just fine and he acquits himself well. It probably would have warmed dear Ian Marter's heart were he still with us. There's no embarrassing missteps, but it hangs together too loosely, so much that you can see the strings holding it together. It doesn't work as a pure Eighth Doctor nor a Fourth Doctor adventure and the hoped for amalgam of the two eras winds up being somewhat less than the sum of itself, alas.
However, there's subversion and there's just outright using werewolves, which is the tactic this novel uses. And I'm not sure that's a really good idea. Especially with the presentation given here.
Rayner's written one "Who" novel that I read already, "Earthworld", that had its moments but was redeemed by a gut-wrenching coda, but here without the emotional hook of Anji's recent grief she seems a bit lost at times in how to center this. To some extent it seems like she was handed a jumble of concepts and told "Make something out of this" . . . considering how complicated she attempts to make it I do give her credit that any of it is at all coherent but it seems mostly to hover in its own momentum, only proceeding because fictional inertia makes it possible.
What gives? There's problems from the onset, where Harry Sullivan is stranded outside the TARDIS because . . . people forget? So the Doctor leaves without him and by the time he manages to finagle the TARDIS back to the start, it turns out that Harry is dead and buried, apparently killed by a werewolf, along with a whole bunch of other people. From there the story shifts back and forth in time, with the Fourth Doctor's and Sarah Jane's investigations paralleling Harry's own travails as he not only encounters possible werewolves but a mysterious man in velvety clothing who has a big blue box that definitely isn't bigger on the inside than out.
Yup, it's the Eighth Doctor (something I missed right away because I didn't read the back cover that closely) in the midst of his "Do I know who I am?" period, tantalizing Harry with the possibility that this guy who calls himself the Doctor may indeed be another version of THE Doctor, but . . . nah. Honestly, I first thought it was meant to hint at a future incarnation (shades of "Battlefield") and only reading other reviews and actually looking at the back cover copy did I realize. Which isn't a good thing, since for the most part the Doctor comes across as rather bland, only occasionally showing flashes of himself and often kept at a distance. In fact, this could go for both Doctors, in that the Fourth Doctor seems unnecessarily subdued. To me he should be a booming presence, indulging in getting attention while performing slight of hand, dazzling and confusing in equal measure. Here it seems more perfunctory, like he knows that he can't do anything to affect the plot so keeps going through his paces until the book is over.
The whole novel feels like that, honestly. The split nature of the plot is intriguing at first, especially when we don't know what the heck has happened, but none of the secondary characters are very compelling, and don't get anymore revelatory when they appear in later guises. So Harry sees them, and we see them later and then have to wait until the book tells us how they got from there to there. Which means that Sarah Jane and the Doctor go in circles most of the time waiting for Harry's plot to do something so it can be revealed. Which means the Doctor gets to drive cool cars and rescue werewolves while Sarah Jane gets hungry, tired and cold, digging up graves and freezing and being generally miserable, which doesn't make her feel like an integral part of the plot so much as giving the lady something to do.
Ultimately, it's not just the werewolves that become problematic. The core of the problem seems to be an angry earth and winds up not just involving the wolf-people but Arthurian legend and dryads, among others and unfortunately comes across as an awkward attempt to fuse the magical strangeness that works so well in the Eighth Doctor stories with the horror that often informed Tom Baker's tenure. However, it's a bad match as this kind of dimensional mythological weirdness doesn't work for his Doctor and its telling that he's kept far away from it as possible, not really having to talk to, say, the dryads. Which means that the story wants to give us both concrete and vague explanations at the same time, instead giving us an ending that feels like a whole bunch of ideas for an ending without really resolving anything. There seems to be no sense of urgency or drama at times, once it becomes clear that Harry isn't really dead, it's a matter of waiting for the Fourth Doctor to come in and tidy up, meaning all the time twisty complications don't add up to a whole lot (unlike, as others have noted, the Fourth Doctor novel "Festival of Death", which takes the temporal choppiness and makes it work).
