harryrossgorman's review
4.0
This novel is full of memorable characters and witty dialogue: making the leap from television to page almost seamlessly with the light and unstable statue cliff hanger making as little sense as it did on screen. The additions made in it's adaptation, though for the most part minimal, only add the story and give it a much grander scale than a low budget serial from the 80s. Though Saward's sometimes overly convoluted prose can fall flat in places, this is on the whole an enjoyable and well paced read.
sabregirl's review against another edition
3.0
An okay story, I never saw the serial for this book so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. This reads exactly like a Doctor Who script which is what you don't want in a book. There's supposed to be more, more in depth and insight and such this didn't have it. Probably doesn't help either that Six is my least favorite Doctor. I was hoping this book would give me some insight into his head and like I said previously it did not. Story was okay I guess, predictable though so that sucked too.
gingerreader99's review
3.0
I came away with mixed feelings about this one. There are parts I like and parts I don't that are pretty split down the middle. There's almost simple too many characters and plot lines for the story to handle. Some of the characters are pretty unique like the DJ or Natasha but others like Jobel and Tasambeker are mostly just side pieces that barely hold any weight at all. Honestly I'll give it three stars but part of me thinks it really should have more around 2.5
lokster71's review against another edition
3.0
So, Revelation of the Daleks.
Firstly, a passing chat about the television story. It's one of my favourites and one of the Colin Baker era's best. Even as it becomes obvious that Eric Saward doesn't seem to like The Doctor much and pushes him to the periphery of the story. But overall it is a delightful story, with an odd tone: 'Soylent Green' meets 'The Loved One'. The sort of fusion that only Doctor Who really does.
However, what of the book? Well, it's OK. Saward's novelization of 'Resurrection of the Daleks' was a disappointment and perhaps because of that, I had lower expectations of this book, which helped. There are changes to the televised version, particularly one extra character and a whole Dalek army who I suspect a mid-80s budget couldn't stretch to.
And, sadly, the oddity of some of the characters is lost without the performances. Jobel's sex pest creepiness isn't quite as uncomfortable on the page for example. Nor is Tasambeker quite the same without Jenny Tomasin's strange line readings. You can't help but see scenes from the book through your memories of the television series, which I've watched far too many times.
I do like the ending AFTER the TV story's ending [SPOILER], with its suggestion that the Doctor and Peri don't just go back to the TARDIS in the immediate aftermath of the events and stay for a little while to help the people of Tranquil Repose re-build. I always think the speed the Doctor does a runner after over-throwing a civilization is not an endearing habit.
So, not a bad novelization of a story I like, but not up to the standards of some of the recent Target novelizations of 'New' Doctor Who stories.
Firstly, a passing chat about the television story. It's one of my favourites and one of the Colin Baker era's best. Even as it becomes obvious that Eric Saward doesn't seem to like The Doctor much and pushes him to the periphery of the story. But overall it is a delightful story, with an odd tone: 'Soylent Green' meets 'The Loved One'. The sort of fusion that only Doctor Who really does.
However, what of the book? Well, it's OK. Saward's novelization of 'Resurrection of the Daleks' was a disappointment and perhaps because of that, I had lower expectations of this book, which helped. There are changes to the televised version, particularly one extra character and a whole Dalek army who I suspect a mid-80s budget couldn't stretch to.
And, sadly, the oddity of some of the characters is lost without the performances. Jobel's sex pest creepiness isn't quite as uncomfortable on the page for example. Nor is Tasambeker quite the same without Jenny Tomasin's strange line readings. You can't help but see scenes from the book through your memories of the television series, which I've watched far too many times.
I do like the ending AFTER the TV story's ending [SPOILER], with its suggestion that the Doctor and Peri don't just go back to the TARDIS in the immediate aftermath of the events and stay for a little while to help the people of Tranquil Repose re-build. I always think the speed the Doctor does a runner after over-throwing a civilization is not an endearing habit.
So, not a bad novelization of a story I like, but not up to the standards of some of the recent Target novelizations of 'New' Doctor Who stories.
prompted_ink's review against another edition
3.0
A late novelization of a classic Doctor Who's story that pits the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) against the Daleks. Eventually.
