DW: Shining Darkness

The last of the DoctorDonna books... is a Quest Adventure! Shining Darkness by Mark Michalowski.


The formula for a Quest Adventure is quite simple: go to point A, have a mini adventure. Then go to point B, have a mini adventure... etc., etc., until finally you all meet up and try to find the palm trees in the shape of a W or whatever. Mark takes this premise... and doesn't deviate at all.

At least the setting is more interesting... potentially. It's set in the Andromeda Galaxy (so we don't get the Doctor going "I know everything about everything!"), and organics and mechanicals get on like crazy... but, eh, to be honest, it could easily have been the Milky Way, or Planet X, or... anywhere with different places to go. The Quest Adventure is flexible in that way, and Mark doesn't make full use aside from the final location.

But, hey, it's fun! Mark is trying to make a point about racism, and doesn't wait to hammer that home at many points and give the Doctor several chances to comment on it. Being a kid book, it doesn't go into dark places that others could, so the lesson isn't that deep either, but it's superficial enough that it can't belabor the point too hard.

The Doctor and Donna are split up, so Mark doesn't have to write Donna too often, but some moments with her are definitely spot on (she doesn't rant too often, though). Of the rest of the characters, Mother is the most memorable, which says a lot about the characters (note: Mother is a robot/mechanical, the others aren't).

Nice easy book to read and enjoy. Basic plot, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.


Order: ...wherever...

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