Review: Into the Nowhere... Started off Strong... THEN went Nowhere
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2014
This Doctor Who short story had a very strong beginning but quickly fell apart once Clara and the Doctor went planet side.The characterization of the 11th Doctor and Clara was phenomenal. One of the best I have read. I could clearly see and hear the Doctor and Clara having their unique,  quick and witty back and forth dialogue. I could see the Doctor caress the TARDIS, hear the sound his hand made against the machine, and Clara in the background snickering."Politeness," muttered Clara to herself. "Always important to politely introduce yourself to a *hideous death skeleton*.""Who are you? I'm the Doctor, this is--""Don't tell him my name!" said Clara. "What if it's Death, come to claim us? I don't want him to find me.""Nah," said the Doctor. "Death rides a skeletal horse, too. I'm kidding, I'm kidding."In general, it was so wonderful to see Clara in a book. As far as I know, she's only been in SHROUD OF SORROW (if I am wrong, please correct me. With these new 'time trips' I really might be wrong). I love to unique chemistry the Doctor and Clara have on screen translate so well on to page.There's also an old Who shout-out to K9 through-out the story which made the four year old in made so happy."Where are we? she asked again.At this the Doctor let out a sigh."What is *wrong* with you?" said Clara. "Are you missing that dog thing again? You about that dog thing a lot.""Yes," said the Doctor finally. "But that's not it. He stabbed a long finger at the planet on the screen. "I don't like it," he said crossly."It looks harmless," said Clara.And yeah, don't think I missed the Hitchhiker's reference either, even if it was unintentional. There's also Harry Potter, Paddington (although that might have been an editing error), (and more Old Who *oh God, Tegan*) references in this story too. If you spot a fandom I didn't notice let me know.Like I said, when they landed on the planet, the story just fell apart. The Doctor and the monster-of-the-week kept saying that the Doctor had been there before but never expanded on it. There was a very confusing, ever-changing and thrown together explanation as to why the planet didn't show up on any charts (the Shadow Proclamation hired a guy for security or something, the guy was fired or ran away but they are still paying him? He keeps claiming that it is his 'job' to rule over this world). Either way it was bogus and didn't sit well with me. It needed more working out.A few times the author head hopped which was very startling while reading. Clara would be unconscious, so the POV can't be from her anymore so she switched to the Doctor's. But in the very next sentence. There wasn't any sort of break. Just Clara's POV. Now it's the Doctor's POV.I thought this was interesting. While writing up the quotes I noticed, gee 'said' is used *a lot*. I did a quick search for the word said on my Kindle. The word 'said' was used *189 times* in this short story. Wow. I have to say that while reading, astonishingly, I didn't notice this. But still. Wow.A minor note, this story takes place after the 50th anniversary special. There aren't any huge spoilers for the special but you might be boggled at a line or two if you haven't seen the episode.