Ah yes, this is indeed another astounding adventure of the wonderful and magnificent Horatio Lyle.

There are so many things about Horatio, as a character, that I love. He writes notes of apology to those he renders unconscious. He carries things that explode in all the pockets of his reversible coat. He fanboys when he meets Michael Faraday. If anyone even thinks about harming the children, he will find a way for all that persons plans to go horribly wrong. And he has such a pervading sense of right and wrong, which comes into play a whole heck of a lot in this installment.

In The Doomsday Machine, Horatio is found, surprisingly, fighting for the Tseiqin, those creatures he’s been fighting against in the past two books. It’s one thing to foil their plans to kill all the human race, but it’s a completely different thing for a select group of humans to want to kill each and every one of the Tseiqin off. Where is the justice in killing them all when you don’t know that every single one is as evil as all of the ones you had previously had brushes of near-death from?

So, Horatio is encouraged to set off on another adventure with his faithful companions (lock-pick extraordinaire Tess, bigwig Thomas, and Tate – the dog), in which he discovers The Machine, the purpose of The Machine, how to finish The Machine, and how to prevent The Machine from completing the purpose it was created for – namely creating a magnetic wave that is so strong that it kills every single Tseiqin instantaneously.

This was, as expected, another brilliant installment from Catherine Webb. Have I ever mentioned how brilliant I think Webb is? Okay, I know I have numerous times, but it deserves to be repeated again. This girl is brilliant. And the Horatio Lyle books… oh, they are fabulous; they are complete page turners, and get you so involved in the stories and in the lives of the characters. Plus they contain such subtle humour that you have to reread certain passages a few times in order to thoroughly appreciate it and start giggling about it.

Horatio Lyle liked back doors. They encouraged the secret part of him that wanted to be a rebel; they made him feel reckless and dangerous. He also liked people who answered back doors more than those who answered the front, since they usually had other things on their mind and couldn’t be bothered to ask him relevant and embarrassing questions such as, ‘Who are you, what is that child doing, is that your dog, are you carrying any explosive substances, do you have any identification, is there any danger associated with talking to you?’ and so on.

Ever since Rachel and I have had numerous conversations about how Horatio Lyle is pretty much Doctor Who, I can’t picture anyone but the wonderfully talented and charming and dashing David Tennant every time I think of Horatio. And for that reason solely, I think every fan of Doctor Who ought to read these books. Well, that fact and the fact that these books are brilliant anyway. And since they are still not available in the USA, you can order them online from numerous Canadian or British websites. And you should. Now.