Doctor Who: The Bog Warrior (Time Trips) by Cecelia Ahern

I have a big expectation from this story and the author. But I can’t help feeling disappointed by this story. Much like the rest of 10th Doctor stories, the Doctor went into a planet to observe but inexplicably got himself into trouble and then resolve the problems and happily ever after. The problem is, the story lack the essence of Russell T Davies’s Doctor. Since this 10th Doctor was without any companion and without backstory what so ever, you can easily assume this story is set before the regeneration episode. But without a hook to bring the readers into the story or a clue to where this story may pick up from, The Bog Warrior was just another novelization without substance and the plot was rather threadbare to be a canon. I think the story gave too much focus to the ‘romance’ aspect of the 10th Doctor story which was like “The Day of the Doctor”, both writers just skip three season worth of character development just to flesh out the superficial attractiveness of 10th Doctor. Since this is a science fiction Cinderella romance story that centered around a masquerade ball, forbidden romance and stuff, very predictable and its not hard to feel being cheated by it. While there’s some technobable from the Doctor (who is curiously a side character), most of the gruff I had with the story was the thin characterization themselves. 10th Doctor story tend to have a history with a lot of character deft and I guess the new character introduction made the story severely lacking. It felt like it was written as if it was out of habit rather than genuine interest. In fact, I’ve read better fan fiction by famous author that encompass all these Tenth Doctor feels without intentionally being a Doctor Who fanfic i.e: Fortunately, the Milk. Unless you’re a Cecelia Ahern fan, this book might not sooth your mid-season coma. The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.