Legacy

I just finished this over the weekend and since it's the first of my 'Virgin DOCTOR WHO adventure novels' I just had to write a review, mainly because it was such a good read.I'm only gonna touch on the story, I don't want to spoil anything, but I must say LEGACY is more of a sci-fi/ Sherlock Holmes hybrid than a traditional timelord adventure. On the other hand, with the inclusion of the Ice Warriors it also feels like vintage WHO, so don't worry! However, it was the mystery that sticks to me as being one of the best part of the books, although (and I find this to be the case with most mysteries) it was more interesting to learn of the villains motivations and evil masterplan than it was discovering his identity.I find Gary Russell to be a very enthousiastic writer and in his foreword he explains of his lifelong ambition to write a good WHO novel. And in my opinion he succeeded in doing that! The passion just drips of the pages here, and Russell gives a good characterisation of the Doctor as this mystery man full of quirky yet human traits. He also feels right at home with Bernice Summers and (in a small part) Ace.There are, I'm sad to say, a few minor flaws. For once LEGACY is so full of characters and backstory (especially of the planet Peladon and it's rulers) that it sometimes seems like a bit too much, and gets confusing. Also the open ending was a bit predictable.Than there's also the problem of the violence. I'm a big horrorfan myself and I never had any qualms with a bit of gore.But these elements (of which LEGACY has a lot) seem so out of place in a DOCTOR WHO adventure. I understand that WHO always was a horror/ sci-fi hybrid, and the small volume of other WHO novels I read (mainly in the BBC book series) also had their share of violence, but to me it just doesn't belong in this series.Anyway, it doesn't hinder in the end and I still recommend LEGACY to anyone who loves WHO.Also, I mentioned the great looking cover. My brother, who doesn't like DOCTOR WHO at all, noticed it right away and said it definitely was an eyecatcher (in my opinion it really is that good). He even admitted that it might interest him in reading the book, and isn't that what a good cover should all be about?All in all, I'll be reading these DOCTOR WHO novels for a long time coming!