Royal Blood, Big Bang Generation and Deep Time
I should say before this that I accidentally read book three (Deep Time) first, the first time around. Needless to say, it was very confusing and I still didn't understand when I read book one, which apparently you don't need to do. It's a trilogy that you're supposed to read in order, but because it's not made clear which is book one, two or three, the vast majority read them out of order. In my opinion, it's ultra confusing.
Royal Blood
This story begins with a country at war with it's neighbour, who has slowly been chipping away at the vast amount of land that the original country (Varuz) controlled. It's only later that you realize that this country is more a dictatorship and it's Conrad's country (I don't recall the name, if they even named it) that is actually more like a democracy, at which point you're too embroiled in trying to like (or actually liking) the characters from Varuz that you're probably going to view them as the enemy no matter how good Conrad's country is or how bad Varuz is.
The Doctor and Clara arrive at Varuz and pose as ambassadors as Aurelian and Guena, the Duke and Duchess of Varuz, are expecting ambassadors from Conrad's country. Clara is roped in as a spy by Guena and Bernhardt, the leader of the Knights to talk to a new arrival, assumed to be the actual ambassador to Conrad. When this conspiracy is revealed to Aurelian, he banishes his nephew, the rightful heir to the throne, Clara and the fake ambassador. At the same time, a group of knights searching for the 'Grail' arrive, led by Lancelot. Aurelian sends his knights with Lancelot to find the grail. (Like seriously, why would you do this just as your country is about to be overrun by a superior army?? Was he in his right mind??) The Doctor joins them, determined to find out who Lancelot truly is.
The Glamour is revealed to be a sentient object that enchants people and can appear to each person differently depending on their greatest love or wish or desire. Both the fake ambassador and Lancelot's knights and 4/5 of Aurelian's knights are enchanted by the Glamour and are in search of it. When it is revealed at the end of the novel, these characters leave the planet in order to keep following the Glamour. Aurelian is killed by Conrad's invading force and Guena and Bernhardt are aided by the Doctor in escaping together.
Good points: the novel can stand alone as a singular Doctor Who novel. It was an evenly paced novel and all around good book. Not the best Doctor Who novel I've read (that would either be the 11th Doctor's book Borrowed Time, the 12th Doctor's book The Blood Cell, the 10th Doctor's novel The Last Dodo or the 8th Doctor's audio book The Blood of the Daleks Part 1 and 2). Both the Doctor and Clara are well characterized and I could imagine this as TV episode.
Bad points: Aurelian was a very confusing character. You never really find out who Lancelot's knights are. The Glamour isn't very well explained beyond "your wildest dreams" which is very strange and extremely vague.
Rating = 3.5 / 5 stars.
Big Bang Generation
This novel is extremely confusing. All of the secondary characters have met up and started talking and now some of them are dead. I don't really understand what is happening or why half of these characters are needed. I do like Kik the Assassin. As the second novel in the trilogy, it does make more mention of the 'Glamour' but the description makes it even more confusing - its a rock called the Lodestar which Bernice had a fragment of.
The best I could describe this book as is the beginning of the Glamour on Earth (specifically Sydney) because I thought this was how the Glamour was actually created, with it being the key to the Pyramid (which I didn't really understand much of either despite the fact that they kept talking about it) but book three completely contradicts that. Either way, I entered this novel with some understanding of the trilogy and I left it extremely confused and barely understanding anything.
Good points: Clara isn't in the novel. Many references to actual Doctor Who episodes (notably Flesh and Stone). Doctor Who characters (notably River Song) and Doctor Who spin-offs (mentioning Sarah Jane and Luke from the Sarah Jane Adventures), these references being rather rare in most Doctor Who tie in novels. Bernice and the connected characters (Peter, Ruth, Jack) are all characterized well, as they were seen (or heard) in the audio books, which is probably a result of the author penning something like sixteen of the audio books himself.
Bad points: Bernice Summerfield replaces Clara for this novel. It's very confusing with a large cast of secondary characters that are hard to remember across the novel. The half-arsed relationship that Kik attempted to form with Peter - like seriously, he's gay, he doesn't like you. Plus, you keep trying to kill him. It came from nowhere, went nowhere and ended in I have no idea. They insult my home city, which didn't impress me and didn't make me want to continue reading it (though the confusing manner of the novel didn't help that thought either).
Rating = 2 / 5 stars.
Deep Time
I actually really enjoyed this novel. It was my favourite of the trilogy, and unlike the other two novels, it had clearly drawn characters, with clear understanding and motivations, despite the limited page count and the large array of secondary characters. In that regard Trevor Baxendale really excels as he has in previous Doctor Who and Torchwood novels.
This novel surrounds the mystery of the Phaeron, who inhabited the universe alongside the height of the Time Lord empire, back when they still interfered in the universe. The Phaeron disappeared mysteriously, having left behind one last 'road', a series of space tunnels throughout the universe which they used to travel. The fate of the Phaeron are tied together with the Glamour, whose terror and destruction is explained.
Good points; clear and concise writing, with well developed characters. The deaths of some of the characters are well written and quite sad at some points. The Doctor and Clara are extremely well written, sounding like they normally do on the TV series. Truthfully, I feel like this could have been a singular book instead of a trilogy, and it would have served much better, because this book was pretty good, while the other two, for me, were either 'meh' or 'alright'.
Bad points; some points seemed rather easy, for example, the group are separated from each other. At least one person in each group then dies before they manage to meet up again. Also, just as they run out of oxygen, the time jump took them to a time when they could breathe without the safety suits on - it felt like it was convenient writing.
Rating = 4 / 5 stars.
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