Doctor Who: Lights Out by Holly Black

Doctor Who: Lights Out by Holly Black is a novelette released as a sort of addendum to the 50th anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who. This story will also be available in the 12 Stories, 12 Doctors anthology. It's a story about the Twelfth Doctor (in case you didn't recognise the silhouette).

This story is in first person, which I was a bit surprised by at first and it took me a while to get into it. The latter not just because of the voice but because it takes a few pages to become interesting. Basically once the Doctor appears and people start mysteriously dying.

Once it gets going this is a thoughtful story in keeping with some of the themes the Twelfth Doctor's first season has been exploring. It's a quick read — only 36 pages in the (non-standard because ARC) format I read it — but it was an entertaining enough one.

I would recommend Doctor Who: Lights Out to Doctor Who fans and anyone wanting to get a taste for licensed Doctor Who fiction. It's an interesting step in my experimentation with the subgenre.

4 / 5 stars

First published: October 2014, Puffin / BBC
Series: Doctor Who, 12 Stories, 12 Doctors and it's about the 12th Doctor.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley