NA #7 Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark

Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark

In Brief: Andrew Hunt likes Doctor Who. Andrew Hunt also likes hobbits, unicorns, werewolves and vampires. Andrew Hunt wrote a book mixing all of his likes.

Andrew Hunt never wrote another book for the series.

Andrew Hunt's book can now be purchased used from Amazon for £0.05

There is a reason.



What good can I say about Witchmark? It's got a pretty cover. However otherwise its incredibly poor in almost every conceivable way. I have no idea if the author had written anything before this book (or indeed if he ever wrote anything ever again) but this reeks of being an amateur effort.

Unicorns, centaurs and other beasties are mysteriously appearing in Wales. At the same time the Doctor and Ace are there having a rest while the Tardis repairs itself after the events of Time's Crucible (which wraps up the whole Cat's Cradle thing of the Tardis being damaged). It turns out all of the creatures are coming out of a stone circle that lies in a field. The Doctor and Ace go through and find themselves in the far off land/planet of Tir na n-Óg. Things get sorted, the truth is (lamely) revealed and then they head back home.

While I could expand more on the specifics of the novel I'm tempered by the fact that none of it is in the slightest involving or interesting. The book takes the main problem of Time's Crucible, its bland characters and setting, and ramps it up (down?) to 11. While at least the earlier book had a well defined characterisation of Ace and some good bits set on Ancient Gallifrey here both she and the Doctor seem to have been replaced by pod people. They don't for one moment seem like the normal characters. Compounding this central character void are the clichés in Wales(The American Tourists! The "Boyo" Spewing Welshman! The Pudgy Detective!) mixed with the completely forgettable residents of Tir na n-Óg (and don't get me started on the silly names. Daffyr, Chulainn and Goibhnie indeed.)

Not helping is the fact that there's no narrative thrust or tension; everyone seems to randomly wander around and spew exposition at each other. I *suspect* that this somewhat languid/non-existent pacing may be on purpose to make things seem a bit Lord of the Rings-ish, however it's a technique which is best used if you're either J.R.R. Tolkien or past your first novel. However since even the "exciting" battle-scenes in the book are awful and boring it's far more likely that Andrew Hunt is just a really crap writer.

I think that's probably all I can muster in regards to Witchmark. It's bland, inept, a chore to read and definitely not a book I would recommend to anyone. Easily the worst of the series so far.