Riccarla Roman's Reviews > Doctor Who: Winner Takes All

My name is Riccarla and I'm a Whovian. A fan girl. A geek. This is the first Doctor Who novel that I have read and I would love to read more going all the way back to the First Doctor. I have followed the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors with a zeal that has even influenced my children. (My daughter shudders because she knows so much Who knowledge.)

This is an adventure featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler. During a visit to Rose's mother in London, they discover that everyone is buying things to get scratch-off cards that offer them a holiday or a game console. The console only has one game - Death to Mantodeans. Everyone is obsessed with the games.

But this is the world of the Doctor, so they are not just games. The Quevvils, who look like porcupines, are trying to kill their enemies, the Mantodeans, who look like large praying mantises. Humans who win a holiday actually are sent into the game to be manipulated by the players to help the Quevvils find their enemy's weaknesses. If the humans get killed, they just get new ones to become game pieces. It's up to the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey to save the day.

This book is as good as an episode. I guess you would like this even if you aren't a Whovian, but not as much as someone familiar with the series would. I know what this Doctor and his companions look and sound like so I could really see and hear the story in my mind as I read it. It was certainly an enjoyable way to pass the time waiting for the new adventures of the Eleventh Doctor to begin sometime this year.