DW: The Silent Stars Go By

Because this is apparently what needed to happen, Dan Abnett was given allowance to write his own DW hardcover, and came up with The Silent Stars Go By.

This books features... wait for it... you're going to be surprised... I promise you'll never see it coming... the returning monster is... I'm going to give it away... complete spoilers here... this novel has... The Ice Warriors! I know! You never saw it coming, did you? Not in a million years would you expect it! Suspense about their identity is built right into the book, and they aren't named until a third into the book! Wow! Out of nowhere!
Small tip, Dan. If you want to hide the surprise, a) don't mention them in the blurb. And b), most importantly... DON'T PUT THEM ON THE COVER!!! Seriously, I haven't cared enough to count the number of times the monster is a big reveal, but it's already been given away by the publicity, including the cover picture which, even if people don't read blurbs (like me), they're going to work it out as soon as they see the actual book!

*sigh* (Oh, and speaking of naming things, Dan goes on about a particular continuity error I'll address in a post tomorrow.)

Anyway, that aside, there is a reason not to name the monster straight away, although the explanation isn't obvious. Most of this book is a run around, with Doctor and Amy (and others) running from Ice Warriors, and Rory (and others) running away from Ice Warriors for... the bulk of the book really. There's a little plot expansion during the running, but basically it's them running around. Then, in the last 50 pages, we get actual exposition about what's really going on. If you can hang on till then, then you might get some originally of story, but it's a long way through chase scenes to get there.

From the above rant, you might guess I wasn't that impressed with this novel. You'd be right. For hardcover novels, you'd expect something special, either a particularly famous author, or maybe a big event. This is neither of those.

Unless you are a completest (like me), feel free not to bother with this.

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