| Title | : | Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 67 |
| Publication | : | First published December 18, 2012 |
On a cold day in December, two young boys, tired of sweeping snow from the workhouse yard, decide to build a snowman – and are confronted with a strange and grisly mystery. In horrified fascination, they watch as their snowman begins to bleed...
The search for answers to this impossible event will plunge Harry into the most hazardous – and exhilarating – adventure of his life. He will encounter a hideous troll. He will dine with a mysterious parlour maid. And he will help the Great Detective,
Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke Reviews
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An adventure with the Great Detective!...
No, no that one...
WHO
While this is a short story set in the fictional universe of Doctor Who, none of his regenerations participated in the story, not as a cameo or even mentioned.
The Paternoster Gang:
Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax
WHERE & WHEN
Victorian London (19th Century)
WHAT
The Paternoster Gang is an assembled team of private detectives, appearing for the first time in the TV episode, "A Good Man Goes to War" (Season 6 of the New Series era, with the 11th Doctor) where Vastra, a female Silurian, and Strax, a male Sontaran, both were in debt with The Doctor. After helping The Doctor, they along with Jenny Flint, a female human, decided to work as detectives, occasionally helping to the London Police and Scotland Yard, but also accepting private clients. People refer to Madame Vastra as "the Great Detective" giving a hint that maybe, just maybe she was some kind of inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his novels. Jenny Flint pretends to be a chambermaid for the house of 13 Paternoster Row, and Strax, the butler of the same house, which is the headquaters of the detective team. They have access to heavy weaponry, mostly from Sontaran technology, but they usually prefer swords and other more common tools to avoid to polute the timeline of the Victorian London.
This is a short story where the Paternoster Gang are caring for the safety of an orphan child who is the main witness of a nasty murder involving weird elements.
The premise sounded quite good, and since I have watched recently the first episode of the Season 8 of Doctor Who, "Deep Breath", debuting the 12th Doctor, I thought that it was a wonderful timing to read this short story since the Paternoster Gang played a supportive role in that episode.
The characters: Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax are really wonderful and their interaction between each other and with other character is delicious and priceless. However, sadly, I have to admit that I found the mistery quite simple and that they took too much time to solve simply because they make too many "circles" around the case, not examining well the main crime scene, demanding to visit it several times, also not reacting at once to obvious clues, and doing naive mistakes during their investigative process.
Still, if you want to read a brief tale involving these three great characters, definitely it's a worthy option. -
When two boys find a body inside their snowman, unwittingly uncovering a fiendish plot, they run for their lives. One of them, Harry, has the fortune to encounter Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax, the Paternoster Gang. Can The Great Detective and her cohorts uncover the mystery of how the woman ended up inside the snowman and who killed her?
This short story features three of my favorite Doctor Who supporting cast members, Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, in an adventure in Victorian London. They are well-written and true to their TV counterparts. Strax is just as unintentionally hilarious as he is on television.
The story proves to be much more complicated than originally suspected but the Great Detective is up to the challenge. More than once, I wished the powers that be would devote a Doctor Who special solely to the Paternoster Gang.
The only fault I can find with Devil in the Smoke is that it was very short. I'd gladly fork over some quid for a full length adventure featuring Madame Vastra and company.
Sontar-Ha! Four out of five stars. -
This short e-book is similar to
The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery in that it's a short book which serves as a prequel to an episode and doesn't feature the Doctor himself. This one is a prequel to this year's Christmas Special, The Snowmen, and sees Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax go up against a mysterious smoke monster.
The trio work brilliantly as a little gang and though the plot of this isn't particularly exciting it's an enjoyable read. The highlights are the many brilliant lines from Strax- having a Sontaran in a human world is great fun.
Great fun and it got me even more excited for the Christmas special- can't wait! -
I enjoyed this much more than the Melody Malone e-book. It was great fun to read about the Sontara, the Silurian and the human running around 19th century London solving murders. The book was told from the perspective of one of the boys in a workhouse who discovered a corpse. The only problem with this was it seemed to leave out any possibilities of romance between Vastra and Jenny. When Vastra is proclaiming her love and they are referring to each other as "dearest" and "darling" in their 3 minute preview. It is quite disappointing that there wasn't one mention of this in the entire story. I mean the fact that they are interspecies lesbians is what makes these characters so cool! Richards however, seemed much more interested in writing about Stark, he was often the one with the most to do. It was fun and funny and I enjoyed it and really wish they could have their own show. It'd be lots better than Torchwood!
