Reviews

Doctor Who: The Doctor Trap by Simon Messingham

happysami's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

caitlyn0407's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

teadrinking_bibliophile's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

onlyfictionsworld's review

1.0

Just imagine the Doctor trying to outwit the most clever hunters in the universe. The search for the last Time Lord is exciting.

The Doctor Trap failed to deliver on its promise. Action is in the background. The author failed to explore the Doctor's character and rushed and muddled the plot.

A failed attempt at developing a complex and intriguing case of “mistaken identity with a twist.” Its length prevents it from providing the details needed to solve the mystery. One of the biggest flaws in the whole story is the key element which makes up a “fake” Doctor. Sebastiene brought in this “fake” Doctor to hunt him down as a “dangerous species” on his own planet as part of his plan to hunt the Doctor down.

Sebastiene and the impostor are not serious threats because their plans lack reasoning, and they are egotistical. It was also very frustrating to see Donna; instead of being assertive and compassionate, she was mis-characterized as selfish and whiny.

Throughout the book, Donna is absent from the story. The Doctor and his companion were separate, but Donna was nowhere to be found. The book was too reliant on outside characters and the middle part was boring. Despite her role being reduced to a minor one, Donna’s absence left an unsettled feeling. The book lacked her distinctive perspective and energy. Something was missing.

I'd recommend it solely if you've finished reading every Who book.

rtudes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

mountford14's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

raemelle's review

2.0

Listened to the audiobook. Really hard to follow. Not sure if it was me not paying attention or what. Based on other reviews, however, I’m not alone. Felt like information was missing. Might have been better as an actual episode so we could rely on visual information as well?

nightshade_novels's review

3.0

This story was fairly interesting, especially at the point where you were not sure which was the real Doctor and which was Baris. However I was disappointed by the lack of Donna in this book, considering she is the present companion. For the majority of the story she remains trapped within a hotel and slowly goes mad, which is not at all the Donna we are used to. Although the story did keep you hooked, wondering how the Doctor was possibly going to get out of this mess, it wasn’t so intriguing that I was desperate to finish it.
There were several other characters introduced which are ordered to hunt the Doctor, however I feel like they were a bit sidelined by the plot and you never really got to know them, other than brief impressions. Certainly they were no problem for the Doctor / Baris and acted more as a delaying strategy than an actual danger.
I do like the idea of Planet One; a planet that came be programmed to become anything that you want, a lot of fun could be had on a planet like that. It also opens up the way for more stories to be set there. It would be interesting to know what it was like before Sebastiene took over and what happens to it next after the Doctor left.
This book was good, but nothing special. I am eager to move onto the next one.

bookish_brooklyn's review

5.0

I really enjoyed this. It actually was really suspenseful from the word go; I didn't know how it would turn out; I was reading on the edge of my seat for the 246 pages. And as I read, an episode played out in my mind of the story. Brilliantly written and loyal to Donna and Ten; I could definitely read their lines in their voices.

postmodernblues's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5