In this "New Adventure" the Doctor returns once again to the planet Peladon with his companion Bernie. They are going in response to a request from the Galactic Federation to attend an important royal re-dedication ceremony as well as investigate the death of an archaeologist. There is intrigue, Ice Warriors, thieves, archaeologists and reporters to muddy the waters.
At times this one plods a bit. There are a lot of extra characters that don't really contribute anything to the story.

book re-read 3/24/2023 ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1837337.html

Peladon is one of a surprisingly small number of planets to figure in more than one televised Who story, and though Big Finish have visited it twice I think this is the only spinoff novel set there. Gary Russell starts with the story of how the planet lifted itself from barbarism, and the stranded human astronaut who married the king; we then get folded into a fairly complex tale of an ancient off-world relic with Ice Warriors, Alpha Centauri, Peladonian factions and the rodent-like Pakhar aliens, with lots for Benny and the Seventh Doctor to do (but rather less for Ace who gets politely shuffled off-scene at a fairly early stage). It's also rather gory with many characters meeting untimely ends. Generally good stuff though I felt the climax was not quite under control (but I did like the political twist at the end). ( )

It was okay. I wished the Doctor had been in it more and that Ace hadn't been floating off in space for most of it. It was too focused on the secondary characters. The story was interesting enough and the secondary characters were, for their part, interesting. It hopped around a lot and the chapters were quite long. But mostly I wanted more of the Doctor ( )