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When I first saw Vastra and her "maid" Jenny in A Good Man Goes to War I instantly wanted more of their adventures. Who wouldn't want to read or watch more about a Silurian being a detective in Victorian England? Crazy people is who. This was awesome and fun. Smoke monster whose weakness is snow. So Christmasy and Dickensian but with an even more supernatural twist than Dickens ever wrote. I can't wait for the Christmas special in a day and this really got me in the mood. Only downer? That little kid was a little to cloyingly sweet... make him clean up that mess in the Crystal Palace says I. Also Strax is the best anacronism of the Victorian age ever. Sontaran comic relief!
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I’ve been rewatching Doctor Who and read this in search of more stories with the Paternoster Row gang. This was a fun bitesized adventure of theirs! The writer definitely understood their characters personalities, which was important to me, although why did he called Jenny and Vastra “good friends.” Anyway, this was like watching a little episode in my head, fun stuff!
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I've been longing for more of Madam Vastra's adventures, so to have the full Paternoster Row gang of Vastra, Jenny and Strax the Sontaran together is a real treat. This is a quick and enjoyable read that appeals to a wide range of Doctor Who fans but is ultimately aimed at older children. It may be that this is the reason that it lacks some character depth, with the unique nature of Madam Vastra and Jenny's relationship missing from the story and Strax somewhat reduced to a bumbling fool. I think that's a weakness in this book and does a disservice to the characters.
The plot involves a snowman, a murder and an alien mystery which has the potential to be dark but actually comes off as a bit rushed and light. The humour in the story comes almost solely from Strax, a character that I really like within the Who-verse. Unfortunately here he comes across as a parody rather than the Sontaran warrior that he is. The story itself is a prequel plot to the recent Christmas episode but stands alone and I do think it has the potential for a longer and more detailed story for an older audience. As it is this is a fun read and anything that features more of the Paternoster Row trio is a bonus. -
Whohoo! Я наконец добралась до Докторских аудиокнижек, и за это стоит винить Торчвуд, который я, по иронии судьбы, увидела раньше Доктора, и благодарить Элизабет Слейден, которая показала мне, что творится с whoniverse в аудиоформате.
Devil in the Smoke материализовалась в моем плеере ровно тогда, когда нужно – сразу после просмотра рождественской серии Доктора с участием Вастры, Дженни, Стракса и девочки с суфле. Кроме разочарования, серия мало чего добавила к общему впечатлению от эры Одиннадцатого, но увидеть няшную троицу с Paternoster Row было верхом удовольствия. Услышав, что есть книжка про них БЕЗ участия Доктора, я буквально до потолка прыгала, тем паче найти более-менее симпатичных персонажей вокруг 11th становится все сложнее.
Упустила из виду, что докторские книжки – это, по сути, нечто среднее между Сарой Джейн и Торчвудом. Не будет тебе крови, кишок и секса, но и о детских решениях проблем можно забыть. И это чертовски забавно.
Вастра – няша, и попробуй меня переубеди. Меня неимоверно тянет к зеленым ящерицам, ок. Кстати, об интимном тандеме Вастры/Дженни тут нет ни слова, чему я ужасно рада. Моффат так рьяно пытался ввести элемент нестандартности в сериал, что это выглядит глупо и напыщенно. О боже, отношения служанки и ящерицы-детектива в викторианской Англии! Всем упасть и не вставать. Хочется биться об стенку головой, настолько идиотски это звучит.
Сама по себе Дженни не ценна и местами раздражает. Я просто ревную, конечно, но для такой обалденной тетки, как Вастра, можно было бы подобрать подругу покруче, хотя… когда я начинаю думать, что там может происходить за закрытыми дверьми, Дженни уже не кажется самой неподходящей кандидатурой. И почему, скажите мне, я сейчас думаю о том, насколько твердая у ящериц кожа? *_*
Перед Страксом я преклоняюсь. Он болван, солдафон, картошечная башка и тролль, неспособный на пространственное мышление, но я хихикала в голос, какой же он чудный. Вот таких забавных героев, позволяющих расслабиться, мне очень не хватало. Я даже не поленилась и выцепила
основные цитаты с его участием.