As a solo vehicle for Harry Sullivan, it works just fine and he acquits himself well. It probably would have warmed dear Ian Marter's heart were he still with us. There's no embarrassing missteps, but it hangs together too loosely, so much that you can see the strings holding it together. It doesn't work as a pure Eighth Doctor nor a Fourth Doctor adventure and the hoped for amalgam of the two eras winds up being somewhat less than the sum of itself, alas.
February 27, 2022
Not a bad book, didn't see the point in having 2 Doctors in it though
May 16, 2024
Fans of Harry Sullivan, rejoice! The rest of us, not so much. Everything about Harry is dialed up to 11 here: his prudish nature, his opinions about 'the fairer sex' (yikes), and his habit of disbelieving everything, even when evidence is placed directly in front of him. He is a product of a different era, to be sure, but he can still rub some readers the wrong way.
As the story begins, Harry is left by accident in 1936 England with a werewolf on the loose. The Doctor (Tom Baker/4) and Sarah try to rescue him but show up two weeks later instead, only to find that he has died. They endeavor to find out what happened to him. At the same time, we follow Harry from two weeks prior, who runs into another version of the Doctor (Paul McGann/8) and attempt to discover the source of the mysterious deaths that have been occurring locally. The story bounces back and forth between the two timelines, and it's sometimes difficult to determine which Doctor is which.
Other than that, they are both very involved in the action, helping the characters and bringing about the conclusion, which I appreciate. I don't care for when the Doctor is a spectator in his own story. This narrative leans a little more in the fantasy direction than science fiction, so readers be warned. You've got a reincarnated Morgan le Fey (from Arthurian legend) and the Holy Grail playing major parts in the story, not to mention dryads and a man who spends 1000 years in a tree. It's an interesting, fast-paced tale that doesn't overstay its welcome (*cough* Interference *cough*). Rayner makes the story easy to consume and not overly complicated like some other Who authors who act like they are writing to be accepted into the next Journal of Modern and Applied Physics.
Overall, it's an enjoyable sci-fi/paranormal story, heavy on the Harry, with a dash of two different Doctors (who never actually meet, by the way).
As the story begins, Harry is left by accident in 1936 England with a werewolf on the loose. The Doctor (Tom Baker/4) and Sarah try to rescue him but show up two weeks later instead, only to find that he has died. They endeavor to find out what happened to him. At the same time, we follow Harry from two weeks prior, who runs into another version of the Doctor (Paul McGann/8) and attempt to discover the source of the mysterious deaths that have been occurring locally. The story bounces back and forth between the two timelines, and it's sometimes difficult to determine which Doctor is which.
Other than that, they are both very involved in the action, helping the characters and bringing about the conclusion, which I appreciate. I don't care for when the Doctor is a spectator in his own story. This narrative leans a little more in the fantasy direction than science fiction, so readers be warned. You've got a reincarnated Morgan le Fey (from Arthurian legend) and the Holy Grail playing major parts in the story, not to mention dryads and a man who spends 1000 years in a tree. It's an interesting, fast-paced tale that doesn't overstay its welcome (*cough* Interference *cough*). Rayner makes the story easy to consume and not overly complicated like some other Who authors who act like they are writing to be accepted into the next Journal of Modern and Applied Physics.
Overall, it's an enjoyable sci-fi/paranormal story, heavy on the Harry, with a dash of two different Doctors (who never actually meet, by the way).
November 21, 2018
The Fourth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor, What more do want!, Shame that is the Eighth Doctor during the Earth Arc holding between Casualties of War and The Turing Test.
I actually like the whole concept in this story, a Werewolf that doesn't kill Humans and has connections that have something to do with Nature, like despite being Winter, It has the feel of Spring with Cherry blossoms, this book has some interesting moments, and I actually how the story ends about how the Doctor Who Universe have tons upon tons of Alternate Realities.
This also to me has more Fantasy feel like The City of the Dead by Lloyd Rose, with small amounts of Sci-Fi
I actually like the whole concept in this story, a Werewolf that doesn't kill Humans and has connections that have something to do with Nature, like despite being Winter, It has the feel of Spring with Cherry blossoms, this book has some interesting moments, and I actually how the story ends about how the Doctor Who Universe have tons upon tons of Alternate Realities.
