Book Review: Dr. Who: Engines of War

Every year the BBC releases novels based on the Dr. Who television series. This summer, starting in June they have done it again releasing a series of novels based on the 11th and 12th Doctors played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi respectively. This time they have also released a book based on the Doctor from The Great Time War which happened between the classic and the modern series. Known as The War Doctor and played by John Hurt who appeared in 3 episodes of the television show the reader gets to see a much more fleshed out character than before.










In the Dr. Who series The Great Time War is only talked about and depicted in short clips. The war took place before the new series began in 2005 and was waged between the Time Lords and their arch enemies the Daleks. In Engines of War the reader gets a far more in depth look at what the Time War looked like and how it was fought.

The War Doctor

In the book the Doctor has already been fighting in the Time War for centuries. He is an important figure in the war and literally fights on the front lines of battles using his TARDIS. Unfortunately, he is old and tired of fighting just like the other Time Lords. After one engagement in space the Doctors TARDIS is damaged and crash lands on one of the Dalek controlled planets called Moldox. The planet is populated by humans but they have been fighting a losing battle against the Dalek forces occupying their planet. The Doctor meets up with a female freedom fighter by the name of Cinder by inadvertently saving her life. Cinder hates the Daleks but doesn’t care for the Time Lords either. She wants to help destroy the Daleks and get off the planet so she agrees to stay with the Doctor. The Doctor discovers on Moldox that the Daleks are employing a powerful new weapon that could potentially wipe out the Time Lords once and for all. The Doctor brings the evidence to the Time Lord high Council and a plan is devised to destroy the new weapon. Unfortunately, the plan the Time Lords have devised will also destroy many human inhabited worlds in the process. The Doctor disagrees with the council’s plan but they vote to move ahead with the idea anyway. The Doctor vows to oppose the Time Lords and find another way stop the Daleks at the same time.

Time Lord home planet during Time War

For people who are interested in watching Dr. Who and haven’t started yet, Engines of War will give you tons of back-story to the television show. Even though the Doctor is a warrior at this time his overall personality shows through by his actions and dialogue in the book. Like in the show he never wants to see anyone die unnecessarily, even his enemies. The book also clearly illustrates why he hates the Daleks so much. In the series the Doctor also says at times that he has very little respect for the rest of the Time Lords and sometimes says they may have been just as bad as the Daleks. This book does a great job of showing why the Doctor feels this way. As the rest of the Time Lords are very arrogant and uncaring.

Heavy War Daleks

For viewers that follow the series on television you will find this book is well worth reading. The book delves deep into the world of Dr. Who with descriptions of battle TARDISes and how they work and function. At one point the Doctor finds a TARDIS scrap yard of sorts with ships in the form of every object and vehicle imaginable. A seldom used but reoccurring character named Rassilon is given a much larger back-story. There is even some space given to the Doctor’s other names, mostly given to him by the Daleks but also why his real name remains unsaid. There is a lot of material in this book that fans of Dr. Who will really appreciate.

The author, George Mann does a great job on this book. Mann mostly writes science fiction and has written other Dr. Who novels as well. There is a great mix of everything in this book including space battles, investigations and character interactions. There really is something for everyone as the reader also gets taken to many different locations.

This is a great book in all aspects and is a must read of Dr. Who fans. Readers get to see a rare glimpse into a little talked about part of the show. For people looking to get into the series this book will benefit you greatly giving a lot of understanding and back-story to the Doctor.