Review: The Last Dodo

After accidentally offending the Doctor, who dislikes the idea of animals being kept in cages, Martha Jones asks to go back in time to see the dodo before its extinction. However, the TARDIS doesn't materialise in sunny dodo-filled Mauritius in the past - it arrives in a vast futuristic museum in the future, where a dodo is amongst the exhibits. And it's in a cage.

It soom emerges that the time travellers have arrived at the Museum of the Last Ones, where the last survivor of every available species is taken and held in stasis. Of course, the Doctor and Martha just want to help out, but being the last of his own race puts the Time Lord in a very vulnerable position indeed.

The plot is a good one, albeit a little preachy. There are several oh-so-subtle "Humans made this animal extinct!" moments which grate, but the majority of The Last Dodo's moral message is weaved in nicely, and there are enough high-octane action scenes to balance out any over-the-top ethics.

As well as the standard third-person prose used in this line of novels, Rayner also experiments with extracts from the I-Spyder - a guide which Martha uses to identify the specimens in the museum, with nice educational factoids about various animals - and lengthy first-person diary-style contributions narrated by Martha herself. Since the book was written before Martha's first appearance on screen, the author's grasp of her character is impressive, and the handful of out-of-character moments and bits of dialogue can easily be excused. Rayner's Tenth Doctor is also on fine form, from babbling at full speed to gritting his teeth with fury, and his ongoing joke about Christmas presents is particularly amusing.

The closing scenes of the story, after the main plot threads have been neatly resolved, are disarmingly downbeat and touching. Out of the blue, Rayner adds one last tragic twist which unexpectedly flips the tone of the final few chapters, and works very effectively. In fact, the mood and style changes on a regular basis, with moments of mystery, adventure and disaster thrown in to make the novel varied and unpredictable.

This book really feels like it belongs to Martha - by splitting her up from the Doctor for substantial sections of the narrative, she really gets a chance to shine, which is fantastic. The Last Dodo may not be one of the best new series books, but it's strong stuff, and Jacqueline Rayner's finest contribution to the series to date. Fans of Martha Jones in particular are sure to lap this up.