Book Review: Doctor Who Time Lord Victorious - All Flesh is Grass

Following directly on from the events of the prior Time Lord Victorious novel, The Knight, The Fool and The Dead; Una Mcormack takes over writing responsibility with the next addition to 10's dark story called All Flesh is Grass.

Where we left off we saw the 10th Doctor double down on his stance as the master of time which he titles himself the Time Lord Victorious. In the wake of his cold and calculated destruction of the Kotturuh, he is the midst of preparing a planetary assault on their home planet of Mordeela when he is interrupted by fleets of Daleks and Vampires each led by his 8th and 9th incarnations. Seeing the risk to time 10 poses in his current mentality, 8 and 9 have sought the aid of these unlikely forces to even the odds and help 10 realise the stakes of the damage to time he is causing in the wake of his actions. As the story goes we see 8, 9 and 10 come together in many confrontations as they seek to settle the events 10 has set in motion before all of time is damaged beyond the state of repair.

The story is really fun to follow just for the interactions of 8, 9 and 10. These are characters we've never seen interact in the show itself so having this dynamic displayed in written form is so fun to follow. I think the narrative doesn't follow the setup from the prior book all to strongly though as I feel the Daleks take over the role of antagonist all too quickly. I liked the idea of 10 being so hell bent on his righteous crusade that he is the big bad of the story, but his Time Lord Victorious stance sadly fades into the background to work with his prior incarnations to take on the Dalek threat. I was under the impression that this multimedia story would tackle 10 as the overarching force but the events of Waters of Mars and The Knight, The Food and the Dead seem to be the extend of 10's darker nature and I just felt this story had a lot more potential to do so much more. Besides 10's change of characters stance, the overall story isn't all bad. I like how it does tackle the consequences of 10's actions in wiping out the Kotturuh and how their fate ties into the state of time. Seeing 8, 9 and 10 work together to resolve the threat established in the wake of 10's actions and the Daleks ultimate plan is definitely the most engaging aspect of the story and I'm happy to note the narrative banks on a it a lot throughout the book.

I like how much time it gives to separate the independent perspectives of the 8th Doctor, the 9th Doctor and the 10th Doctor as they form up and split off on their own missions throughout the story. These incarnations are all distinct from one another in personality and mannerisms but it's worth noting they are all tied together through their relationship to the Time War and the scales of war in general. They each challenge one another on their actions and perspectives and that dynamic is the crux of the story. On the supporting side we have Brian the Ood continuing to be the most polite assassin in the galaxy and I adored how he took on the Daleks in his own unique ways. The introduction of the space vampires and their ambiguous relationship with the last of the Kotturuh was also interesting to follow.

All Flesh is Grass took the Time Lord Victorious story in a direction I wasn't expecting. Una McCormack shows she get's Doctor Who quite well in how she utilises 3 historic incarnations of the Doctor to tell a compelling narrative which feels respectful to who each of these characters are. I can't pretend I'm not disappointed that 10's dark nature was put on the sideline so quickly because I was hoping for that to be the centre crux of this entire multimedia story. The Daleks turning on the Doctor was incredibly predictable too but they at least lay out a tease for their role in this multimedia story both past and present. Part of the fun of Doctor Who is following a story in a non0linear fashion and I hope to see the ripple effects of this book in the remainder of this storyline!