Мне все пришлось по вкусу, включая сюжет. Книга является приквелом в рождественской серии, и чуть было не обманула мои ожидания, потому что начинается она с кровоточащего снеговика. Но, как ни странно, тут не будет марширующих снеговичков, а сам по себе снег отчасти поможет героям.
Злодей получился довольно блеклым, but who cares?? Я не ради него слушала книжку.
Честно говоря, я даже лучше стала относиться к нынешней эре. И зря я так на Моффата гоню, раз уж ему удалось создать таких героев, которые доставляют море удовольствия. И! докторским аудиокнижкам крупно повезло, что именно эта стала у меня первой, потому что она сподвигла меня на все остальные =3
Жажду еще книжек про няшную троицу!
annikeh.net -
3.5 Stars. Released as a prequel to the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special "The Snowmen" (a personal favorite), Devil in the Smoke explores the presence and activities of "The Great Intelligence" in Victorian London prior to events that introduced a depressed, embittered Doctor to a governess named Clara, also known as the impossible girl. While the Doctor doesn't feature in this short tale, it is nonetheless one of the stronger Who novellas I've read, thanks in no small part to its focus on the trio of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, three of the more colorful and frankly interesting supporting characters that have been introduced during Matt Smith's run as Eleven.
The tale opens with a positively Dickensian touch -- two young boys, Harry and Jim, sweeping snow from the workhouse yard, steal a few moments in which to build a snowman. But their stolen moment of play is transformed into horror when a dead woman emerges from within the snowman they just built, setting into motion a chain of events that threatens not only their lives but the very existence of the entire world. Clearly it's a case that calls for the considerable investigative powers of the Great Detective.
And so enters Madame Vastra, the green-skinned Silurian from "A Good Man Goes to War" who has made a life for herself in Victorian London, as the veiled and enigmatic Great Detective. I LOVED this aspect of the Christmas special, as since Moffat is showrunner for both Who and Sherlock, it seemed inevitable that at some point the two worlds would cross paths. In introducing Vastra as the "real life" Great Detective of literary legend, Moffat cleverly brings his Holmes-related duties to bear in the Doctor's universe. And I loved that he turns expectations on their head by having Vastra, a female alien,claim the title of Great Detective when going into the concept I would've expected the Doctor to lay claim to that honor -- and relish it.
Richards is one of the better and most consistently reliable novelists to work in the Who universe, and here he delivers a fast-paced, engaging story that not only expands on events of "The Snowmen" but makes a compelling case for more appearances by the trio of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax -- if not their own spin-off show. *wink* Playing with the tropes of both the Who universe and Holmesian fiction, The Devil in the Smoke is engaging novella with a surprisingly literary tone for fiction of this ilk. Marred only by its short length and several typos, Devil in the Smoke is a lightly diverting, worthwhile entry in the ever-expanding world of Who-related fiction. -
This is a short novella featuring Madame Vastra (AKA: The Great Detective), Jenny Flint and Strax (AKA: The Turkish Fellow & The Psychotic Potato Dwarf). Together they fight crime in late Victorian London. The public know them as The Paternoster Gang.
Don't get your hopes up that this will give any insight into the Jenny/Vastra relationship or how Strax came back to life or how Vastra became "The Great Detective". It gives about as much character insight or back-story as an episode of Law and Order.
This is a simple mystery that misdirected me for about half the story, on purpose or not -- I'm not sure. It begins with a Christmas snow, a Snowman, a dead woman found in the snow and a mysterious gentleman in a top hat. One would naturally think that somehow these plot points are references to the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Snowmen"; one would be wrong.
I enjoy the characters of Vastra, Jenny and Strax and Justin Richards has written more Doctor Who than just about anyone, but this was disappointing. Save your money and if you can, check it out from your local library's e-collection. -
A novella that acts as a prequel to the most recent Doctor Who Christmas special 'The Snowmen.' This novel features Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, but is notably missing the Doctor. Set in Victorian England, Madame Vastra is referred to as the Great Detective. Her lizard-like appearance means she wears a veil most of the time.
A couple of young boys build a snowman and discover a dead woman in it. They are chased and one of the boys, Harry, is rescued by Strax, a stocky alien with a mind set on mayhem. Harry is taken to Madame Vastra for help. The mystery is solved, but leads right into where the Christmas special picks up.
