The novel “Hunter’s Moon” by Paul Finch was published for the first time in 2011.
The Eleventh Doctor takes Amy Pond and Rory Williams on Leisure Platform 9, where an old friend is the head of the local police. Casino games look similar to those on Earth and Rory is convinced he can win at one of them but ends up losing the Tardis and is kidnapped by a dangerous criminal.
Amy tries to follow Rory sneaking on the starship of the criminal who kidnapped him while the Doctor realizes that his old friend is acting strange and has something in mind. The travelers get involved in a ruthless hunt whose prey get found also on Earth.
“Hunter’s Moon” is part of a series of novels connected to the new “Doctor Who” series. They’re targeted to a wide audience by being linear enough to be appreciated even by very young readers but sophisticated enough to interest more mature readers.
This novel is set in a period of the new “Doctor Who” series in which Rory Williams travels along the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. Generally, Rory is acting with more caution, however in this case is the one who gets in trouble on a platform of entertainment frequented also by criminals.
Rather than the classic adventure “The Leisure Hive”, “Hunter’s Moon” recalls various elements of the Star Wars saga. To save Rory, Amy sneaks into the ship that belongs to Jabba… er, to the criminal who kidnapped him. The Doctor, to save both of them, is forced to pretend to be a hunter interested in a very special prey.
The novel is the story of Harry Mossop, initially in a separate subplot that later converges into the main one. The man is a former cop who is trying to patch up his life and to regain his wife and daughter’s esteem. Investigating on his own, he stumbles into a round of illegal immigration that’s really out of the ordinary that ends up bringing him and his family into space.
The premise of “Hunter’s Moon” didn’t seemed extraordinary to me. The Doctor meets his old friend Kobal Zalu but we don’t know him and this isn’t an issue but the meeting turns out to be more complicated than he expected. I found the reasons behind Zalu’s strange behavior far from unpredictable.
The biggest problem is that I find it hard to recognize Amy and Rory in the characterization given to them in this novel. The impression is that the author made them behave the way he required to develop the story in a certain way. What’s more, Harry Mossop problems seemed trivial and therefore boring.
Despite everything, I think the story is developed in a way that turns out enjoyable. The protagonists are involved in a plot where there’s a lot of action and a lot of tension because some of them become prey to ruthless hunters. In this scenario, the Doctor has the opportunity to shine dwelling in a very dangerous situation having to deal with dangerous criminals. Especially on Gorgoror, the moon used as a hunting ground, the difference between hunter and prey is not always very clear.
The idea of using sentient beings as prey in a hunt is far from original but I think Paul Finch develops it well. The author can make me forget the various concerns regarding the characters I had in the beginning and they end up being the best part of the story.
In the end, I think “Hunter’s Moon” is a novel that has different strengths and weaknesses that made it a rather uneven product. The good thing is that it improves going forward with the story but I understand that the initial part may cool down the enthusiasm of a reader. For these reasons, it seems to me overall an average novel that can be suitable especially for “Doctor Who” fans.
