‘Doctor Who: The Eaters of Light’ – Rona Munro (BBC Books)

Page Count: 174 Pages

Another day, another ‘Doctor Who’ post 😉 Things have been a little rough recently so comfort reading has led me to perhaps the most comfortable of my comfort reading choices. ‘Doctor Who’ is the kind of read where I know how things will ultimately pan out but the stakes are still high enough that I have to keep reading in the meantime. Not only that, the Doctor is always a good choice of character to hang a story off. All of that (and maybe a little bit more) led me back to ‘Doctor Who’ and this time it was the turn of ‘The Eaters of Light’; a story that I’d seen on TV years ago but long enough ago that I was hoping the book would be the fresher for it.

If I can settle on another book that I actually finish, you’ll hear about it here. In the meantime, lets talk a little about ‘The Eaters of Light’. I’m doing this on my lunch break, and the book is fairly slim, so we’re talking quick thoughts more than anything, You knew that already though 😉

"To protect a muddy little hillside, you doomed your whole world!"

The Doctor takes Bill and Nardole back to 2nd century Scotland to learn the fate of the 'lost' Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman Army. 5,000 soldiers vanished without explanation - how?

The search for the truth leads the Doctor and his friends into a deadly mystery. Who is the Guardian of the Gate? What nightmare creature roams the wildlands, darkening the sky and destroying all in its path? A threat from another dimension has been unleashed on the Earth, and only a terrible sacrifice can put things right…

‘The Eaters of Light’ is very much a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of read. While there are passages where the plot is fleshed out (something that I always appreciate so more on that as we go), Munro chooses to focus more on recounting events as they happen in the TV show and on the whole, I think the balance struck here works well for this particular book. The plot already has an intriguing mystery to be solved and a monster that is far beyond the ability of 2nd century humanity to solve (although you have to admire the Picts for standing up and having a go anyway) so you don’t really need to do a lot more with it. The extra touches that Munro gives it adds context to the plot without taking away from it at the same time, which is just the way that it should be.

I’d also say that Munro’s portrayal of Capaldi’s Doctor is pretty much spot on as well, awesome but with a slightly childish streak that stops him backing down and keeps arguments going far longer than they need to. And that’s what leads them into contact with the beast, as well as giving us a possible answer to the mystery of the Ninth Legion (I know but it’s still a possible answer, isn’t it?). It works and is another hook that got me into this story.

The only issue I’ve got is that everything is so short and sweet, and ties together so nicely, that it doesn’t leave me with an awful lot else to write about other than that. Maybe ‘The Eaters of Light’ doesn’t have the same kind of spark to it that other ‘Doctor Who’ books, that I’ve recently read, have but that’s probably more on me than the book. ‘The Eaters of Light’ does its business in a quietly efficient way and while it isn’t a book that stands out, it’s still a worthwhile read for fans and sometimes, you can’t ask for any more than that.