This also to me has more Fantasy feel like The City of the Dead by Lloyd Rose, with small amounts of Sci-Fi
September 25, 2024
As I make my way through the Missing Adventures and Past Doctor Adventures, Doctor by Doctor, this story is (so far) the worst book I’ve come across (yes, I’m including Invasion of the Cat-People), because this book postulates the idea of the Doctor ( in his Third Regeneration , being the Fourth Doctor) what would happen if he blatantly ignores his companion (Sarah Jane Smith) in a critical situation. This being leaving a companion behind (Harry Sullivan) in 1936 England something this Doctor would never do in the first place.
While the book cover says this is a Fourth and Eighth Doctor adventure, they never actually meet, and throughout the story we are taken to an adventure where Harry Sullivan was “supposed” to have died, but doesn’t really die, which ends on a Choose Your Own Adventure.
If you’re looking for a multi Doctor story or a Fourth Doctor story, then set the coordinates for another time, and just avoid this story entirely.
While the book cover says this is a Fourth and Eighth Doctor adventure, they never actually meet, and throughout the story we are taken to an adventure where Harry Sullivan was “supposed” to have died, but doesn’t really die, which ends on a Choose Your Own Adventure.
If you’re looking for a multi Doctor story or a Fourth Doctor story, then set the coordinates for another time, and just avoid this story entirely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2020
The only thing that kept me going was Jacqueline Rayner's obvious love of 4th Doctor companion Harry Sullivan. Aside from that, this collision of a Past Doctor book with the 8th Doctor story arc of the time produces a very dull and uninspiring story that felt like I was pushing through peanut butter. I'm afraid few of the late series BBC "Doctor Who" novels inspire me, no matter how hard they try.
November 20, 2019
If you love Harry Sullivan, you’ll love this book.
I picked it up solely on that fact, and I’d say it was well worth the read.
I’m not usually a huge fan of the themes presented in the book, because it falls more in with the fantasy genre than science fiction, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked this book a lot.
I picked it up solely on that fact, and I’d say it was well worth the read.
I’m not usually a huge fan of the themes presented in the book, because it falls more in with the fantasy genre than science fiction, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked this book a lot.
January 7, 2008
The set-up is well done and raises the right kinds of questions as to the characters' fates and how they've apparently arrived at them. Once we get past the set-up, however, the book begins to lose its charm. Many of the story's best secrets and surprises are revealed much too early, and their effectiveness is lost as a result. One can, in fact, sense for him/herself while reading this where the better places would have been to reveal such secrets, and scenes that could have been shocking and powerful (without being illogical) wind up merely marginally exciting. Rayner's inconsistent writing style (which is mired by grade-school level second-person descriptions and haphazard scene transitions) distracted me quite a bit and brought the mood of the story down somewhat, and it didn't help that both Doctors were largely shoved aside in favor of the supporting characters.
Speaking of the characters, the story reveals some faults in the various characters' portrayals, for while Emmauline, Sarah and Harry are very well-established (Sarah and Harry especially, which really makes it feel like we're reading the characters Lis Sladen and Ian Marter breathed so much life into), the others are not and I found myeslf consistently wondering why some of those strange characters were acting the way they were (and I don't accept "because they were strange" as an answer). Both the Fourth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor have portrayal problems here too. For the most part Rayner manages to capture the spirit of of Tom Baker's Doctor, but he occasionally says things very out of character (even for a piece of work like Baker's Doctor) and doesn't seem as wild and observant as he should. McGann's Doctor is hardly recognizable -- yes, I know when this story is SUPPOSED to be taking place, and I'm not going to ruin it for those who haven't found out -- but his Doctor was still entirely too out-of-character to really be regarded as The Doctor (and had the back of the book not mentioned he was the Eighth Doctor, I honestly wouldn't have guessed). It simply isn't acceptable to present the series' title character in such a manner because he is the reason the story turns out as it does, and while both Doctors manage to do their good, it all seems rather unsatisfying with both of them acting so strangely, and with no good reason for doing so, no less.
