Hey Guys,

welcome to ‘The Shadows of Avalon’ Volume 31 of the book series ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. Quite obviously it has the eighth Doctor in it and his to Companions Compassion and Fitz. The reason I bought this book is that they meet in the adventure the Brigadier. You all know I love the Brig. I doesn’t know much about Compassion which would maybe helped with understanding this book. For people how doesn’t know what is going on I don’t want to spoil it but the story also a story about Compassion. So it is helpful to actually know her.

Compassion – short look at her

Compassion was first seen in the book ‘Interference – Book One’, which is the 25 volume of the ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. All the information given know are just what I read about her. So it could be that there are mistakes in here. She was at some point Laura Tobin. She was one of the survivors of her home planet that was destroyed. Faction Paradox transported her to earth. But the ship need a few years more than human lifespan has. So the passengers were remembered by using biomass in remembrance tanks. It seems that Compassion is the result. Earth signals changed her so much that she started traveling with the Doctor.
When we met Compassion in this book, she waits for the Doctor to arrive. The Doctor send her to live on earth to become more human. So this is where the story starts.

Gateway

Avalon is a dream world dreamt from King Constantine. But something bad is going on in this world. A gateway opens between this world and earth. The military stumbled upon it and the Brig is investigating. The Brig is in a very bad place in this adventure. He lost his life Doris and is searching for death. As much as I hate seen the Brig in such a state, the travel he goes through in this book is kinda amazing. I am just not happy with the end of the book about this problem.
So back to the problem at hand. The humans and Fair Folk are at war and two mysterious people are meddling with the two folks.

A construct of Magic, War and Politics

This whole book is just a big conspiracy. You try to find out what these two ‘people’ are up too. The Doctor is trying to find out what is going on and leaves the Brig. The Brig totally lost in his grief is bringing the military to help the Humans and send all of them into war – into death. I don’t like the whole parts of the war. I am not a fan of war stories. Compassion and Fitz are away from the Doctor and also think that he is dead. So they got involved with the Fair Folk and send on a mission to close the gateway. A big part of the story are politics and religion stuff. And around that construct of War, Politics, Religion they spun a magical world with Dragons and other magic.

Live in the Dark

The book is rather dark. It is war and the Brig is grieving. Compassion and Fitz are grieving the Doctor and feel not secure. So there is really nothing positive going on in this story. There is little hope in the people. The whole story is set in dark palace. There is no laughter or happy moments. When we get a really small moment of happiness than the grief of the Brig is making this moment painful again. So it is light lecture.

The longest I read on a book

I think I read this whole book over a whole year… a year! For my liking it was too much war and politics and the whole atmosphere to depressing. Since I didn’t know much about Compassion and Fitz is also kinda difficult to relate to, when you know so little about him. In the epilogue I actually really gets him. Maybe a little late. The only thing I really found interesting was the journey of my Brig.
So if you like politics and war and Avalon. If you like to read books with a depressing atmosphere than you are here right. Maybe when you know the characters better the story would be better. I don’t know.