Last of the Gaderene
Mark Gatiss is one of my favourite writers in the series of original Doctor Who novels. This is his best Doctor Who novels to date. Not only does he capture Jon Pertwee's Doctor in the writing but he also captures the feeling of the Third Doctor's era. I really could imagine this as a television story. 
The Burning
Justin Richards is another writer after me own hearts. I had all but given up on the Eighth Doctor series after "Interference" until I read this book. This is Doctor Who the way I like it. A great story that's a lot of fun to read. Actually, most if not all the stories after "The Ancestor Cell" have been really good. If you are unfamiliar with the Eighth Doctor series, this is a great book to start off with. 
Cold Fusion
The best multi-Doctor story never!! Again, one of those great Doctor Who stories that will never be realized on television. This time teaming the Fifth Doctor with the Seventh Doctor of the NA's. Lance Parkin captures the Fifth Doctor's character and era so well. But there's a twist. Just when it feels like it could really be a story that takes place between "Castrovalva" and "Four to Doomsday" he throws in the Seventh Doctor and his NA companions. Great stuff!! 
Players
Written by my favourite self proclaimed dinosaur Terrance Dick. This is actually Terrance's first Sixth Doctor story and he really does a fine job. He also creates a new adversary for the Doctor to face in this novel, the Players. But Terrance Dicks does a fine job writing the Sixth Doctor and Peri and it's a lot of fun to read. It's too bad the Sixth Doctor couldn't have had more stories like this during his era. 
Festival of Death
Since Gareth Roberts released his last full Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9 novel "The Well-Mannered War", nobody has bothered to write a novel with that Doctor/companion team. Jonathan Morris's story feels more like Douglas Adam's "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" work rather than his work for Doctor Who. Probably why I like it so much. he writes the Fourth Doctor and Romana II incredibly well and he introduces an assortment of amusing characters. A really fun book to read. 
Grave Matters
Doctor Who as a horror novel. Justin Richards has done a fine job writing a really terrific Sixth Doctor story that really just doesn't feel like a Sixth Doctor story. He's just too nice. The storyline itself, however, really does have the feel of the violence of the Sixth Doctor's era and would have made a fine television episode. A really great novel! 
The Hollow Men
Another Doctor Who as a horror novel. Written by another writing team of Keith Topping and Martin Day, who do a great job at capturing the Seventh Doctor era with a few surprises. The Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive in a small village with a curse on it in the form of possessed scarecrows. A great story that deals with touchy subject matter in the same way "Revelation of the Daleks" did. |  |
The Romance of Crime
Much like Mark Gatiss, Gareth Roberts captures the Douglas Adams era of Doctor Who brilliantly. It's a bit of a slow goer with a lot of great bit and dialogue that make the story a lot of fun to read. He captures the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9 perfectly. 
Lungbarrow
Unfortunately, one of the Seventh Doctor's best and last stories was never realized on television. THIS would have been a great way for Sylvester McCoy to make his exit just before the television movie. Not only returning to his homeplanet of Gallifrey, but returning to his ancestral home of Lungbarrow. It would have been cool to see what the production team would have made Lungbarrow and the Doctor's demented relatives look like if this was a television story. I recommend it highly!! 
Illegal Alien
FINALLY!! A Cyberman story worthy of the Seventh Doctor. Well...In the realm of Doctor Who fiction, of course. Unlike the NA's "Iceberg", this is a great, fast paced and humourous Seventh Doctor story. And the Doctor actually appears in the novel!! Robert Perry and Mike Tucker have written some of the best Seventh Doctor novels for BBC Books. Here's another surprise, the Seventh Doctor isn't depressed throughout the entire novel!! 
Verdigris
"WARNING: This novel is not suppose to be taken seriously. It is suppose to be enjoyed". With that said, I really didn't like this novel when I first started reading it but by the middle of it, I couldn't help loving it. Writer Paul Magrs also brings back his character Iris Wildthyme for this novel as well. Iris came off as this strange cross between, Prunella Scales (Sybill Fawlty) and Mimi Bobek from "The Drew Carey Show". I also really liked the villian Verdigris in this novel. All I could picture while reading this is a green version of the humanoid Axons in "The Claws of Axos" with the voice of John Dearth (BOSS from "The Green Death" and Lupton from "Planet of the Spiders"). A very clever and enjoyable send up of the Third Doctor's era. 
Matrix
Great story from start to finish, even though the Doctor spends most of the time depressed. Again. But this is the type of story I would have loved to see if Doctor Who continued after "Survival". Set in 1888 (one of my favourite era's) the Doctor comes face to face with one of the most infamous figures in history. Jack the Ripper. But there's a twist to it. 
The Roundheads
Mark Gatiss does a great job tackling a "Who Historical" set in Cromwell's England. Much like Pertwee's Doctor in "Gaderene", he does a great job at capturing Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor in this novel. He also does a great job at writing Jamie as well. I can't really comment on Ben and Polly because I've actually never seen an episode with them. But Mark Gatiss does a great job at getting historical facts right, while taking a few liberties here and there. A slow goer that's a lot of fun to read. |
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