DW: The Way Through The Woods

Next up, the long titled The Way Through The Woods by Una McCormack.

People have been disappearing into the woods. Lots of people, from all over time. Only now the entire town is going to disappear... actually that last bit isn't hinted at in the front or back cover, but it makes a better teaser than what is the front cover. The hint there is that there are monsters, and this book is more about the strangeness of the woodness than the ... monsterness of the monsters. In that regard, the cover is a complete fake out.

And the strangeness of the woods is interesting enough, the way Una McCormick presents it. The bizarre can be just as fascinating as the horror, and Una creates a great atmosphere that carries the book through breezily the bulk of the story. The last section stumbles slightly, but is a rare instance in the world of DW stories where... well, that would be giving things away.

Not surprisingly, considering the author is an authoress, there are a fair few women in this story, and they are very well written (although Emily comes across as rather more worldly than you would expect). If anything, the main characters, although Rory is so-so, are less well served in characterisation. The Doctor ends up sidelined for most of the adventure!

In all, far superior to a certain other book I was reading before...

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