Without giving away what the ending actually is, let me just simply say that the ending really did the story in. It was vague, it was confusing and too many questions were left unanswered. The story doesn't even give the clearest idea about Harry himself (though what it implies is ludicrous for reasons I can't reveal without blowing the ending) or the Eighth Doctor. After reading the final page I was extremely disappointed. It feels almost as if Rayner couldn't really think of a great ending and just tacked the final pages on. The story's real climax, in fact, happens so early that everything that follows feels like picking up stray pieces to make things fit together, and even then not everything does.
The story is constructed, more or less, around the idea of an infinite time loop, with things that haven't happened yet already in place to happen because of the involvement of the Doctor and his companions, but Jonathan Morris, in his Doctor Who novel "Festival Of Death," managed to tackle this idea flawlessly while Rayner ignores certain important details that left me wondering why things happened as they did. Certain loose ends don't feel properly tied up and some events seem to defy explanation, which is not what Doctor Who as a whole is about. We don't know what we need to know by the time the story ends, and that's very dissatisfying.
On the whole "Wolfsbane" is a decent effort but ultimately a disappointment for the series.
Speaking of the characters, the story reveals some faults in the various characters' portrayals, for while Emmauline, Sarah and Harry are very well-established (Sarah and Harry especially, which really makes it feel like we're reading the characters Lis Sladen and Ian Marter breathed so much life into), the others are not and I found myeslf consistently wondering why some of those strange characters were acting the way they were (and I don't accept "because they were strange" as an answer). Both the Fourth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor have portrayal problems here too. For the most part Rayner manages to capture the spirit of of Tom Baker's Doctor, but he occasionally says things very out of character (even for a piece of work like Baker's Doctor) and doesn't seem as wild and observant as he should. McGann's Doctor is hardly recognizable -- yes, I know when this story is SUPPOSED to be taking place, and I'm not going to ruin it for those who haven't found out -- but his Doctor was still entirely too out-of-character to really be regarded as The Doctor (and had the back of the book not mentioned he was the Eighth Doctor, I honestly wouldn't have guessed). It simply isn't acceptable to present the series' title character in such a manner because he is the reason the story turns out as it does, and while both Doctors manage to do their good, it all seems rather unsatisfying with both of them acting so strangely, and with no good reason for doing so, no less.
Without giving away what the ending actually is, let me just simply say that the ending really did the story in. It was vague, it was confusing and too many questions were left unanswered. The story doesn't even give the clearest idea about Harry himself (though what it implies is ludicrous for reasons I can't reveal without blowing the ending) or the Eighth Doctor. After reading the final page I was extremely disappointed. It feels almost as if Rayner couldn't really think of a great ending and just tacked the final pages on. The story's real climax, in fact, happens so early that everything that follows feels like picking up stray pieces to make things fit together, and even then not everything does.
The story is constructed, more or less, around the idea of an infinite time loop, with things that haven't happened yet already in place to happen because of the involvement of the Doctor and his companions, but Jonathan Morris, in his Doctor Who novel "Festival Of Death," managed to tackle this idea flawlessly while Rayner ignores certain important details that left me wondering why things happened as they did. Certain loose ends don't feel properly tied up and some events seem to defy explanation, which is not what Doctor Who as a whole is about. We don't know what we need to know by the time the story ends, and that's very dissatisfying.
On the whole "Wolfsbane" is a decent effort but ultimately a disappointment for the series.
December 18, 2010
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1576119...
I found it a slightly perplexing read for continuity reasons: we have a situation where Harry leaves the Tardis somewhat accidentally one day in late 1936, and the Doctor and Sarah return two weeks later to find his tombstone and strange tales of werewolves. Meanwhile Harry, two weeks earlier, had met another Doctor, who I identified fairly confidently as Eight, but who seems unaware of Skaro, which I found odd (it turns out that the book is set in one of the periods of amnesia that various writers have seen fit to inflict on the Eighth Doctor, but of course this is not explained); and while I thought at first that Harry and Sarah were in the standard timeline between Revenge of the Cybermen and Terror of the Zygons, bolstered by the book's back cover which specified the Fourth Doctor and by an early reference to "That height, that hair, that grin, that ridiculous long scarf", I was then completely thrown by a later statement that the other Doctor in the story "wasn't a tall white-haired man, like Miss Smith's friend" which made me wonder if I had misread the earlier line and this was some alternate timeline in which the third regeneration had not happened. On reflection this must be a simple mistake, but it is a very serious one, and distracted me from the rest of the book.
