Doctor Who: Royal Blood: A Novel

This wasn't the best book I have ever read and it certainly wasn't the worst I've read either. From a Doctor Who perspective it was kind of disappointing. I feel Clara and the 12 iteration of the Doctor matched the TV show reasonably well. There was a lot of development into political intrigue which ended up being disappointing in the end. There really wasn't any satisfaction you felt when the book ended that a bad guy was beaten or a right had been wronged and in the end that is why you pick up a Doctor Who book to see the Doctor beat a bad guy and right the wrongs in the universe. The major reveal at the end of the book was not that earth shattering. Short review if you are a fan that must read every book because the Doctor is in it this book isn't terrible, if you are a casual fan however there are other books to invest 3-4 hours in to read.

Not a very fleshed out story. It was slow developing and just meanders along. Little actual action or excitement. Didn't give a sense of Clara or the doctor.

I really enjoyed this book, it's part of the three book Glamour trilogy. The previous two, Big Bang Generation was the worst and hardly made sense, the story was so disjointed. The other book, Deep Time was the best of the three followed by Royal Blood. This book, like Deep Time, has the 12th Doctor down perfectly. With the exception of Big Bang Generation, this was a wonderful series.

As always, I enjoyed reading Doctor Who books. I just can’t put this book down. Moving on the to next book!

Book was decent shape. The story was very dragging for me. Good plot in the Glamour series but could of been better.

Very good. My only complaint is that Clara and the Doctor don't have enough time together to banter. She does banter with a couple of other characters though. So that makes up for it!

very good reading

I very much enjoyed this novel, especially since the Doctor and Clara seemed very much in character.

Doctor Who has always been the perfect vehicle for exploring genres, and this one does it wonderfully. The Doctor and Clara arrive in Varuz,a beautiful but crumbling civilisation barely clinging to the remnants of its technological glories. Conveniently mistaken for ambassadors from the invader Conrad, they are made welcome by the ruler, Duke Aurelian, and his wife Guena (Guinevere?). Clara finds herself drawn into Guena's political manoeveriing with loyal old retainer Bernhardt. Meanwhile, the Doctor is suspicious about the man who claims to be Conrad's real ambassador. Just as things come to a head, there's a third unexpected arrival - a troop of mediaeval knights led by one calling himself Lancelot, who claims to be searching for the Holy Grail!This could have been horribly cheesy, but it isn't. The switching viewpoints - between conventional third-person narrative and first-person narrated by Bernhardt - serve to convey the sense of mystery inspired by the Doctor and his companion in their host society, as well as a deep sense of sadness in those who know their way of life is coming to an end. Both the Doctor's and Clara's voices are flawlessly presented, including the Doctor's floundering with polite social norms.Clara's role is in fact pivotal, giving her the opportunity to show the full range of her sharp intelligence and directness. The late great Terry Pratchett said that a schoolteacher was essential at the end of the world, because there always needs to be someone sensible to empty the wee out of the shoe, and Clara would not disappoint, using her "Miss" voice here to great effect.All the characters are vividly and sympathetically drawn - even the ruthless, battle-hardened Conrad is believable and three-dimensional (and there's a female general! Called Lucinda!). You can't help feeling drawn to them, even when they're not behaving particularly heroically.The divided narrative also means you get in effect two novels in one - the more straightforward "Doctor Who" adventure in the third person, and Bernhardt's voice, which carries an almost autumnal melancholy: "Varuz, between the mountains and the sea." There's a strong semse of connection with heroic myth cycles like Arthur (most obviously), Celtic myth, and the stories of Lord Dunsany, or the Kadath tales of HP Lovecraft. The theme of knights on a never-ending quest is strongly reminiscent of Lord Dunsany's story "Carcassonne". The Doctor draws attention to the parallel between the relationship of Guena and Bernhardt, and the legendary Lancelot and Guinevere.I nearly didn't give five stars because I thought the Doctor's reveal about the Varuz tech could have been a bit stronger - but the author succeeds so well in creating an almost dreamlike sense of a dying world, depths of history and time, loyalty, love, and a beautiful poetic melancholy, that it doesn't really matter. A "Glamour", in the true sense.

