DWCA Book Club February – Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks

With Twice Upon a Time having re-introduced us to the Doctor’s original incarnation, the DWCA Book Club is celebrating First Doctor Fever with our next text: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks.

Also known as Doctor Who and the Daleks, this novel by David Whitaker was the first Doctor Who novelisation and, indeed, the first Doctor Who novel of any kind. It is based on the Daleks’ debut television appearance, with additional material based on An Unearthly Child – the first ever episode of the programme.

The book has been republished several times since its first edition in 1965, most famously in 1973 by Target Books – with strong sales resulting in Target releasing novelisations for the vast majority of classic series stories. More recently, BBC Books launched a Target-style paperback edition in 2011 and a retro hardback edition in 2016.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on the book, you are invited to come along to our Book Club meeting on Friday 2 February, where discussion will be recorded for the official DWCA Book Club podcast. You can also comment on our Facebook page if you can’t make the event.

SEND US YOUR REVIEWS AND WIN A PRIZE!

Do you consider yourself something of an amateur critic? Send us a written review of the current Book Club text, and your words just may end up published in our club fanzine, Data Extract. What’s more, you will go into the running to win a $5 voucher to spend at the DWCA Shop!

Reviews should be sent to Dom Kelly at fsq@doctorwhoaustralia.org.

DWCA Book Club December – The Shining Man

With Stephen King’s IT currently taking the box office by storm, the DWCA Book Club is getting into the spirit of the spooky season with our next novel: Twelfth Doctor adventure The Shining Man.

The Shining Men are everywhere. You spot them out of the corner of your eye. Abnormally tall, with long lank hair, blank faces and blazing eyes. If they catch you, they’ll drag you away to who knows where. No one is safe. They’re on every street corner. Waiting. Watching. Shining bright.

Of course it’s a hoax. It has to be, right? It started as a joke, a prank for Halloween. Then it went viral. Idiots dressing up as monsters. Giving folk a scare. Silly masks and fright wigs. No one gets hurt. Because bogeymen aren’t real.

Until people start going missing and lights burn in the darkness. Burning like eyes.

But help is on its way, in the form of a strange man called the Doctor and his friend, Bill. The Doctor will keep us safe. The Doctor will stop the monsters. Unless the monsters stop the Doctor first…

If you’d like to share your thoughts on the book, you are invited to come along to our Book Club meeting on Friday 1 December, where discussion will be recorded for the official DWCA Book Club podcast. You can also comment on our Facebook page if you can’t make the event.

SEND US YOUR REVIEWS AND WIN A PRIZE!

Do you consider yourself something of an amateur critic? Send us a written review of the current Book Club text, and your words just may end up published in our club fanzine, Data Extract. What’s more, you will go into the running to win a $5 voucher to spend at the DWCA Shop!

This offer is valid for all Book Club titles from Blake’s 7: Mediasphere onwards, until stated otherwise. Reviews should be sent to Dom Kelly at fsq@doctorwhoaustralia.org.

DWCA Book Club October – Blake’s 7: Mediasphere

The DWCA Book Club is taking a detour away from the Whoniverse for its next meeting, discussing a book set in the world of Doctor Who’s unofficial cousin – cult classic sci-fi series Blake’s 7.

Mediasphere is the eighth in a series of standalone Blake’s 7 novels from Big Finish Productions, written by Australia’s own Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman. The novel focuses on new recruit to the Spaceship Liberator, Dayna, as the crew infiltrate the Mediasphere – a space station which produces propaganda and popular entertainmen for the evil Federation. But who is really controlling the Mediasphere – and scripting a series of deadly encounters for our heroes?

Discussion of the book coincides with the debut of Dayna in the latest Blake’s 7 audio box set from Big Finish, The Spoils of War, with Yasmin Bannerman (Doctor Who: The End of the World) cast in the role in question.

Both Mediasphere and The Spoils of War are available now from the DWCA Online Shop, alongside a whole range of other titles set in the Blake’s 7 universe. Limited copies of Mediasphere will also be available to purchase in person at the club’s upcoming Inner Sydney Tavern, to be held on Friday 1 September. To set aside your copy for collection at the event, contact shop@doctorwhoaustralia.org

Discussion of the book itself will take place at our Book Club meeting on Friday 6 October, as well as on our Facebook page for those who can’t make it.

Book Club #8 – Peter Davison’s Autobiography

Book Number 8 in the DWCA Book Club is Fifth Doctor Peter Davison’s Autobiography. The autobiography is entitled “Is There Life Outside the Box? An Actor Despairs.”

 

In this autobiography from Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison, Peter recounts his life and times – from his early days in amateur dramatics to his more recent stint in West End musicals such as Legally Blonde and Gypsy.

Anyone who has listened to a commentary on a Fifth Doctor DVD can attest to Peter Davison’s sharp yet self-deprecating wit. This book offers a candid retrospective on the actor now best known for being David Tennant’s father-in-law.

Davison’s Autobiography is available for sale from the DWCA club shop, here. We will be discussing this book in our book club discussion on the 4th of August. Alternatively, if you can’t make it, we will also be discussing the book online.

DWCA Book Club #7 – Plague City

The seventh book the DWCA Book Club will be reading is Plague City by Jonathan Morris. The books is to feature the 12th Doctor, Bill and Nardole.

