An Interesting Artifact: Gareth Roberts adapts Douglas Adams in "Shada"

I am vaguely aware that there exists a whole world of in-universe Doctor Who texts and series prior to the reboot that is going on now. When I was a lad at the library, I remember one of the racks of paperbacks always had Doctor Who books, the cover picture looking like some off version of Gene Wilder from his 70’s heyday. That was not why I bought this book

I bought this book because of the name on the cover - not Gareth Roberts, not Doctor Who, but Douglas Adams. I was unaware that he had a record putting together screenplays for the Doctor Who series, but I guess it makes sense that the Hitchhiker's Guide had to come from somewhere.

The problem was that reading it didn’t really feel like a Douglas Adams doing Doctor Who book, but it felt more contemporary. I was about halfway through when I had to look at the front and see that is was much more contemporary - Roberts adapted this book much closer to now than when Adams was tragically struck dead by a treadmill.

So it did feel more contemporary - I read into it the manic edge of Tennant, who is my favorite Doctor of the current crop - and there were some references that struck me as anachronistic for the late 70s. But for the most part this was a fun romp and and enjoyable read; it is just an interesting artifact.