Daniel Mansfield reviews the first of the new Fifteenth Doctor novels – Ruby Red by Georgia Cook

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April, 1242: the Doctor and Ruby answer a distress call sent from medieval Russia. The signal’s sender? Ranavere, an alien girl forced to take part in a barbaric conflict between the armies of Estonia and Novgorod on the frozen surface of Lake Peipus. Ranavere wants to escape, but her distress call has summoned her warmongering sisters, intent on preserving family tradition whatever the cost. And as human battle begins, the Doctor and Ruby must face a more devastating threat – a monstrous entity with plans of conquest, growing stronger beneath the icy lake…

The first original novel starring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday boldly takes us where no Doctor Who story ever has before… Estonia, 1242! In so doing, it hearkens back to one of Doctor Who‘s original briefs- to educate. Ruby Red is set in the days leading up to the Battle on the Ice, a military skirmish between Estonia and the Novgorodian Republic on the frozen Lake Peipus, a part of history I certainly didn’t know about before reading this story, but will definitely be looking into now I do.

While the Battle is a really interesting setting, it’s a shame Cook doesn’t delve a little more into what actually happened there. None of the main characters are actually from the time period, so we don’t really gain any understanding of the Battle beyond the fact that it happened. The setting could very well have been swapped out for a completely fictional battle, and the story wouldn’t have changed – that’s how irrelevant it ends up being. This, I would say, is Ruby Red‘s greatest flaw.

It does succeed, however, in being a rip-roaring Doctor Who adventure with lots of great moments. The highlights are a tensely-written underwater scene at the story’s climax, which had me holding my breath alongside the characters, and the storyline of Ranavere and her sisters, which I found quite touching by the end.

What’s more, Cook perfectly captures the voices of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby here, which is no mean feat considering she had only seen The Giggle and The Church on Ruby Road before writing this. While the story itself doesn’t quite have the scope and ingenuity of the Doctor and Ruby’s televised adventures, there’s no denying that the ways in which the TARDIS twosome’s dialogue, interactions and the ways they respond to events feel completely authentic to the characters.

One pitfall is that the villain of the piece feels a little uninspired. The Genetrix, a ferocious psychic parasite, takes control of its victims very similarly to the Dalek Recon Scout in Resolution, while its seizure of the TARDIS feels a little too close to Sutekh in The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death from the latest season. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the way the Doctor dealt with it at the end, and even found it quite creepy at times.

At its heart, Ruby Red is a touching story about family and the importance of forging one’s own destiny, themes which fit perfectly into Season One‘s storyline. There’s even a mysterious flurry of snow and a hint that the TARDIS isn’t working as it should! Overall, this isn’t a story that will blow your mind, but if, after the end of the last series, you’re looking to spend more time with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday, you should definitely give this a read.

Ruby Red is now available in hardback and as an audiobook read by Millie Gibson