Doctor Who - Combat Magicks

I managed to get around to reading the third book in this first trilogy of stories from the thirteenth Doctor, and while I did enjoy it, I would not say it was one of my favorites. It's interesting to note that of all the Doctor Who books I have read to date - those with Donna Noble, those with Rory and Amy, those with Bill, and now these with the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions - there has been a large variety, with many different authors, but for the most part, the authors have captured the essence of the show and the characters (though there have been some bad exceptions).  Some, though, like this one, while capturing the essence of the show, did not quite hit the mark when it comes to the characters themselves.  Author Steve Cole provides a story that I could easily envision as an episode - maybe even a two-parter - on the television; but the characterization felt a bit too stiff and forced, and the interaction among the companions and the Doctor didn't feel as natural as it has in other books.

Combat Magicks takes the Doctor, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz to the Fifth Century Earth, where they find themselves facing the forces of Atilla the Hun and the Roman Empire who is fighting to keep him from overtaking their land.  As usual, the group gets separated - the Doctor and Yaz end up with Attila the Hun, who mistakes them for witches who he believes can help him win the upcoming battle; Graham ends up with the Roman soldiers, where the healing salve he has from the TARDIS is seen as a miracle cure that can save their king; and Ryan ends up with the mysterious Legion of Smoke, who he soon discovers has a lot of knowledge about things they should not know about in 451 AD.  As you can see, the plot definitely has all the elements necessary for a good story, as the Doctor must not only save all of her companions, but she must find a way to stop the upcoming war - a war that is being instigated by some very mysterious witches who are not at all what they appear to be.

Overall, the story proved to be quite interesting.  It was obvious from the beginning that the "witches" helping both the Huns and the Romans were not actual witches, considering the technology that both sides had that should not even exist in that period.  So, following along with the Doctor and her team as they try to figure out exactly what is going on, who the witches are, and how to stop them is part of the fun (as it is with any good episode of Doctor Who).  I just wish Cole had been able to better nail down the characterization.  Yaz does not come across as very strong at all - in fact, she seems to constantly be the damsel in distress in this book.  Ryan's dialogue does not read like Ryan at all - and his constant stumbling over himself was a little too much.  He has come a long way since he first met the Doctor, and it's like in this story, all of those uncertainties and awkward balance issues all came flooding back for no reason at all.  The Doctor has her ever-present desire to find a solution and her non-stop intent to save everyone she can - but as with Ryan, her dialogue felt off throughout the whole book, and she didn't read like the Doctor at all.  I got a better feel of the Doctor from her actions, not her dialogue.  I would say of all of them, Graham was probably the only one who actually felt true to his on-screen character in this book.

Overall, not the best, but by far, not the worst.  Just a shame that this is the last of the Doctor Who books for a while - not quite the way I wanted to end off my reading of this character, but I suppose it will do until the "Time Lord Victorious" books come out...

RATING:  7 ghostly blue caskets out of 10 for taking the Doctor to a time she's never visited, yet acknowledging the times around it where she has been!