Review: For the first time in a long time, we have an Eighth Doctor novel without Compassion, the future war or even Faction Paradox. The Faction story line had been going on since the novel Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles, which was released waaaaayyyy back in November 1997. These three story lines quickly ended in the epic novel, The Ancestor Cell. The Burning starts a new arc, an arc in which the Doctor is stranded on earth for over 100 years, an arc in which the Doctor doesn’t have his memory, an arc in which the TARDIS has to recover and regenerate itself. For the first time ever, we know more about the Doctor than he does.

This story is really impressive; it doesn’t involve travelling in time and space. Heck, the word Timelord isn’t even mentioned. It’s a Doctor Who mystery novel, a type of novel which we haven’t seen in a long time. It brings a breath of fresh air as we have a novel set in the late 19th century, while the small town of Middletown is going through a crisis. The mine has been shut down due to the fact that the tin ore has run out. With the mine shutting down, people begin losing their jobs. Then a giant fissure opens across the moors and a man arrives. His name is Roger Nepath.

Some of the early scenes are just brilliant - Nepath’s arrival, the "death" of Lord Urton and the "death" of Lady Urton. The "death" scenes were really sinister and spine tingling. The "Urtons", become completely emotionless and totally change, which just adds to the mystery. Nepath remains a mysterious character throughout the novel. As soon as he seizes control over the mine, the results are very disturbing. As we meet and get to know the characters, they die in such a disturbing way you feel bad for them. Richards does a good job of making us care about the characters before their untimely fates.

The interest and pace is sustained really well throughout the first part of the book. We then meet the "new" Doctor. The good old Doc as we knew him is no more. There is a fresh approach to the character that keeps the reader not wanting to put down the book, as the Doctor becomes more and more involved in the mystery.

Like I said above, the Doctor has changed. For example, when the Doctor and Professor Dobbs come upon the "burnt" body of Dobbs’ assistant, Alistair Gaddis, the Doctor shows no emotion. He cares more about how he died rather than being upset than a friend had died. The old Eighth Doctor wouldn’t have acted in that manner.

Overall, an excellent start to this new arc. This book shows promise for the future. The Doctor has once again become a man of mystery.