The time prior to my trip to London was pretty busy in terms of getting ahead on work, finishing a book (more on that later), and other work. Among that was some editing for last month's new Black Archive, covering Under the Lake and Before the Flood and penned by Kevin Decker and Ryan Parrey.

I stepped up as secondary editor for this one because, frankly, I love a Twelfth Doctor story. And this one is an old favorite for a lot of little reasons put together. The Archive itself is, once again, a reminder that no two writers will ever write an Archive the same—even on the same or similar stories.

Decker and Parrey take a very scientific, philosophical approach to the bootstrap paradox in their book. (For those who aren't familiar with this story, it hangs by some pretty huge bootstraps.) If you've ever wanted to see the natural of time travel in Doctor Who fully documented, complete with diagrams, crack this one open. It's an extremely dense read, but one that I enjoyed, as someone who tends to analyze stories as storytelling first and foremost. It's always fascinating to see where other people bite into the huge club sandwich of Doctor Who, whether that be philosophy, science, or personal experience.

This is, of course, not all this Archive delves into. Most books in the series take a multifaceted approach, covering several aspects of the story. This one does the same, touching on Arthurian literature as represented in the person(?) of the Fisher King. And there's an entire chapter on disabled representation in this story, as well as in television in general.

If you are keen on denser reads where the authors really go into their expertise, this is one you'll enjoy. You will absolutely learn new things along the way (I always do, whether I'm writing or editing for this series). And while I can't promise you'll fully be able to wrap your head around the ethics and means of time travel after this, you'll absolutely have insight you didn't have before.

The Black Archive #73: Under the Lake/Before the Flood is available now from Obverse Books. As ever, I can't in good faith review something I had a hand in (albeit a very small one). But I can gently nudge you in its direction.