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Review: Dr Who: Harvest of Time

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By Alastair Reynolds

ISBN: 978-1849904193

When I was a boy I loved Dr. Who and Blake's 7. When I was at University, in around 1997, they used to show Dr. Who and Blake’s on UK Gold on a Sunday morning. While Blake’s 7 still had me totally captivated, Dr. Who didn’t live up to my memories. Of course I grew up with Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Colin Baker (who I barely remembered at all at the time) and Sylvester McCoy. In my mind the illusion was complete, but watching them again aged around 20 I saw straight through the special effects and the memories were somewhat shattered. So I approached the Harvest of Time with a little apprehension.

As with everything Alastair Reynolds writes, the story is excellent. However, I don’t think the Dr. Who universe gave it anything and it would have been much better as a straight time travel and invasion novel. The Sild are a very Dr. Who type enemy and I didn’t really believe in them. Of course The Master was a superb character and I didn’t see the twist with the Red Queen until just before it was revealed. I don’t really remember UNIT from the original Dr. Who, but they came across a bit nieve, over enthusiastic and stiff upper lipped.

I did enjoy Harvest of Time, but I’m looking forward to the final book in the Poseidon's Children trilogy and what will come after. In the meantime I’ll be diving back into Pandora’s Star by Peter Hamilton. My recent change of job has given me far more reading time again, so expect more reviews.

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