So, werewolves. I've actually read/watched/heard all of the other werewolf stories of Who (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy and Tooth and Claw on TV, Kursaal from the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the early but very good Big Finish Five/Turlough audio Loups-Garoux) and rather surprisingly they do generally work as a Who concept. Here, Rayner combines it with Arthurian legend and the rise of Fascism in Germany, and some fairly explicit magic (there is a seductive dryad who has no sfnal justification), and I thought that the imagery did bear the weight of the story. (I felt however that it flagged a bit in the third quarter, but picked up again before the slightly confusing last couple of pages.)
But it is not the werewolves or even the confusing Doctors that matter: the author in her tweets a week ago made it clear that the book was really meant to be about Harry, and it is an excellent tribute to the character who lifted pretty much every scene he was in, and who got a rather poor send-off in The Android Invasion for his pains. She draws very much not just on the slightly twittish but courageous character we saw on screen, but also on the Harry developed by Ian Marter (who better?) in his novel Harry Sullivan's War, somewhat nervous about women, but happy to get stuck in to defend the good guys whether or not he really knows what is going on. If you always wanted to see a story that put Harry front and centre, this is it. Any other Who fan will enjoy it despite the minor flaws mentioned above.
I found it a slightly perplexing read for continuity reasons: we have a situation where Harry leaves the Tardis somewhat accidentally one day in late 1936, and the Doctor and Sarah return two weeks later to find his tombstone and strange tales of werewolves. Meanwhile Harry, two weeks earlier, had met another Doctor, who I identified fairly confidently as Eight, but who seems unaware of Skaro, which I found odd (it turns out that the book is set in one of the periods of amnesia that various writers have seen fit to inflict on the Eighth Doctor, but of course this is not explained); and while I thought at first that Harry and Sarah were in the standard timeline between Revenge of the Cybermen and Terror of the Zygons, bolstered by the book's back cover which specified the Fourth Doctor and by an early reference to "That height, that hair, that grin, that ridiculous long scarf", I was then completely thrown by a later statement that the other Doctor in the story "wasn't a tall white-haired man, like Miss Smith's friend" which made me wonder if I had misread the earlier line and this was some alternate timeline in which the third regeneration had not happened. On reflection this must be a simple mistake, but it is a very serious one, and distracted me from the rest of the book.
So, werewolves. I've actually read/watched/heard all of the other werewolf stories of Who (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy and Tooth and Claw on TV, Kursaal from the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the early but very good Big Finish Five/Turlough audio Loups-Garoux) and rather surprisingly they do generally work as a Who concept. Here, Rayner combines it with Arthurian legend and the rise of Fascism in Germany, and some fairly explicit magic (there is a seductive dryad who has no sfnal justification), and I thought that the imagery did bear the weight of the story. (I felt however that it flagged a bit in the third quarter, but picked up again before the slightly confusing last couple of pages.)
But it is not the werewolves or even the confusing Doctors that matter: the author in her tweets a week ago made it clear that the book was really meant to be about Harry, and it is an excellent tribute to the character who lifted pretty much every scene he was in, and who got a rather poor send-off in The Android Invasion for his pains. She draws very much not just on the slightly twittish but courageous character we saw on screen, but also on the Harry developed by Ian Marter (who better?) in his novel Harry Sullivan's War, somewhat nervous about women, but happy to get stuck in to defend the good guys whether or not he really knows what is going on. If you always wanted to see a story that put Harry front and centre, this is it. Any other Who fan will enjoy it despite the minor flaws mentioned above.
