This is a spin off Doctor Who novel featuring the first Doctor William Hartnell and his companions Steven Taylor and Vicky. I enjoyed the historical backdrop of early 17th century Venice, though I thought the history was rather crowded with Galileo, Shakespeare and an anachronistic Marlowe all featuring as prominent characters. Another Time Lord, Irving Braxiatel, is trying to convene an Armageddon Convention, a meeting of alien races designed to seek agreement to outlaw various weapons or methods of warfare, and to use the Doctor to try to mediate. Needless to say all does not go according to plan, and the various betrayals and counter-betrayals by some alien races left me a little confused. Enjoyable stuff overall. ( )

A word of advice: if Irving Braxiatel tries to organize a peace conference, remind him what happened at the last one. The Empire of Glass is a magnificent romp in true Doctor Who style: no single character knows the whole story, and everyone is scattered almost from the word go. Add to this Galileo falling out of his chair in surprise when he sees a spacecraft through his telescope, Shakespeare on a spying mission for King James, and Christopher Marlowe back from the dead, and you have a serious party on your hands. Sixteenth-century Venetian politics vs. Time Lord interference: that's a tough call. This is a First Doctor novel with Steven and Vicki, and all three are written very well. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/705222.html

This is one of the Virgin Missing Adventures of Doctor Who which is downloadable from the BBC website. Set in Venice and London in 1609, it gives the author a chance to bring together Galileo, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe (not dead after all, it turns out) and the First Doctor, Steven and Vicki. The BBC presentation makes it easy to cut between chapters of the book and the author's notes, which makes reading the book rather like watching a DVD for the first time with the production team's commentary turned on. It's rather good fun, with decent treatment of Steven and several rather satisfying nods to continuity, though I don't think we find out exactly what happens to Cardinal Bellarmine. ( )