As a long time fan of Doctor Who I am ashamed to admit I've read very few DW books (although I did enjoy Patrick Ness' Fifth Doctor story, Tip of the Tongue recently). If they're all as good as Into the Nowhere (part of the Time Trips series) then I've been foolishly denying myself and have some serious catching up to do.
This is a beautifully described story which manages to be chilling at one moment then touching the next. The Eleventh Doctor and Clara come across a mysterious planet without a name and with no information about it. At first The Doctor is reluctant to land but of course his curiosity is piqued and soon they discover a desolate land populated by skeletons and littered with death traps. Having skeletons as the planet's inhabitants was, I thought, a masterstroke and very Who. I often think that Who monsters are scariest when they're ordinary and recognisable. Skeletons are naturally frightening but walking skeletons who live on a planet where there is danger everywhere and who have a particularly gruesome way of communicating are even more bone-chilling (do you see what I did there?!) As for our heroes, I could hear the voices of the Doctor and Clara while I was reading, the Doctor was typically mad man with a box enthusiastic yet had that darker and less forgiving side and if anything I preferred book Clara and would like to see more of her in the show.
I just wish it had been a bit longer, if I have any criticism it would be it felt a little uneven, the last part felt perhaps a little too rushed and whilst the villain was suitably evil I would have liked his character to have been explored further. This is mostly me being spoilt though, I want more!
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