Doctor Who - Diamond Dogs

I was finally able to find the first Doctor Who novel featuring Bill as the companion - even though all three books are supposed to be out (and have been out for a while), it seems none of the book stores in the Central Florida area are carrying them.  I lucked into Diamond Dogs by pure chance when I was visiting friends in the Tampa Bay area not too long ago.

Bill is the kind of companion that I love - she's quick, she's witty, she doesn't take any flack off of anyone, and she always manages to show the Doctor just how much he needs her.  It's what drew me to Donna Noble, who is and always will be my favorite companion, and now Bill without a doubt holds second place when it comes to favorite companions of Doctor Who.

Diamond Dogs doesn't come right out and give a time frame of where it falls within Bill's time with the Doctor; however, there are references to the creature beneath the ice, the emoji robots, the alien war machines, and the woman who turned to water, which would set this story about half-way through the 10th season of Doctor Who.  Interestingly enough, the author, Mike Tucker, also throws in a connection to Professor Marius's nurse from Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy (a Tom Baker story).

The story takes place on a space station just above the rings of Saturn, where some very unique mining is going on - it seems that within the rings circling the planet, it literally rains diamonds!  Mankind, being greedy as it is, has decided to mine those diamonds to finance their expansion to other worlds, after having used up the resources of its own.  The Doctor brings Bill to that station for a quick pitstop to filch one of those diamonds.  The Doctor does have to support Nardole somehow, doesn't he?  And the mining company won't miss one little diamond out of the thousands upon thousands that they mine every day.  The security company has managed to find a way to keep the diamonds from falling into the hands of space pirates (known as "Diamond Dogs"), but they have yet to discover the pilfering hand of the Doctor.

Until poor Bill accidentally triggers an alarm...

Tucker gives us a tried and true Doctor Who story - the Doctor and his companion stop at a location for one thing, but ultimately get drawn into the drama unfolding around them and have to prevent or help stop an alien war.  When a minecraft returns to the ship empty, its occupant apparently trapped in the pressure crushing ring below, it is up to the Doctor to rescue him.  The corporate men don't want production stopped.  The ship's captain doesn't want the Doctor's interference.  The security detail doesn't want the Doctor in the way.  But when the being inside the protective suit turns out not to be the miner, everyone turns to the Doctor for help - and he, in turn, turns to Bill, the only one he can trust in ferreting out the traitor on board the ship before an alien invasion arrives and destroys the mining ship and everyone in it.

Lots of action, lots of twists, lots of Doctor-isms, lots of good, clean Doctor Who fun!  And really, when you are reading a Doctor Who novel, that's what you expect, right?  Well, Tucker managers to capture the characterization just right and provides the reader with plenty of variation in the supporting cast so that no one comes across as cardboard or overly stereotypical.  And, frankly, the reveal of the traitor turned out to be a surprise - not at all who I was expecting.  But, again, this is Doctor Who, so we should always expect the unexpected.

Now to hunt down Plague City and The Shining Man (since not even Amazon.com is offering them in any format other than Kindle...) and complete my collection of "Bill" books!

RATING:  9 tatty-looking boxes out of 10 for giving fans one more adventure with Bill before she rides off into the sunset as the new Doctor and her companion(s) take charge.