[Books] The Legends of River Song

Every year I share my Amazon Kindle Wish List for books during my birth month in case friends and family want to add to my reading queue. I get a few good books this way and I'm forever grateful to everyone who takes the time to donate. As much as it's a curated list of books that I like, naturally not all books are te same.

One of the more interesting titles that I had included was Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song, as both the partner and I are major River Song fans and we do wish she'd return to the show. But at the same time we recognize that for the most part her story arc is done and there's no value in pushing things too hard.

But then you have the world of books and their questionable position in canon - all of which open up new possibilities. Sure, the stories here may not be considered to be "official" and can be dismissed out of hand, but at least we get some fun moments with a beloved character anyway. Such is the power of the expanded options provided by fiction.

Synopsis: Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song is an anthology book with different stories told from the perspective of the character River Song. Stories were provided by Jenny T. Colgan, Jacqueline Rayner, Steve Lyons, Guy Adams, and Andrew Lane.

The book consists of five short stories about River song, sometimes involving the Eleventh Doctor some time after their marriage. Each story is told from the perspective of River, generally in the form of her addressing her diary. But of course that makes it feel like she's talking to you as the reader.

Each story is an adventure on its own and they don't rely too much on knowledge of the series so you'll mostly get along just fine by diving into the book because of a love for River Song

What I Liked: It's a rather interesting experience to be inside River's head and despite the different authors involved she felt pretty consistent all throughout. And if that's the result of a strong editor or maybe just a bunch of writers with a similar love for the character, it doesn't matter. The end result is a great collection of adventures that are pretty cohesive in terms of tone and feel.

Plus the different writers were able to indulge in some fun character moments for River, and that's what this book is all about. More than anything, this is a great bit of fan service that is quite the celebration of her character.

Favorite story in the collection is probably, "A Gamble With Time" but only by a little bit. They're all great stories.

What Could Have Been Better: As is the case with any short story collection, not all stories are created equal. Some are paced a little slow. Some are pretty action-packed and some take a while before something happens.

But on the whole, it's a good experience and the only real wish is for longer stories.

TL;DR: Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song is a must-have book for any fan of the character. And while the books are largely light on the Doctor's involvement, it just goes to show that she's perfectly capable of getting into her own mischief. Thus the book gets a fun 5 fantastic locations that River travels to out of a possible 5.