This is the first volume in The Glamour Chronicles, three books set in the time of the Twelfth Doctor, as played by Peter Capaldi. This one also features Clara, as played by Jenna Coleman, and has the time travelling duo arrive in what seems to be a medieval world, where chivalry and warfare lie uneasily against the ongoing war with the enemies of Varuz. And when others arrive, how can the Doctor decide what might be real, and what cannot be?A reasonably good read, I found this book to be rather light and perhaps not as built or characterised as well as I would like. I find this an issue with Una McCormack’s writing, and I think the stories suffer (and I generalise) from being rather over-romanticised and rather sanitised. Opportunities to delve further into plot, motive and character are missed. Still, not a bad book, and I look forward to the next two books which follow the ‘Glamour’ theme.

An original Doctor Who novel. Telling an all new story for the Twelfth Doctor and Clara that hasn't been presented before in any other medium.It runs for two hundred and thirty five pages. It's divided into twelve chapters.As ever with this range the book is suitable for readers of all ages. And the two lead characters are perfectly written, with dialogue you can imagine them saying on tv.The story sees the pair visit a place called Varuz. A kingdom on another planet. With Knights and a castle. Ruled over by a Duke. The kingdom is about to be invaded by a conquering army. There's intrigue in the court.They could be on Earth long ago. But a kingdom like this back then wouldn't have had laser swords or electric candlelight.And they might not have seen a rather familiar figure from Earth history turn up, on a quest for a holy item.Can the Doctor and Clara stop a war and find out what's really going on here?This, and the other two original Twelfth Doctor novels released at the same time, form a trilogy called the Glamour Chronicles. In which the Doctor and Clara search for a mysterious object. But you don't need to have read the other two to get into this one.The narrative structure of this is quite interesting, as some of it is presented as being written in the first person, a fair few years after the events in the story. And yet a lot is also done from the viewpoint of the Doctor and Clara. Who are split apart and on separate plots after a bit of the story. This works well, though, and never leaves the reader confused.The set up of the planet is so very interesting indeed. But it ends up being a book where you're really waiting for something major to happen and the whole plot to click. And it's a little bit too long in coming. Themes of war and peace and morality never really come to much. Too much of the early half is just people talking.However, the resolution to the glamour side of the plot is very good indeed and a very good surprise. Although the book could function reasonably well enough without this section in it. The resolution to the main plot also contains a very good answer. But it doesn't come to quite as much as it could. Because this isn't a story where the Doctor what he usually does. It's not a world where a tyrannical ruler needs overthrowing. The resolution is different as a result. And works. But therefore doesn't have quite the same impact.Ultimately not a bad book at all, but there are better in the range.

Although set on an alien world, ‘Royal Blood’ actually feels like a quasi-historical story. It concerns a civilisation that has regressed from an advanced, possibly even spacefaring, society to one that is essentially medieval European in nature. Trappings of Veruz’s halcyon days of empire and wealth remain though. Anachronistic technology is no longer understood by those that use it, rendering it an almost magical status. As such the story bares some similarities to the author’s earlier Eleventh Doctor novel, ‘The King’s Dragon’. There is also something reminiscent of ‘The Androids of Tara’; especially with the inclusion of laser swords.War looks inevitable as Clara and the Doctor arrive. As the once powerful civilisation of Varuz declines, those that it once ruled over have united and rebelled against it. It seems that the nature of war and the struggle for peace were intended to be major themes of the novel, especially considering the tagline. However, other than a few mentions of the subject the novel doesn’t really explore these issues in any worthwhile or philosophical way.A figure from British mythology also makes an appearance. With a questionable historical existence this rehashes some of the issues that arose with the Twelfth Doctor’s televised encounter with Robin Hood. Unfortunately there is no humour incorporated into the situation and the Doctor’s disbelief results in comments that come over as churlish and irritating. The Doctor also has little interaction with this character. The story could probably have functioned quite adequately without his inclusion and it seems he might merely be present to promote the unifying theme that runs through ‘The Glamour Chronicles’. Likewise, there seems little reason for Emfil to be in the story other than to contribute to the overall ‘glamour’ plot.The opening scenes with the Doctor and Clara work well. There is a strong grasp of their relationship and some enjoyable dialogue. Unfortunately the two spend a lot of the novel separated and thus this interaction is absent for most of the book. Instead both are paired off with a character that is a bit dull. The Doctor spends most of his time with Bernhardt who seems to just tolerate him. For much of the story the Doctor is quite ineffective and it is likely that events may have proceeded in much the same way with or without his presence. Clara has a somewhat larger role and her character is captured better than the Twelfth Doctor’s.

The weakest read in this series of three the others being deep time and big bang generation.It really is a book for older children it's enjoyable enough but very simple in plot .It's more like a double episode of Merlin.Good characterisations with a bit of humour and plenty of happenings. A nice way to spend an evening.