Unlike, say, Pride and Prejudice or To Kill a Mockingbird, The Stranger is not a title which will instantly stand out as a well known book. So what exactly is it? Well, it’s an obscure piece of erotica from several years back – but it’s not just a piece of obscure erotica from several years back, it’s also a Doctor Who novel in disguise! Now you begin to understand why I read this, even though my previous experience with erotica was extremely negative.

Let me explain the Doctor Who connection. The protagonist of the novel is a women named Claudia Marwood who meets a mysterious stranger who shows up near her house one day and can’t remember anything about himself. When they first meet, he’s wearing an Edwardian gentleman’s outfit and based on his description, he looks just like the Eighth Doctor. Funnily enough, they end up calling him Paul and what was the name of the actor who played the Eighth Doctor? Oh, yes. It was Paul McGann.

If that was all there was to it, this book wouldn’t really be anything more than a homage to the character, but it goes further than that. You see, the official range of Doctor Who novels later went on to explicitly reference Claudia and the events of this novel, retroactively making it an actual part of Doctor Who canon. After all, the novel series has been acknowledged as canonical with the audio adventures, which have been acknowledged as canonical with the television series.

So, I thought that connection was pretty cool. But what did I think of the actual content of the book? Well, to be honest, certain parts of it did make me a little queasy. Anything that involves bodily fluids (and especially the ingestion of bodily fluids) is a little too much for me. Some of the things that happened felt like they must have been written to appeal to really specific fetishes (for example, stuff involving urine…) but maybe I’m wrong. I am not an expert of human sexuality.

But something I did like was that none of the characters really seemed to be held back by gender. There’s a lot of sexual experimentation, with people realising that they’re attracted to the same sex and trying things for the first time. There’s actually quite a large variety in the sexual encounters (two men, two women, a man and a woman, a man and two women, etc.) and I like that. It felt very progressive. Plus, it means the Doctor has canonically had sex with a man – though I prefer to read him as an asexual character (which is pretty much impossible here) it’s nice to know that gender is not an issue for him.

Overall, I did appreciate the positive attitude to sex within this book. There was never any ambiguity when it came to consent and the interactions all felt very healthy to me. I was a bit concerned, however, that nobody ever took the time to use contraception – particularly as many of the characters take multiple partners… I also did start to find it a bit repetitive after a while – every chapter contains at least on sexual experience and, if I’m honest, I don’t really find these interesting to read about at all. Nonetheless, I did enjoy reading the book on the whole and I’d recommend it to any fans of Doctor Who who’re looking to explore the stranger corners of the expanded universe, or fans of erotic novels in general.

Rating: 8.3/10

Buy it here.

If you don’t know the story of Macbeth, you’ve probably still heard of it – at least through reputation. This is, after all, “The Scottish Play” which some actors feel so superstitious about it (due to its dark themes and witchcraft) that they won’t even say its name. For me, this background information alone put me into an eager state of mind going into it.

The story follows a man called Macbeth, an army general who is told by three witches that he will one day become king. So, along with a little bit of encouragement from his wife, he begins to make plans to murder the king so that he can replace him. As you can tell, it’s the kind of plan which is is going to end up with somebody getting hurt. It is a plan for murder, after all.

When reading, it’s easy to see why the play has it’s gruesome reputation. I was quite shocked by some of the things that happened and even though everybody speaks Shakespearean English and feels one step removed from reality, I still felt for these characters and certain moments did pack an emotional punch.

Nonetheless, I did find the character of Macbeth himself a little unbelievable. He just seemed kind of stupid to me – so easily swayed by others. I didn’t feel like he had a real reason to want to murder the king, based on what we had seen. He simply didn’t feel real. I did, however, enjoy Lady Macbeth (her ultimate fate seemed quite strange, almost mysterious) and the three witches themselves, who came across as quite enigmatic.

If you’re interested in reading any Shakespeare plays, then I guess that this is one of those which you should prioritise. It’s one of the better known ones and, generally speaking, a fairly enjoyable read. Though of course, like all Shakespeare, it isn’t very accessible.

Rating: 7.4/10

Buy it here.