Alex Kingston's The Ruby's Curse - Review

Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From the universe of ‘Doctor Who’, archaeologist Professor River Song must hunt down a reality-altering weapon and solve the mystery of ‘The Ruby’s Curse’.

AD 5147. River breaks back into intergalactic high-security prison Stormcage, seeking peace and quiet to finish writing her new novel.

AD 1939. Based in New York, the novel’s heroine and River’s alter ego Melody Malone is hired to track down a priceless Egyptian ruby, purported to hold the secret to the location of Cleopatra’s tomb, only to find herself embroiled in a case of murder.

From a fellow inmate of Stormcage, River hears about a dangerous new weapon and soon finds herself hunting it, travelling back to 30 BCE Egypt and into her own fiction to find the answers and prevent further death and destruction.

River Song is one of my favourite characters in Doctor Who’s 58-year history. Created by Steven Moffat, who also created some of the modern series’ most memorable characters and monsters, as well as having written some of my favourite episodes, River is a mysterious time-traveller with a dark past and knowledge of the Doctor’s future, one of those rare recurring companion-esque characters who possess as much mystery and alien otherness as the Doctor themselves.

Alex Kingston absolutely owned the character and shone in every episode in which she appeared. If anyone can know River as much as Moffat, and even more so than the Doctor, it is Alex Kingston – and here she presents the first full-length River Song novel, with the timey-wimey, futuristic/historical blend of mystery and adventure and all-out bonkers storytelling that ‘Doctor Who’ (and perhaps only ‘Doctor Who’) does so well. Packed with allusions and a seasoning of spoilers and cameos, ‘The Ruby’s Curse’ is a fun, clever and thrilling journey that blurs fiction and reality, taking us from a space prison of the 52nd century to 20th century inter-war old New York, Earth, and further back in time to the mystery and grandeur of Ancient Egypt.

Much like ‘Doctor Who’ itself, the story is accessible to all ages and will prove a delight to fans. There is an edge to River that, much like John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness, gives her a more adult appeal than many other characters may do, with much darkness and moral ambiguity to explore. River could seamlessly carry a more mature series alongside her appearances for a wider audience, as was so successfully done with ‘Torchwood’. But there is already so much River material to enjoy: Alex Kingston also stars in the Big Finish audio series ‘The Diary of River Song’ – much like the novel, set somewhere prior to her final and first appearances on TV, as well as featuring in some other audio adventures led by other characters. For more Melody Malone, we also have the novella ‘The Angel’s Kiss’ – River’s second book.

Due to the nature of River and the Doctor’s convoluted timelines, if you’re ahead, behind or somewhere in between River’s TV episodes, I’d recommend watching them all before diving into this gem – it always pays to avoid those pesky spoilers!

An absolute thrill to read, ‘The Ruby’s Curse’ does not fail to entertain. More please, sweetie!



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