Eric Saward is not my favorite writer for the show, especially after watching one of the DVD documentaries—in the "Trial of a Time Lord" collection—which highlighted Saward's apathy towards Colin Baker's casting. The idea behind Tranquil Repose—a funeral home of sorts—and what lies beneath it tries to act as both a vehicle of dark humor and and a driving force for Daleks. Even in novel form, the world building is much more intriguing than the Doctor's journey with some of the players also trying to infiltrate the complex or even attempting to assassinate the dalek progenitor—Davros.
The ending turns all that into a flop as the conclusion wraps up a bit too quickly—like in the televised serial. I'm not familiar with the Target Novelizations of the 1970s, but I feel like this one should have taken more advantage of the format. Make it larger, give the ending a slow boil instead of an instant meal, etc.
Either way, this is one of Saward's more decent efforts with the 6th Doctor.
Eric Saward is not my favorite writer for the show, especially after watching one of the DVD documentaries—in the "Trial of a Time Lord" collection—which highlighted Saward's apathy towards Colin Baker's casting. The idea behind Tranquil Repose—a funeral home of sorts—and what lies beneath it tries to act as both a vehicle of dark humor and and a driving force for Daleks. Even in novel form, the world building is much more intriguing than the Doctor's journey with some of the players also trying to infiltrate the complex or even attempting to assassinate the dalek progenitor—Davros.
The ending turns all that into a flop as the conclusion wraps up a bit too quickly—like in the televised serial. I'm not familiar with the Target Novelizations of the 1970s, but I feel like this one should have taken more advantage of the format. Make it larger, give the ending a slow boil instead of an instant meal, etc.
Either way, this is one of Saward's more decent efforts with the 6th Doctor.
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3311899.html
Neither of these is Great Literature, but on the other hand this is a better, more coherent story than Resurrection of the Daleks (even if the plot is basically resolved by killing almost all of the other characters) and these are therefore both better novels for it. Saward for once has dialled down his writing style, and cranked up his concentration on character and giving his fictional world a bit more in-universe context, to the point that this is actually a pretty readable book. These are for completists only, but not too embarrassing.
Neither of these is Great Literature, but on the other hand this is a better, more coherent story than Resurrection of the Daleks (even if the plot is basically resolved by killing almost all of the other characters) and these are therefore both better novels for it. Saward for once has dialled down his writing style, and cranked up his concentration on character and giving his fictional world a bit more in-universe context, to the point that this is actually a pretty readable book. These are for completists only, but not too embarrassing.
thecommonswings's review against another edition
3.0
Reading a Target book for the first time in almost thirty years is a weird experience in and of itself, but a new one based on an original series story is even weirder. It’s a strange old book, and Saward is trying very hard to navigate memories of something he wrote over thirty five years ago, the finished product from television and his working notes but he *just* manages it. There’s definitely a sense of a man describing a story he originally wrote, and also a confirmation that Seward was never a particularly great Doctor Who writer. It’s very much him trying to channel Robert Holmes, and especially try and emulate Androzani with the baroque characters and sinister machinations culminating in a slaughter of almost everyone. But I’d rather he try and be Holmes than, say, when he wrote the book for Slipback which is him trying to be Douglas Adams.
The story is probably the best TV adventure for my favourite original series Doctor, and the book definitely capture Baker’s presence but sadly doesn’t quite pick up on the solid work that Big Finish have done to make his take on the Doctor finally as well beloved as it always deserved to be. It’s also a very confused story with multiple Dalek factions, people who seem to not care who the Daleks are and Davros barely even bothering to hide. It’s also never quite the story I think Saward wanted to write, with the allusions to The Loved One and Evelyn Waugh being confused and slightly pointless. But it does the job well enough and I know my childhood self would have loved it. It’s still very strange reading a new book on something I know very well from the television incarnation, an experience the original Target books never really shared. But I feel suitably nostalgic and definitely am feeling the urge to reorder my childhood Targets to bookend the newcomer
The story is probably the best TV adventure for my favourite original series Doctor, and the book definitely capture Baker’s presence but sadly doesn’t quite pick up on the solid work that Big Finish have done to make his take on the Doctor finally as well beloved as it always deserved to be. It’s also a very confused story with multiple Dalek factions, people who seem to not care who the Daleks are and Davros barely even bothering to hide. It’s also never quite the story I think Saward wanted to write, with the allusions to The Loved One and Evelyn Waugh being confused and slightly pointless. But it does the job well enough and I know my childhood self would have loved it. It’s still very strange reading a new book on something I know very well from the television incarnation, an experience the original Target books never really shared. But I feel suitably nostalgic and definitely am feeling the urge to reorder my childhood Targets to bookend the newcomer
meikeidreaming's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I haven't seen the episode that inspired the novelization so I'll only judge the plot as a book. 180 pages are not enough to introduce so many characters and follow them, especially when they are separated in groups of 3 up to 5 people. It's far too many plot lines for such a small book. And I find no point at introducing 20 characters when not even 1/4 of them survive. Don't get me wrong, I am used at people dying when it comes to Doctor who, but some of these characters didn't last more than a chapter so what's the point of learning their names or a small backstory only to unceremoniously murder them 10 pages later? Apart from the appearance of the grey daleks (which didn't serve much to the plot anyway) there were no plot twist. Not anything surprising or shocking.
