‘THE LITTLE BOOK OF FATE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Eighth Doctor reunites with Romana(?) and Lazlo
The third and final story in the ‘Warriors’ Gate and Beyond’ Target book of ‘Doctor Who’ is a short story called ‘The Little Book of Fate’ by Stephen Gallagher. Its inclusion is an interesting one, as it’s the only story to not have an audiobook attached to it upon release.
Compared to ‘Warriors’ Gate’, which had its 2019 audiobook release before being printed in the 2023 Target book, and ‘The Kairos Ring’, which was released as an exclusive-to-audio story in 2021 before it was printed in 2023, ‘The Little Book of Fate’ is prose-only. 😐
I’m saddened there’s no audiobook to accompany ‘The Little Book of Fate’ – at least, not yet so far. But then, it was fascinating to uncover this story as I read it, as it features the Eighth Doctor reuniting with Romana at an unusual carnival show in the north of England.
I say ‘fascinating’ because in previous ‘Doctor Who’ stories in the Big Finish audio realm, the Eighth Doctor has met Romana already. At least, in her second incarnation, as played by Lalla Ward, when she was the President of Gallifrey in certain adventures I’ve heard. 🙂
This includes the 2003 webcast/audio version of ‘Shada’ as well as ‘Neverland’ and ‘Zagreus’. Yet, I don’t think Stephen Gallagher acknowledges that in the story’s writing, particularly when the Eighth Doctor and Romana recount how they’ve been since they last saw each other.
The Eighth Doctor tells Romana about Adric’s tragic death in ‘Earthshock’ and Romana recalls her adventure in ‘The Kairos Ring’. Now, this wouldn’t be a big issue if this was Romana II before she became the President of Gallifrey. That would make some sense. 😐
But there’s an issue here. The Romana who appears in this story is described to be wearing a black beret – a hat, if you don’t know what a ‘beret’ is. Implying that this is the third incarnation of Romana, as portrayed by Juliet Landau, who I’ve come across before.
That was in the Big Finish audio story ‘Luna Romana’. Romana III’s wearing a black beret began in the ‘Gallifrey’ audio episode ‘Renaissance’, I believe. But I wonder how many people reading ‘The Little Book of Fate’ would know that with regard to Romana’s timeline.
Probably not, now I think about it. For the sake of argument, I’m going to say that this is the third Romana that the Eighth Doctor is meeting in ‘The Little Book of Fate’. It might be confusing how she ended up back with Lazlo fighting with the Tharils, but there you go. 😐
I suppose at some point that Romana III returned to help Lazlo and the Tharils when the Eighth Doctor encounters them at this carnival fair in the north of England. But then again, there’s not enough time to establish that, even in a short story like ‘The Little Book of Fate’.
Apparently, it’s established that K-9 is running Romana’s beacon surveillance from a student’s gaming console in 2029. I’m not sure if this is K-9 Mark II running the beacon surveillance, but I’m assuming it is, as K-9 Mark II stayed behind with Romana in E-Space.
This makes things even more confusing since if this is Romana III and not Romana II, why would she still be stuck in E-Space? Unless Romana III found some way to get back into E-Space to resume helping Lazlo and the Tharils. Again, it’s not properly explained in this.
You’d also have to consider what happened to K-9 Mark II for him to be in that situation with running a beacon surveillance from a student’s gaming console in 2029. I’m taking the ‘Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions’ stories into account whilst thinking about this.
In fact, didn’t K-9 Mark II stay behind with Ace in ‘Quantum of Axos’? Does Ace have two K-9s, including Marks II and IV, as she was supposedly given Mark IV as a gift by Sarah Jane in ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’. I don’t know. It’s very baffling, as you’re left to speculate. 😐
As for the story itself, it’s alright. Nothing special, except for the Eighth Doctor helping Romana and Lazlo in saving refugees from a ‘forever war spreading through all time and space’. Lazlo also seems part of a carnival act in the north of England, which isn’t explored much.
The Eighth Doctor is offered the chance to help a bit more by Romana, but he politely declines. I wonder if this shouldn’t be the start of a series of short stories featuring the Eighth Doctor and Romana III or whether ‘The Little Book of Fate’ should have been a longer story.
‘The Little Book of Fate’ is a decent story to close off the ‘Warriors’ Gate and Beyond’ anthology. I can’t say it’s that inspiring and whilst it’s interesting for the Eighth Doctor to reunite and interact with possibly the third incarnation of Romana, it isn’t explored much.
‘The Little Book of Fate’ rating – 5/10
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