The Garden of Statues by Justin Richards

I love the book order forms the kids bring home from school. I always find either a great deal or a book I have’t heard of yet. With the last one, I discovered Doctor Who Time Lord Fairy Tales by Justin Richards, with illustrations by David Wardle, and you better believe I bought it.

JRichards-Time Lord Fairy TalesWe are all stories, in the end . . .

A stunning illustrated collection of fifteen dark fairy tales of ancient wonder and mystery, passed down through generations of Time Lords.

Dark and beautiful, these stories are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs, mysterious myths and legends of all kinds, from across all of time and space. These twisted tales are an enchanting read for Doctor Who fans of all ages.

Since we’re planning to read these new fairy tales to the boys as part of our bedtime routine, Jesse and I decided to take turns reading them one story each night. With fifteen stories, I believe the next few nights are going to end with some fascinating tales.

Tonight’s story was The Garden of Statues, and it totally had me thinking about Amy and Rory. That it could have easily been them we were hearing a fairy tale about. I don’t want to give anything away, especially since the story is only twelve pages long (you’ll figure out what’s going on quick enough), but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I thought it stayed true to the Whovian universe and gave us a new story featuring a villain we’ve seen throughout the series.

JRichards-Time Lord Fairy Tales.Garden of StatuesHowever, Jesse wasn’t quite as impressed. To him The Garden of Statues read more like a rehashed Doctor Who episode rather than anything new; that they took a previously televised plot and twisted it a different way. While I could disagree with that, I get why he would think that. Considering the monster this fairy tale was about, most of the plots are all going to be the same. Especially since we are only talking about twelve pages. It’s not like Richards could add a subplot or a dual storyline. The Garden of Statues was quite linear as far as the story is concerned come to think about it, which might be considered a deviation. The story is missing one key component from making it wibbley wobbley – the Doctor.

While there’s no question as to what is doing the stalking, the Doctor and his companions are missing and we get to see completely new characters go up against a known evil. This might be another reason why Jesse wasn’t quite satisfied and believes the story to be more episodic than a fairy tale.

That is one thing I would have to say though. For being a book of Time Lord Fairy Tales, The Garden of Statues did not actually read like a fairy tale, which is something I was expecting.  It didn’t end with a moral or a lesson learned, but gave more of an explanation. Maybe that’s the point, I’m not sure, but I have to admit to being slightly disappointed that I didn’t get a little bit of Gallifreyan wisdom. Or maybe I just missed it completely since I was listening to Jesse read it.

As the first story in Richards’ Time Lord Fairy TalesThe Garden of Statues left Jesse (a longtime Whovian) and I (a more recent Whovian in comparison) with different impressions. His expectations for the rest of the stories has sadly been lowered, but I’m still excited and eager to read more. Since our cable company decided to get rid of BBC America, I haven’t seen as much Doctor Who as I once did and I’m loving this chance to go back into that world, and at my own pace. Tomorrow night’s story is Frozen Beauty and Jesse thinks he already knows what it will be about based on the title, thankfully I’m clueless. *grin*

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

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