This book felt as if someone just watched an episode of doctor who and then described it to me. I don't know if this is a problem that concerns all the novelizations but in my opinion this story would make a much better graphic novel. There just isn't enough of a plot or character development to make a book out of it. I'm sure I'll give these books another chance, but if the next one is disappointing too I'll just assume those stories are not meant to be read but only watched on the screen.
This book felt as if someone just watched an episode of doctor who and then described it to me. I don't know if this is a problem that concerns all the novelizations but in my opinion this story would make a much better graphic novel. There just isn't enough of a plot or character development to make a book out of it. I'm sure I'll give these books another chance, but if the next one is disappointing too I'll just assume those stories are not meant to be read but only watched on the screen.
lokster71's review
3.0
So, Revelation of the Daleks.
Firstly, a passing chat about the television story. It's one of my favourites and one of the Colin Baker era's best. Even as it becomes obvious that Eric Saward doesn't seem to like The Doctor much and pushes him to the periphery of the story. But overall it is a delightful story, with an odd tone: 'Soylent Green' meets 'The Loved One'. The sort of fusion that only Doctor Who really does.
However, what of the book? Well, it's OK. Saward's novelization of 'Resurrection of the Daleks' was a disappointment and perhaps because of that, I had lower expectations of this book, which helped. There are changes to the televised version, particularly one extra character and a whole Dalek army who I suspect a mid-80s budget couldn't stretch to.
And, sadly, the oddity of some of the characters is lost without the performances. Jobel's sex pest creepiness isn't quite as uncomfortable on the page for example. Nor is Tasambeker quite the same without Jenny Tomasin's strange line readings. You can't help but see scenes from the book through your memories of the television series, which I've watched far too many times.
I do like the ending AFTER the TV story's ending [SPOILER], with its suggestion that the Doctor and Peri don't just go back to the TARDIS in the immediate aftermath of the events and stay for a little while to help the people of Tranquil Repose re-build. I always think the speed the Doctor does a runner after over-throwing a civilization is not an endearing habit.
So, not a bad novelization of a story I like, but not up to the standards of some of the recent Target novelizations of 'New' Doctor Who stories.
Firstly, a passing chat about the television story. It's one of my favourites and one of the Colin Baker era's best. Even as it becomes obvious that Eric Saward doesn't seem to like The Doctor much and pushes him to the periphery of the story. But overall it is a delightful story, with an odd tone: 'Soylent Green' meets 'The Loved One'. The sort of fusion that only Doctor Who really does.
However, what of the book? Well, it's OK. Saward's novelization of 'Resurrection of the Daleks' was a disappointment and perhaps because of that, I had lower expectations of this book, which helped. There are changes to the televised version, particularly one extra character and a whole Dalek army who I suspect a mid-80s budget couldn't stretch to.
And, sadly, the oddity of some of the characters is lost without the performances. Jobel's sex pest creepiness isn't quite as uncomfortable on the page for example. Nor is Tasambeker quite the same without Jenny Tomasin's strange line readings. You can't help but see scenes from the book through your memories of the television series, which I've watched far too many times.
I do like the ending AFTER the TV story's ending [SPOILER], with its suggestion that the Doctor and Peri don't just go back to the TARDIS in the immediate aftermath of the events and stay for a little while to help the people of Tranquil Repose re-build. I always think the speed the Doctor does a runner after over-throwing a civilization is not an endearing habit.
So, not a bad novelization of a story I like, but not up to the standards of some of the recent Target novelizations of 'New' Doctor Who stories.
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