The year is 1645, and Edinburgh is in the grip of the worst plague in its history. Nobody knows who will be the next to succumb – nobody except the Night Doctor, a masked figure that stalks the streets, seeking out those who will not live to see another day.

But death is not the end. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover that the living are being haunted by the recently departed – by ghosts that do not know they are dead. And there are other creatures lurking in the shadows, slithering, creeping creatures filled with an insatiable hunger.

The Doctor and his friends must face the terrifying secret of the Street of Sorrows – that something which has lain dormant for two hundred million years is due to destroy the entire city…

The book is due for release in Australia on the 1st of May.

The book will be discussed at Level 2, City of Sydney RSL, 565 George Street, Sydney (just a short distance from Town Hall Train Station), on the 2nd of June but if you can’t make it, we will also be discussing the book online as well.

DWCA Book Club #6 – Engines of War

The sixth book the DWCA Book Club are reading is the War Doctor’s Novel – Engines of War by George Mann.

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The Great Time War has raged for centuries, ravaging the universe. Scores of human colony planets are now overrun by Dalek occupation forces. A weary, angry Doctor leads a flotilla of Battle TARDISes against the Dalek stronghold but in the midst of the carnage, the Doctor’s TARDIS crashes to a planet below: Moldox.

As the Doctor is trapped in an apocalyptic landscape, Dalek patrols roam amongst the wreckage, rounding up the remaining civilians. But why haven’t the Daleks simply killed the humans?

Searching for answers the Doctor meets ‘Cinder’, a young Dalek hunter. Their struggles to discover the Dalek plan take them from the ruins of Moldox to the halls of Gallifrey, and set in motion a chain of events that will change everything. And everyone.

The book can will be discussed at Level 2, City of Sydney RSL, 565 George Street, Sydney (just a short distance from Town Hall Train Station), on the 7th of April but if you can’t make it, we will also be discussing the book online as well.

DWCA Book Club #5 – Weapons of Past Destruction

The fifth book that the DWCA book club are reading is the graphic novel: Weapons of Past Destruction, by Cavan Scott.

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Travelling with Rose Tyler, the Doctor discovers a cache of weapons left behind after the Time War that destroyed his people. To his horror he finds they are being bought and sold on the black market! Worse, a new and mysterious force are policing time, making use of the power vacuum left by the Time Lords’ disappearance to shape history to their own ends!

The book can will be discussed at Newtown Tavern on the 3rd of February 2017, but if you can’t make it, we will also be discussing the book online as well.

If you would like to purchase the book, drop us a note here and we can get back to you ASAP with pricing and availability.

DWCA Book Club #4 – Shada

Following our special book club event Time and Again, celebrating the work of special guest Robert Smith?, the DWCA Book Club will be visiting that legendary Doctor Who story that was until recently not available in written form – Douglas Adams’ Shada.

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Novelised by Gareth Roberts in 2012, Shada has been written based on the original scripts from Douglas Adams. However, Roberts has also added in new additional material to help ‘fix’ various plot holes and unanswered questions.

The original story focuses on the planet Shada, where the Time Lords have constructed a high security prison to keep some of the universe’s most dangerous criminals.

The club will be reading the book over the next two months, with the final discussion set to take place at our Newtown Tavern night on Friday 4 November. Optional, spoiler-free discussion will take place on Friday 7 October, to cater for those who may not have finished reading the book.

The club is also accepting written reviews of this book and our previous entry, Robert Smith?’s Time Unincorporated Volume 2, the best of which will be published in Data Extract magazine. If you’d like to share your review with us, please send it to fsq@doctorwhoaustralia.org.

Time and Again: A DWCA Book Club Special Event

The text selected for this book club meeting is ‘Time Unincorporated Vol. 2’ – a collection of over 70 essays covering every era of the classic series of Doctor Who – edited by Robert Smith? and Graeme Burk.

We are delighted to announce that Robert will be our special guest for the evening, giving you the opportunity to discuss the book with the man who helped put it together!

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So come along with your friends and enjoy a pleasant evening with good food, great beverages and excellent company!

Date: Friday 9 September

Time: 6:30-10pm

Venue: Level 2, City of Sydney RSL, 565 George Street, Sydney (just a short distance from Town Hall Train Station).

Cost: Entry is free, however tickets must be claimed from the DWCA website prior to the event. This event is open to both DWCA members and non-members.   Click here to claim tickets

Please note: Whilst entry is free, it is requested that food or drink be purchased from the Bistro during the event.


You can also purchase a copy of the book by visiting the DWCA online shop.

DWCA Book Club #2 – In the Blood

After discussing short story collection The Legends of Ashildr at our last meeting, the DWCA Book Club has selected its first full-length novel – In the Blood.

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In the Blood is a newly released book by Jenny T Colgan, one of the four authors of Ashildr. Featuring the popular pairing of the Tenth Doctor and Donna, the text sees the human race driven mad by social media – which is not so far removed from real life if you ask me!

The club will be reading the book over the next two months, with the final discussion set to take place at our Newtown Tavern night on Friday 5 August. Optional, spoiler-free discussion will take place on Friday 1 July, to cater for those who may not have finished reading the book.

The club will also be accepting written reviews of this book and The Legends of Ashildr, the best of which will be published in our magazine, Data Extract. If you’d like to share your review with us, please send it to fsq@doctorwhoaustralia.org.