BBC Books competitions/update

City of Death
Written by James Goss, based on the story by Douglas Adams
Published in hardback 21st May 2015 [order]

The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris - a city which, like a fine wine, had a bouquet all of its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks - not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.

Soon the Time Lords are embroiled in an audacious alien scheme which encompasses home-made time machines, the theft of the Mona Lisa, the resurrection of the much-feared Jagaroth race, and the beginning (and quite possibly the end) of all life on Earth.

Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni - all twelve of him - if the human race has any chance of survival.

But then, the Doctor's holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.

City of Death is one of the best-loved serials in the show's 50-year history and was watched by over 16 million viewers when first broadcast.

The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who
Written by Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kukula
Published in hardback 4th June 2015 [order]

Doctor Who stories are many things: thrilling adventures, historical dramas, and science fiction tales. But how much of the science is real? And how much is fiction?

Weaving together authoratitive scientific discussion with a series of new adventures by acclaimed Doctor Who writers including Jenny T Colgan, George Mann and Jacqueline Rayner, Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kukula explore the possibilities of time travel, life on other planets, artificial intelligence, parallel universes and more. From the dawn of astronomy and the discovery of gravity to the moon landings and string theory, the authors show how science has inspired Doctor Who, and how, on occasion, life has mirrored art, such as the 1989 discovery of 'ice-canoes' on Triton which were featured in the 1973 episode The Planet of the Daleks.

The first official guide to the science of Doctor Who by acclaimed Doctor Who novelist Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kukula, the Public Astonomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Engines of War
Written by George Mann
Published in paperback 18th June 2015 [order]

"I've had many faces. Many lives. I don't admit to all of them. There's one life I've tried very hard to forget - the Doctor who fought in the Time War."

The Great Time War has raged for centuries, ravaging the universe. Scores of human colony planets are now overrun by Dalek occupation forces. A weary, angry Doctor leads a flotilla of Battle TARDISes against the Dalek stronghold but in the midst of the carnage, the Doctor's TARDIS crashes to a planet below: Moldox.

As the Doctor is trapped in an apocalyptic landscape, Dalek patrols roam amongst the wrackage, rounding up the remaining civilians. But why haven't the Daleks simply killed the humans?

Searching for answers the Doctor meets 'Cinder', a young Dalek hunter. Their struggles to discover the Dalek plan take them from the ruins of Moldox to the halls of Gallifrey, and set in motion a chain of events that will change everything. And everyone.

An epic novel of the Great Time War featuring the War Doctor as played by John Hurt.