I would love a series with these three characters, known as The Paternoster Gang. I'd like more depth, and having them solve crimes in Victorian London would be a lot of fun. This book is a novella, so it gives no more depth to the characters, which is a shame, but it's still a quick, fun read. -
This book is more Doctor Where than Doctor Who. Perhaps the book description should have alerted me as it doesn't actually mention Doctor Who himself but his name in the book title had led me to expect that he would make an appearance at some point.
Aside from the lack of the eponymous hero this was a decent little novella. Strax provided his customary comic relief and it was interesting to see the development of Vastra's Great Detective persona. The story moved along at a decent pace as would be expected in such a relatively short story.
Sadly the production quality of this kindle edition was not up to the standards I would expect from a professional production. There were several glaring typesetting errors (ponders to self whether typesetting is the appropriate term for an e-book)which I suspect even a self-publisher would have been embarassed to have let slip through. -
A great story about Madam Vastra, Strax, and Jenny. I always enjoy seeing these three in Doctor Who episodes and it's great to read a story all their own. A nice Sherlockesque story of mystery and action.
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Solid characters. The personalities of Paternoster Gang really came through. I really liked it. But Vastra said Jenny is her " maidservant and friend"? Really? I'm gonna assume that this took place before their marriage and not that Justin Richards forgot that these two are married.
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A fun quick read. I enjoyed the chance to spend a little time with Madam Vastra and Jenny, even if it was a bit light on substance.
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This was a cute story for fans of the Paternoster Gang (they really do need their own spin off!), but very short.
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My favourite character in the Doctor Who series is, easily, Strax. As a Strax fan, I was constantly giggling at his lines as I listened to the audio version of this story.
Quite short, with only a couple of discs, but it is quite punchy and fun. The story follows Jimmy as he meets Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. Together they must solve a mystery about bloody corpse that appeared in his snowman.
If you're a fan of these characters in the television show--especially Strax--you will love this book in audio format. -
Fun little short story featuring three of Doctor Who's most entertaining featured players: Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. The audio version read by Strax himself (Dan Starkey) is a great listen; pity the story doesn't really live up to the production.
Only recommended for die-hard Whovians, especially since the Doctor doesn't make an appearance. -
This story is certainly an introduction for the connecting Doctor Who episode. In that respect, it serves it's purpose. It is also a fair short story. My problem that I feel short changed. There is so much more that could be done with this. Unless there was a strict limit to the size of the story, it could have definitely represented Vastra and the others better.
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Short and fun
I’m biased here. I can never get enough Paternoster Gang stories, and this was a fun romp. Perhaps more could have been explained about the villain’s motives but again, I’m here for Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax so it’s all good. 🦎🙋🏻♀️🥔 -
When a young woman is found dead inside a snowman, the Paternoster Gang must rush to save a street urchin who may be the only witness to the crime.
A fun story which looks at the Victorian gang which often helped the Doctor in his adventures. -
I loved this book, it's short it's only about 100 page long but it was very tightly written and the author captured Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax perfectly, especially Strax and did have me scoffing and laughing at his antics and his misunderstandings of things not to mention has murderous leanings. My only complaint is that the author never acknowledge the fact that Vastra and Jenny are married and he would use terms like ' friend' and that annoyed me. Of course this could have been a decision that the publishers had taken and no fault of the author at all. Regardless, this was not enough to never re-read this book or any other paternoster gang books he writes.
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It's... yeah. It's OK. It's a pretty decent Paternoster Row Gang adventure, really. Pretty consistent with the same in the television series. Strax's... Sontaran-ness... is probably more than a little overused, but somehow manages to be funny most of the time anyway. Vastra is brilliant, Jenny is excellently capable, adorable, and sarcastic. Etc., etc.
At the same time, though, it's faintly disappointing in some ways. The titular antagonist is remarkably underdeveloped, to the point that I still don't actually have any clue what it was--which wouldn't bother me in a fictional universe given to supernatural phenomena, but I don't think that's consistent with my experience of the Whoverse. There's some vague mention of something that might have been a spaceship crashing? But really, the "Devil in the Smoke" might as well be an actual demon for all the explanation we get.
And remarkably little is done with any of the characters--but then that may be an issue inherited from the source material. The Gang has plenty of interesting backstory, but somehow a lot of it seems to happen offscreen.
