Steve Cole (1)

The title Ten Days of Christmas has a double meaning: it contains ten stories of course (though really nine, as there's one story split into two parts), but also they are all stories about "Ten," i.e., they all feature David Tennant's incarnation of the Doctor. This means you have a bit less variety than in any other of BBC Books's Christmas collections; the main choice there is for the writer is which companion the Doctor will be traveling with. (There's two stories with Rose, one with Donna, and one with Martha, though some of the stories where the Doctor is alone feature other returning characters.)

The book also suffers from a lack of variety due to its single author. Now, the previous two Doctor Who Christmas books were also the work of a single author... but it should come as no surprise that Steve Cole is not Dave Rudden. Most of these are generic Doctor Who adventures compressed into thirty pages, with little of the tone, style, or theme to make them into any kind of meaningful Christmas story; usually, Christmas feels tacked on. Or, if not tacked on, forced. There's one set in a toy factory, so sure, that's Christmassy... but then it's not really about Christmas presents in any kind of meaningful way, and it turns out to be what every Doctor Who fan wanted for Christmas, a sequel to The Android Invasion!

Well, maybe not.

There were just two stories that worked for me. The first was "The Eternal Present," which didn't really have anything to do with Christmas, but was a well-told character-focused story about an Englishman before World War II who goes on an expedition into the South American jungle with the Doctor and Rose and ends up discovering something amazing and dangerous. (It is, for some reason, a tie-in to Black Orchid, but you can ignore that.) Good sense of voice and some creepy scenes. The best story in the book is "Saviours," about a human space colony where vampires crash on Christmas day. This is the one story that captures something of what I think of as the Christmas vibe, the feeling of holding back the darkness with our love for one another. It's also creepy and well told, alternating between a child protagonist and a mysterious narrator. If they'd all been this good it would have been an excellent collection but alas.… (meer)

It really bothers me that there is a difference of 142 pages between this edition and the other one. Especially because on my kindle it's not showing up page numbers. This book felt really long but if it was only 242 pages then that wasn't the case.

I wanted to like this more than I did. But I don't know that it's because the book was bad as such. I loved the first lot of Young Bond books. And a lot of what I loved about them isn't present in the second half of the series. Bond is getting older, he's no longer at Eton or England for that matter and none of my favourite characters appeared. The book was a little boring but I think it was mostly that I'm reading for nostalgia of sorts and this is now a completely different series. I never really connected with Hugo or Jagua and I didn't care at all about Hardiman. James' relationship with Hardiman seemed very forced and awkward. I didn't like it.

And although I haven't given up on the series I can't quite bring myself to rate more than 2 stars. It just felt flat.… (meer)

Now this is more what I wanted to see when I first heard the Young Bond series would continue. The first two books have been okay but pretty average, but this one returns to form.

I was excited to see more of Perry Mandeville and was glad that his appearance lasted the entire book. He's hilarious with both his comments, his ideas and the way he manages to get in and out of trouble in a whole different way to Bond.

A familiar face, though now trembling and terrified, popped up into sight from inside the D-8. ‘Get in, then, for m-m-mercy’s sake.’
‘Perry?’ James stood there, mouth open in amazement, until the sharp prang of the Blutbanner’s fast-release catch brought him back to reality. He helped Kitty out of the frame and over to the armoured car, lifting her up and dumping her unceremoniously inside before scrambling in after her. Perry quickly put the car in gear and headed back out. James and Kitty clung to each other like half-drowned mariners washed up on the shore.
‘Where the hell did you spring from, Perry?’ James asked.
‘The same bloody m-m-motorcar you left m-me to rot in! Blade’s burgundy Tatra 77.’ Perry screeched round a corner, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. ‘When you went off to find your Ghost Train, I felt so tired, I had to have a kip. I was too scared to stay in the back, so I crawled into the trunk space, out of sight. When I woke up, the car was moving! It was heading for . . . well, for this dreadful hole, to be precise.’
‘Grünner was rounding up all traces of Blade,’ James explained. ‘And brought you along for the ride.’
Kitty’s laugh bordered on the hysterical. ‘Isn’t that perfect, James? The hell we went through to end up here – and Mandy here gets chauffeur-driven!’

Cole, Steve. Strike Lightning (Young Bond) (pp. 254-255). Ian Fleming Publications. Kindle Edition.

I really liked Kitty Drift. It was fun to see her interest in trains but also her ability to embrace her femininity when it suited her. Plus she's badass with her first dan in judo. And of course I love James. He's had a hard slog since his last adventure at Eton and he's definitely struggled to make peace with the person he's becoming. I liked though that he was making friends again (Marcus) and the return of Perry made this feel more like the first books.

The mystery was interesting and I loved the action sequences. It did start out slow but it soon picked up speed with action and adventure flowing. The train hopping had me feeling very queasy - the whole thing was terrifying. I was on the edge of my seat for that bit. The motivations of the characters was riveting - I loved that they all had multiple motivations and shades of grey. Even Bond struggles with life and death and country and self. At what lengths are we willing to go to protect our way of life? Our loved ones? And what might be worth that sacrifice?

4 stars. Hopefully, the final book in the series is just as good.… (meer)

So I've read the first books in the Young Bond series a few times but this is the first time I've gotten around to reading Steve Cole's additions. Shoot to Kill was not quite what I was expecting. This time Bond travels to the United States and takes on Hollywood.

It's clear the events of the last book have damaged Bond - he struggles to connect with the people around him and it made for awkward reading. And it made me sad. More than that though, it made it hard for me to care about the characters around him - he didn't get to know them - so neither does the reader.

It felt a bit like watching a gangster movie with no sound. There was lots happening but I'm not sure I really cared. It was relatively enjoyable though and edged in at 3 stars on the lower side of the 3. But Cole has clearly laid the groundwork for a more emotionally open Bond now that he's worked through some of the trauma and I'll be interested to see where Steve Cole takes the series.… (meer)