By Will Barber – Taylor

We are all stories in the end…
Fifteen tales of ancient wonder and mystery passed down through generations of Time Lords.
Dark, beautiful and twisted, these stories are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs from across all of time and space.

Time Lord Fairy Tales is as fascinating compendium of stories. A mixture of original stories and adaptations of classic children’s stories with a Doctor Who twist, the collection weaves an enchanting tapestry of child friendly stories. The stories, of course, also appeal to adults and the creepy, fantastical atmosphere of some of the stories makes it a great collection to read over Halloween.

The best tales in the collection have a creepy, dreamlike feel to them which not only brings back memories of classic Doctor Who but also of traditional horror films. The first story, The Garden of Statues, sets up with an eerie premise of a group of school children playing in the garden of an old abandoned house only to discover a collection of statues in the garden of the house. The sense of unease that forms the backbone of the story can also be seen in Jak and the Wormhole, though to a lesser degree.

The riff on the traditional fairy tale is seen in most of the stories in the collection; the best examples being Cinderella and the Magic Box, Snow White and The Seven Keys to Doomsday and Andiba and the Four Slitheen. Each story takes a magical childhood classic and subtly injects elements of the Doctor Who universe into it. In all of the occasions it fits perfectly, particularly in Cinderella and the Magic Box in which the 11th Doctor takes on the role of the Fairy Godmother with amusing consequences.

The collection is made even better by the inclusion of David Wardle’s illustrations. Wardle’s stunning artwork fits perfectly with author Justin Richards’ superb stories. Wardle creates dark and haunting images which fit effortlessly into the worlds that Richards creates and so bring the collection up to another level of enjoyability.

Overall, the Time Lord Fairy Tales collection is fascinating series of stories that transport the reader to another dimension filled with Sontarans and Weeping Angels and other strange villains and creatures from the worlds of Doctor Who. Essentially, they are given a new lease of life in the world of the fairy tale. I’d highly recommend that for Halloween you buy a copy to read by a roaring fire while waiting for the next episode of Doctor Who to materialise on your screen.

With thanks to Penguin. You can buy a copy of Time Lord Fairy Tales from Amazon or directly from Penguin.