For all that, though, it's an entertaining little story. Worth the time, though not spectacular. -
This is a semi tie-in to Doctor Who, but really, this novella has no Doctor or companions. It is solely Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. I do believe it is meant to be a bit of a tie-in to the recent Christmas story, The Snowmen, which also features the aforementioned characters.
It's a short book, and moves somewhat fast paced for its length. There are a handful if typos that maybe snuck in because this was published as an ebook rather than a print book. I get the feeling it was written a little hastily. It is by all means not a terrible book, but just not stellar. Not a lot of character development or backstory on the trio and nothing too in depth on the supplemental characters like Harry and Jim either.
Don't be confused though. Unlike the Christmas story, the enemy here is not the snow even though it is prominently featured and mentioned throughout the story. The only similarities of this story and the Christmas story are the time period in London and the trio of characters trying to solve the mystery and defeat the evil and stop their plots.
I am not gonna say save your money, as the book is decent, and not a total waste, but it is far from an amazing story.
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This book is nearly UNREADABLE. It feels as if the author thought "It's the 1800's. I'm supposed to use big words," then got out his thesauras and changed every 3rd word to the biggest one he could find. It's also written in a weird sort of narration, sort of like Pushing Daisies or something - very self-aware and clever. Only he doesn't pull it off. At all. He takes way longer to say things than is AT ALL necessary.
The plot doesn't add anything to the doctor who christmas special, either. I was hoping for more information about how Jenny and Madame Vastra got together (how did the lizard lady even GET to victorian london?) or where Strax came from. But no. This offers nothing new or interesting. -
Victorian London, its snowing and two boys are futilely sweeping snow from the workhouse yard. They give up and build a snowman, but then it begins to bleed. They flee and one runs into the arms of a strange troll like man who takes him to meet Madame Vastra, the fabled Lizard Woman of Paternoster Row.
But these monsters are the good guys and in fact it is one of the great and good of Victorian society that is bringing death to the streets. As in all great Dr Who adventures there is alien involvement and impending doom for mankind.
A really entertaining spin off from 'The Snowmen' Dr Who episode, featuring the Siluran Madame Vastra who first appeared in 'A Good Man Goes to War' and the Sontaran Strax who is simply hilarious. -
A well-written, well-paced adventure featuring the Paternoster Gang.
All three are very well characterised, with the dialogue true to their personalities. There's a lot of banter. The only aspect of the trio which is lacking is that there is no acknowledgement of the relationship between Vastra and Jenny. Jenny is described as Vastra's 'maid servent and friend', which doesn't really do it justice. Since I didn't expect or want the point to be laboured, it's not missed too badly, but it does seem a bit off.
The villain of the piece seems a touch familiar, being a top-hatted man, but the monster is formed from smoke instead of snow. It is all awfully similar to 'The Snowmen', though.
Fortunately, the book is good enough that these two flaws don't detract too much. -
This was a pretty fun story. More than anything, it's further proof that a Doctor Who spin-off starring the Paternoster Gang needs to have been greenlit ages ago. This is true even though most of the focus is on some new orphan boy, rather than the people on the cover. I might have given this 4 stars but the author seems to have gone out of their way to diminish the relationship between Jenny and Vastra to the point that they are never referred to as more than 'friends' even in chapters where our newcomer isn't the lens we're seeing the story through. It's amazing enough that we're getting a Victorian married lesbian couple from Moffat of all people, you'd think tie-in fiction could manage to not erase that but apparently not.
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3.5 stars
This is a cute detective tale for the Doctor Who fan, particularly the Doctor Who fan who watched the 2012 Christmas Episode, "The Snowman." The point of this story was not to provide greater insight into Madame Vastra's relationship with Jenny or how she became the "Great Detective" nor to discover more about Strax's arrival in Victorian England. It is simply a fun mystery with some currently popular Whovian characters involved. It is also an ominous prelude to the possible power of Snow (again a reference to the Great Intelligence's role in the 2012 Christmas Episode).
A good one-sitting read for me! -
This was fun - true to the characters we've seen before - Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and a good juvenile adventure for poor Harry from the workhouse.
It did make me feel better about my humble writing efforts, though. After all, this was professionally produced by Random House for the BBC, and there were still a few spelling mistakes and continuity errors in it. For instance, was Harry sitting at a polished table, or one with a tablecloth? It's both within a couple of pages.
This didn't detract from the story though, which was very enjoyable.