August 5, 2022
This novel is a split story so that we can get two Doctors in one book without having them meet. Set in Somerset, 1936, the novel starts with Harry Sullivan inexplicably getting left behind when the TARDIS takes off without him. Seemingly stranded, Harry finds himself tangled up with the goings on of a local werewolf. Meanwhile, Doctor 4 and Sarah try to get back to Harry, but arrive three weeks after they left him. They discover his grave and become determined to piece together what happened. It's an interesting enough start. The rest of the novel is the problem. First, Harry meets a handsome stranger called the Doctor, but this Doctor is seemingly not "the" Doctor, though there are tantalizing clues that he might be. The reader will learn that this Doctor is the amnesiac Doctor 8 from the BBC main series of 2000. Of course, if one hasn't read any of those one is none the wiser. The novel switches back and forth between the two stories - Harry and Doctor 8, Sarah and Doctor 4.
The main problem is that this story is pure British fantasy. In the ordinary scheme of Doctor Who, one expects that the werewolf is only apparently a legendary beast and that magic is really an alternative or superior technology. Raynor has not even bothered trying to make a science fiction connection. Instead, we have both Doctors simply accepting that werewolves exist and follow all the legendary characteristics attached to them, that forests can "come alive," that sorceresses can cast spells, that dryads are real, and that King Arthur's court was real. It all runs so counter to Doctor Who that it makes the two Doctors, Sarah, and Harry all seem as if they are occupying the wrong story. Further damage to the story comes from Raynor's "everything including the kitchen sink" approach to storytelling. In addition to all that was just mentioned, we also get a mad English minor aristocrat who believes he is Mordred reincarnated, local villagers with pitchforks (in 1936!), Nazi plans to use werewolves as weapons, oh and the holy grail thrown in for good measure. The explanations for all these things amount to "just because." Finally, as if realizing the problematic nature of the story within the Who universe, Raynor gives a multiple realities denouement.
It is safe to conclude that I really didn't enjoy this one at all.
The main problem is that this story is pure British fantasy. In the ordinary scheme of Doctor Who, one expects that the werewolf is only apparently a legendary beast and that magic is really an alternative or superior technology. Raynor has not even bothered trying to make a science fiction connection. Instead, we have both Doctors simply accepting that werewolves exist and follow all the legendary characteristics attached to them, that forests can "come alive," that sorceresses can cast spells, that dryads are real, and that King Arthur's court was real. It all runs so counter to Doctor Who that it makes the two Doctors, Sarah, and Harry all seem as if they are occupying the wrong story. Further damage to the story comes from Raynor's "everything including the kitchen sink" approach to storytelling. In addition to all that was just mentioned, we also get a mad English minor aristocrat who believes he is Mordred reincarnated, local villagers with pitchforks (in 1936!), Nazi plans to use werewolves as weapons, oh and the holy grail thrown in for good measure. The explanations for all these things amount to "just because." Finally, as if realizing the problematic nature of the story within the Who universe, Raynor gives a multiple realities denouement.
It is safe to conclude that I really didn't enjoy this one at all.
June 30, 2015
Here we encounter a Doctor Who story that can't be done on TV. An encounter with a future Doctor, but not knowing what is going on with him. Also there is a werewolf and nature coming to life as well.
The plot starts off with Harry accidentally being left behind and the Doctor and Sarah Jane finding out that he died. From here the story splits into two plots, both taking place within days of each other.
Even though Harry's death could create different possibilities, it never really held the bang needed for it. It was interesting seeing how we have two different Doctors working on a similar mystery, yet neither being aware of the other. Also they do no encounter each other.
The reason for the 8th Doctor being in this story is due to a story line with the 8th Doctor series. I know bits and pieces of it, but not the full tale. By having this book also take place during that time you have this future Doctor scenario.
Similar with Harry's death this could have been used to push the story in a new direction, yet it feels not as exciting as it could have been. Part of this is also making sure everything matches up not contradict both Doctors.
The other plot going on about nature coming to life and involving the werewolf has some interesting concepts, but again nothing too exciting. I am giving this book three starts, though it could be close to three and a half.
It is an enjoyable book. Even with the separate time line, you can keep straight the difference between the two. Also the mystery is not quiet ruined by either, so when you reach the end the pieces flow nicely together.
The downside is the author had some great concepts, but could have gone further with them. Also, you can read this without knowing the 8th Doctor's stories. It does help lay a foundation for an extra mystery that will be reviled later in the book series.
