Book Review: Doctor Who - The Way Through the Woods

I'm no stranger to Una McCormack's contribution to the written world of Doctor Who, having read her entry in the Time Lord Victorious series only last year. Una has a clear history when it comes to writing for the franchise ever since Matt Smith stepped in as the 11th Doctor. One of her very first written stories for the 11th Doctor is what I just finished reading and I must admit I do find Una's style of storytelling intriguing to say the least.

Titled The Way Through the Woods, the narrative of this story follows the Doctor, Amy and Rory as they investigate a number of strange disappearances throughout several different time periods. The link between all of these mysterious events is their vicinity to Swallow Woods in a small town called Foxton. For as long as the woods have existed, the residents of Foxton have known to avoid the woodland out of an unexplainable fear. Devising a plan to uncover the secret behind the woods and the disappearances, the Doctor, Amy and Rory each split off to trail the people who are on record to have gone missing in the woods at some point or another. As they each venture deeper into the terrain themselves they soon learn that their is a clear reason those who venture into the woods never seem to return and time is against them as they seek to set things straight before they become the woods latest victims.

The format in which this narrative is told is quite interesting in my opinion. I like that Una utilizes a number of different perspectives throughout the story to help the reader get a more varied perspective on the situation all of these characters are in. It's also a an inspired choice to put the Doctor our of commission for a good proportion of the narrative as it helps the stakes of the plot build up when they are not there to fix everything in an immediate sense. I also enjoyed how McCormack gives each of the TARDIS crew someone to pair up with as they progress through the story, it helps give their contribution to the plot some engaging weight as well as give us more insight into the story's original characters too. The mystery behind the woods itself is captivating too, especially once it's made clear what the link between the disappearances truly turns out to be.

Pacing is an element where I feel the story is let down a slight bit. In order to set up this mystery, McCormack spends a lot of time within the first half of the story having these characters not really do much. I appreciate it's all about exploring these people as individuals and their place in the town but it does drag notably and ends up hindering the pacing of the narrative somewhat. Tone wise I do feel the story does a good job in dealing with the serious nature of human disappearances while also injecting it with the high-energy that 11 and the Ponds tend to bring to their adventures. It's clear McCormack read and understood the assignment when it comes to creating a very typical 11th Doctor adventure.

All in all this was another fun read in my current run through some of the 11th Doctor's written adventures. Una McCormack is a great writer on a lot of accounts and I'm glad to know there are more Doctor Who stories out there she has penned. I do hope to get round to the rest of her contributions at some point. In any case, if you're an 11th Doctor fan, The Way Through the Woods will satisfy you quite easily.