A Flavour of the Book: “Martha gulped… If you put a dragon and a spider in a blender, she decided, and then gave the result to Dracula as a pet… That would be the result. It had an emaciated, lizard-like face and body, and huge bat wings, though the skin between the bones was tattered and grey. Its legs tapped against the ground when it paused, as if it were feeling its way towards its prey. Arched above its head was a great spiked tail…”
The Authortrek View: The only previous Doctor Who books that I have read from Martin Day were his collaborations with Keith Topping, which were not very good, so I was not looking forward to reading Wooden Heart. However, I am pleased to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised by Martin Day’s new book, which has none of the trashiness of his previous efforts (and having read a solo effort by Keith Topping, I firmly believe that the general nastiness of the collaborations was wholly down to him). I am pleased to say that the only thing that I could find wrong with Wooden Heart is that Martin Day has not completely captured the zany quirkiness of David Tennant’s Doctor, but he is not far off. Wooden Heart is an engrossing fable that delights with every page. This is a very accessible book that is sophisticated enough to enthral both adults and children alike. I thought that the mysterious community at the centre of the story was very much like that featured in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, with its surreal township and monsters lurking in the forbidden depths of the forest. However, Martin Day isn’t the first Doctor Who writer to have ‘borrowed’ aspects of recent popular films (Terry Nation and Russell T. Davies have been equally as guilty), but his well thought out plot fully justifies this pilfering. Martin Day also displays some dazzling humour – I loved the way that the Dazai gets Petr and Saul to spend some time together. Wooden Heart is a hugely enjoyable read, and is comfortably the best of the most recent Doctor Who novels.
To find out more about the author, please visit our Martin Day page.
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