The plot starts off with Harry accidentally being left behind and the Doctor and Sarah Jane finding out that he died. From here the story splits into two plots, both taking place within days of each other.
Even though Harry's death could create different possibilities, it never really held the bang needed for it. It was interesting seeing how we have two different Doctors working on a similar mystery, yet neither being aware of the other. Also they do no encounter each other.
The reason for the 8th Doctor being in this story is due to a story line with the 8th Doctor series. I know bits and pieces of it, but not the full tale. By having this book also take place during that time you have this future Doctor scenario.
Similar with Harry's death this could have been used to push the story in a new direction, yet it feels not as exciting as it could have been. Part of this is also making sure everything matches up not contradict both Doctors.
The other plot going on about nature coming to life and involving the werewolf has some interesting concepts, but again nothing too exciting. I am giving this book three starts, though it could be close to three and a half.
It is an enjoyable book. Even with the separate time line, you can keep straight the difference between the two. Also the mystery is not quiet ruined by either, so when you reach the end the pieces flow nicely together.
The downside is the author had some great concepts, but could have gone further with them. Also, you can read this without knowing the 8th Doctor's stories. It does help lay a foundation for an extra mystery that will be reviled later in the book series.
August 18, 2012
I have been running about looking for this book so long, that I was probably setting myself up for disappointment and I am a little disappointed. What intrigued me about this story (this isn't a spoiler it's on the back cover of the book) is Sarah Jane and the Fourth Doctor finding Harry Sullivan's grave; I wanted to know what happened and I have to say I truly love Harry as a companion. The thing is some Doctor Who story leave me in awe and other I only like, I liked this... but there's too many magical things for me: werewolf, dryad, sorceress. The ending is very intriguing though and I don't know a lot of Harry's later traveling with the 8th Doctor (it is a question of time... at some point all know all about it, it's not a promise; I just know I always have to know everything about by favorite hobby, I'm just savoring and taking my time about it) so I'm not sure I understood all the ramifications that might have been referenced there. I'm glad to have finally read "Wolfsbane", it was the DW book I really, really wanted to read and to satisfy that craving made me very happy. I read this in less than 12 hours so how could I not recommend it to a fellow Whovian?
October 6, 2012
Though both the 4th and 8th Doctors appear, the stars of this story are really Sarah Jane and Harry, who are both magnificently captured - entertaining and true to their screen portrayals. Harry does his best to bumble through a very confusing situation, and Sarah investigates and remains focused on rescuing Harry. The 4th Doctor seems oddly toned down, only occasionally flashing a bit of his usual eccentricity - he remains in the background.
With its higher-than-normal percentage of dark magical happenings, this book fits in the tone of the 8th Doctor books. I remember really enjoying the sequence of books where the Doctor was stuck on Earth with amnesia, and this story is a good example of why I did. The plot keeps moving, there are colorful background characters and lots of ominous moody atmosphere, and the end is ambiguous and strange. Very enjoyable.
With its higher-than-normal percentage of dark magical happenings, this book fits in the tone of the 8th Doctor books. I remember really enjoying the sequence of books where the Doctor was stuck on Earth with amnesia, and this story is a good example of why I did. The plot keeps moving, there are colorful background characters and lots of ominous moody atmosphere, and the end is ambiguous and strange. Very enjoyable.
August 6, 2009
Remind me next time I try to read an Eighth Doctor novel to get my hands on the first one first. *grin* I picked up this one because I loved the idea of Eight encountering Harry and/or Sarah Jane, but so much was going on with the Doctor that was clearly set up in previous novels that it was very hard to follow. I do hope to return to it, though, if/when I can back up and read things in order. *grin*
August 1, 2011
A good, solid Doctor Who story. This was a new twist on the multiple Doctor story in that the two incarnations don't meet, but the actions of each impact the story line for the other. The characterization of the 4th Doctor was strong, but the 8th Doctor was weaker. Moreover, the last few pages of the book were confused and I'm not really sure what happened.
March 10, 2010
Magnificent. Long live Harry Sullivan!
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