The Legends of River Song

Join me in my jump through time and space, will you, Sweetie?

First thing is first. If you know me, then you will know I tend to have a genuine distaste for Professor River Song. I typically find her to be terribly obnoxious. Way too "I'm badass, you and everyone in this universe and the next know it." Really freaking annoying, guys. Occasionally, she grows on me though, more so as of late, but she's still on my "not so fab character list." Same with Missy. I hated her in the beginning, but near the end of Capaldi's era, I started to like her a bit more. For this reason, I had put off picking up this book. But, after some time had passed, I came across this in the library stacks and, for shits and giggles, I decided to pick it up.

I was show more pleasantly surprised. It was kind of funny and made me like River a bit more than I had. The book consisted of five "diary entries," all from different events in River's life. Of which, I believe, two included the Doctor. And one which included a living mannequin of Elvis. But that's a story for you to check out for yourself. As River says, "Spoilers!"

Each of the stories, or diary entries, gave me a new perspective on River's character. Though you'll see with her character on the show, River tends to only care for herself, the Doctor, and her parents, Amy and Rory. In the book, she shows a part of herself we don't normally see. That River is the main heroine. She decides how she will act. She decides whether or not she will intervene in events. We actually get to see some of her adventures, which was fun.

If you're like me and tend to avoid anything Professor River Song (though her diary I would steal in a heartbeat. And the vortex manipulator), you shouldn't skip out on The Legends of River Song.

P.S. There is the occasional spelling error--and no, I'm not talking about the differences between American English and British English, these are legit mistakes (i.e.: closed instead of close) and the occasional missing punctuation mark. But don't worry, they don't interfere with the story, nor do they occur too often. It's just stuff that was missed before publication. show less

I like River Song a lot and here we've got five whip-smart stories dedicated to her. Each of the authors captures River's character and voice very well from the TV series, and, while going for a similar tone, each tells a very different story with its own emotional focus (Jenny T Colgan's "Picnic at Asgard" asks a question about the Doctor and River's relationship that's so obvious once asked that I can't believe the TV series never approached it). Highly recommended for fans of River and the Eleventh Doctor era in general.

A collection of five Doctor Who stories featuring time-traveling archeologist, sometime wife of the Doctor, and general troublemaker, River Song. I really like River and was a little worried that the collection wouldn't do her justice, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. The stories here range from reasonably entertaining to quite delightful, and River's voice and personality come through very, very well. As do the Doctor's, in the stories where he shows up. The plots are all various kinds of ridiculous, but since this is Doctor Who we're talking about, that is, of course, absolutely fine.

Recommended for fans of the good -- well, okay, maybe not entirely good, but always very cool -- Professor Song.

Overall this is a pretty good collection. I think the first story captured River's voice the best; the last couple of stories over-egged it on the parenthetical asides and River's self-assessed greatness.

Minor spoiler for the story "Death in New Venice":

In this story, a ghost stabs someone with what is described as a "crochet needle". Crocheters use *hooks*, not needles, and it would take quite a bit of effort to stab someone with a crochet hook, especially in order to draw blood. The end of the hook would be blunt and it would make a messy proposition. I suspect the author meant a knitting needle instead. I love that in a sci-fi story, THIS is the one thing I can't suspend disbelief over.

Enjoyable romps with River

This is a collection of short stories by different writers. Each captures the essential River so well that you are not conscious of any shift and you can easily picture the inimitable Alex Kingston strutting her stuff through these adventures.

A great antidote to a miserable winter’s day!

There are several different authors writing these short stories, so there is variety, but also a consistent voice for River Song. Her adventures sometimes do and sometimes don't include the Doctor. It may go without saying, but those that don't show you can have a good story without him.

I absolutely loved this. River is my favorite character besides the doctor so of course, I would love this. All of the stories were great but there was definitely some ones that stood out.