Shroud of Sorrow - Review

This was the book that most intrigued me from the first batch of 2013 novels. I was looking forward to them all but the fact this one was set in 1963 really did get me looking forward to it and it did not let me down. The Doctor in this was spot on to me. The eccentricity is there but with the seriousness and the moaning about wet bow ties. Clara was also very well written. I didn't know what to expect with her as this is her first novel and it was interesting to see if they would get her character right. I think they got her good but at times she felt more like her Oswin character than the Modern Clara she is meant to be. But that is probably due to the fact they might have been working off Asylum to get the character. There were many interesting characters in this book. I enjoyed Mae and Warren and I thought they would end up getting close in the end but they didn't. But the main characters I loved were the clowns. I just love that they had come together to save the other humans just because they were so kind. There would be some humans that would have just killed those affected but they rehabilitated them and made sure they were fine in the end.
The villains in this were fantastic. The Shroud latching themselves onto you and destroying your grief. As Clara said in the book, you expect a planet with no grief to be a good thing but in the book you find that to be wrong. Other emotions take up that space and you get tribes. I love the idea of this. Its an original idea that I really do love. There is a big revelation about the shroud near the end of the book that is a good idea but part of me wonders if it was put there just to make the resolution a bit easier.
Now this book to me feels like the perfect tribute to the shows 50 years. A brand new story but packed with references to the past such as the return of the fast return switch and lovely little scene in chapter 14 which will have you in tears. I have to give this book a 9/10.

Plague of the Cybermen - Review

Plague of the Cybermen is one in the first batch of books released in 2013. It features Matt Smith as portrayed by Matt Smith on the BBC tv series. This is the sixth book to be written by Justin Richards for the range. I thought it was a very enjoyable story. The charactorisation of the Doctor was near spot on in my opinion, though there was some points where I felt it was a bit off such as when he belched. He really captured Matt's little gestures such as when he sticks his chin out and where he plays with his bow tie. He did go a bit over the top with the "... are cool" lines in the story though.
They Cybermen were much quieter than they have been in the TV series over the past few years even though they did keep the stomps. They felt much more like how it sounds they will be in the new 2013 episode, Nightmare in Silver. I did like the little harks back to the past such as the Cybermens problem with radiation and some lines such as "We will survive." The story felt like a modern take of Tomb of the Cybermen which I really enjoy so I had no problem with that. I liked the addition of a cyberised creature but I will not say what as I do not want to spoil it for you. It was a surprise to me even though it was mentioned earlier on in the story.
The most interesting of the supporting characters in this book for me were the family and guards up at the castle. While the villagers were likeable, they went large amounts of time not in it and were not that memorable. I did like the unrequited love between Olga and Klaus.
I think one problem with the story was that there was a lot of back and froing but overall it was a very good story. There were a few moments in the story that made me go "I never expected that" and I found the last chapter to be quite emotionally charged at times. I would give this book an 8/10