Review: Until I bought Lance Parkin's "The Dying Days", I had neither bought nor read any of the New Adventures (Nor any of the Missing Adventures for that matter.). To be quite honest, I'm really not sure why. Perhaps there was an initial trepidation due to what I had heard of the usual NA subject matter. Or perhaps a lack of enthusiasm towards the 7th Doctor. Fortunately an aquaintence of mine, who owns many of the NAs and MAs, highly reccomended them. My borrowing of some of the novels coincided with the release of "The Dying Days", the NA I had been waiting for, due to the presence of the 8th Doctor.

The novel really lived up to my expectations. As I was not really familiar with the events of the NA's, I had hoped not to become mired in confusion. Fortunately Lance Parkin seems to have made this novel a good starting-point (either intentionally or accidentally.) for new readers. He summarizes many past events nicely before the Doctor even arrives to meet Benny at the House on Allen Road.

The inclusion of the Ice Warriors was a wonderfully nostalgic turn as far as I was concerned, as was the presence of UNIT and both Brigadiers. The plot is well placed, and I was even able handle the story when the Doctor wasn't present through nearly 3 chapters towards the last portion of the book ( I won't reveal why he was absent here.), because it allows for some gripping interaction of the other characters. Parkin's descriptions are vivid, and don't drag down the story itself. Most of the time I could hear the characters speaking their dialogue, especially in the case of the Doctor and Lethbridge Stewart.

At times the characterization of McGann's Doctor seemed a tad off. However, the 8th Doctor was surely somewhat difficult to novelize, since he had but a single televised adventure. Plus, I'm sure Mr. Parkin wished to nail down the exact nature of the new Doctor following a regeneration story. These instances are few and far between, and as a whole I think Parkin did a good job with the character of a Doctor whom has been seen onscreen just once. In fact, I was a bit sad when I had finished reading the book, sad that the wonderful read was over. Subsequent re-readings of "The Dying Days" have not seen those feelings diminish in the least, and I hold a regard for the novel as high as I do any "official" part of Doctor WHO canon.

I must really thank Mr. Parkin for this superb tale, as he generated a real interest in the NA/MA line, not to mention the subsequent line of Doctor WHO novels by BBC books, especially Eighth Doctor tales.

...Corvus...