The Tomb of Valdemar

If your reading this you already know what the book is about, so here's an opinion of the story itself, without spoilers. It slows down at places but tosses some mind bending concepts at the reader if the reader cares to think about what was just read. A bit of Lovecraftian mythos, a bit Crowley, and of course a bit of galifranian lore blended together makes a nice dish all in all. Big fan of old HP here, and huge fan of the Doctor, and wasn't disappointed at all.

The Doctor and new companion Romana have only just found the first segment to the 'Key To Time' when they come across a situation that could destroy the whole universe. The Doctor is conflicted with what to do, continue gathering the segments of the Key to Time and avert a galactic disaster or stay and help prevent the rising of 'Valdemar' to prevent another galactic disaster.Being placed after the first story of the Key To Time season, 'The Ribos Operation', see the Doctor and Romana's relationship at edge. The Doctor not wanting a companion and Romana innocent to the wonders and threats of the galaxy. The Doctor's grumbling conversations with himself regarding this fact are quite humourous and fits well with the televised period this story is set in. Romana is also excellently portrayed as the 'newbie' traveller. K-9 is put out of action, therefore hardly appears in the novel at all.The story is narrated in a third person view, you will find it is a bit distracting at first but you will understand (well kind of) at the end of the novel why this was done - so keep at it.The plot is also quite busy, with lots of things happening at once which again can become confusing with keeping up with the events. You might have to read over passages to work out what is going on.Overall, it's a good story with great characterisation, but you may need to force yourself to continue reading it - it's worth it if you do.

After reading others' reviews of Mr. Messingham's novel, I would have to agree with the way he portrayed Romana I's character in this, what would be her second adventure with the Doctor. I also feel that the relationship between these two characters was very accuratly displayed. Romana is the highly-educated yet inexperienced Time-Lord seen in the first Key To Time segment; meanwhile, the Doctor is still very annoyed at having been forced into this relationship with her. The novel does well at showing their relationship mature in a manner that was never displayed in the original series. The story itself is very fast-moving and told with an interesting 3rd person point-of-view. I have read that some people disagreed with Messingham's choice of narrator, claiming it takes away from the suspense. I have to disagree with this belief. The end of the book leaves you wondering if the narrator really is an older version of the novelist, or maybe even an older version of Romana. Of course, if the second is true, this defeats the current run of 8th Doctor books, which claims that Romana is currently the Time Lord president. But, in the world of Doctor Who, anything is possible. All in all, I found this a very enjoyable adventure. The only drawback, besides the confussion over just who is the narrator, is the obvious lack of K9. He needs to be here, too!

The Doctor and Romana stop their search for the Key To Time. The TARDIs lands on a space station above a planet. There the Doctor and Romana meet a novelist who helps defeat the Old Ones later on. Also there is a cult lead by a madmen and his helpers.One of the helpers will bring Valdemmar(an Old One from the Time Lord's past) back to live. The Doctor,Miranda(novelist) do everything they can to stop the madmen!Eventually it boils down to showdown at the gateway with the Old One(Valdemar) attempting to marry Romana! For a even better twist this story is told from a different person POV! The story was fast , fun and it keep my attention for the whole time reading! Plus it features my favorite Doctor Tom Baker! Overall a great read for fans of Tom Baker! At times I could imagine him in this story! The same goes for Lalla Ward who played Romana during the Key To Time series!