Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Hello Book Clubbers! Erik here, retaking control of the blog once more in an ill-fated attempt to satiate my constant and growing hunger for power. More...more...MORE!!!

*ahem*

Actually, Sean's just gotten too busy so I'm stepping back into the breach. Before I blurb August's book, some housekeeping. Due to the aforementioned business, we're behind on posting episodes! Oh no!

• Download our April episode on Peter Darvill-Evans' Independence Day.
• Or our May (read: early June) episode on State of Change by Christopher Bulis.
• Or maybe our June discussion of the infamous Lungbarrow by Marc Platt.
• Or our most recent episode, on Jonathan Morris' The Tomorrow Windows.

And now, for August, we present Trevor Baxendale's Fear of the Dark--from the back cover of the original edition:

On the very edge of the galaxy lies Akoshemon: a putrefied world of legendary evil.

In the year 2382 archaeologists land on Akoshemon’s only moon, searching for evidence of the planet’s infamous past. But when the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa are drawn into the lunar caverns they find more than a team of academics -- and help uncover much more than ancient history.

Something is lying in wait, deep inside the labyrinth of caves: something that remembers the spiral of war, pestilence and deprivation that ruined Akoshemon. Something that rejoiced in every kind of horror and destruction.

An age-old terror is about to be reborn. But what is the hideous secret of the Bloodhunter? And why does Nyssa feel that her thoughts are no longer her own? Forced to confront his own worst fears, even the Doctor will be pushed to breaking point -- and beyond.

Oooh...sounds spooky kids! Baxendale has written several other books set in the Whoniverse (I hate that term, but it is convenient), both during the Wilderness Years and since the show returned in 2005. As a change of pace, Fear of the Dark is available for sale, right now, in a brand new edition as part of the 50th anniversary novel reissues--you can even get it for your Kindle or Nook! So you have no excuse not to grab a copy and read along with us...

Links below may contain spoilers:

Fear of the Dark at the Doctor Who Reference Guide

Its scant Wikipedia page

Buy it on Amazon! (The Kindle edition is only $3.99!)

Email us and tell us how much you love Erik's laugh at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, look for us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast.  You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.

Winter in April: Cold Fusion

Our review of Gary Russell's Business Unusual is now available here.  Special thanks to our friend Charlie Paulson for providing last month's reading.

April brings us snowstorms, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, the Fifth Doctor, and the Seventh Doctor in Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion, one of the later installments in Virgin's Missing Adventures series.  From the back cover:

'The entire universe is at stake and I'm locked in here with another incarnation of myself, and not even one of the good ones.'

More than one TARDIS lands on a barren ice world.  The fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find a once ordered society on the verge of collapse, as rebels wage a dirty war with Scientifica, the ruling elite.  All that stands between order and anarchy is the massed presence of an Adjudicator peacekeeping force.

But is peace the only reason for the Adjudicator garrison?  What exactly has been discovered deep beneath the planet's surface?  Who are the mysterious Ferutu?  And why is telling a ghost story a criminal offense?

The fifth Doctor sides with the cause of justice and fairness as always.  But, as a threat to the universe unfolds, he finds himself in conflict with his past...and his future.

For continuity buffs, this story takes place between the television stories "Castrovalva" and "Four to Doomsday" and between the New Adventures Return of the Living Dad and The Death of Art.  The back cover text seems to skirt around the fact that the Seventh Doctor and his friends are present in this story, but anything that is blatantly obvious by glancing at the front cover shouldn't be considered a spoiler.

We previously reviewed a Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors back in Episode 8.  It can't be argued that Parkin is an ambitious author, and hopefully Cold Fusion will not disappoint.  So sit back and enjoy!

Fun Links:

"Cold Fusion" on Amazon  (Wow, that's rich!)

Lance Parkin's Official Website

Lance Parkin's Wikipedia Page

"Cold Fusion" on the Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)