read_n_drink_coffee's review
4.0
This was a great story and the Doctor, Romana and K9 were all great. Loved the introduction of new alien species and how it comes together in the end was ace!
adammichaell's review
5.0
Doctor Who fans are so lucky to have Jonathan Morris! Definitely one to come back to and re-read every few years.
joe_spracklen17's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Where to even start with this book. Well if you're a fan of the 4th Doctor, Romana 2 and K-9, read this book! If you're a fan of most wobbly wobbly timey wimey stories, read this book!
Basically, the Tardis team arrives right at the end of a disaster and finds out they've already been here and saved it. But now they are getting mixed up in the events of the G-lock (the space station it's set on) and are having to go back in time because they know they have already saved it! They end up jumping around in time and meeting people in the wrong order. They're just trying to save the day and its madness.
Now you might be thinking that sounds too confusing, timeline-wise, but don't worry! You never feel lost! I think that's the best thing about this story, it's so well written that you won't feel lost, you'll just enjoy the ride. There are so many moments where a character will mention something or something will happen and then you'll see the same event from another perspective later down the line and it's so satisfying to see it come together.
I also think the pacing is very swift, there is always something happening and there was never a moment where I felt the story slowed down or wasted time.
The characterization is also very well done and the Doctor and companions feel great and the dialogue is great, you can just hear those actors voices coming off the page. The side characters are also very enjoyable, interesting, and well-written, there are lots of characters to fall in love with and I'm sure you will.
The villains are also very interesting, there are actually two different villains both with intersecting motives which makes it all the more interesting to find out what they both want.
A few points a didn't enjoy too much. There is a character called Hoopy who is basically a space hippy, very 'cool man far out!' kind of vibes. I found his dialogue entertaining at first but got a little old quite quickly. The same with the AI computer character called Eric who is basically comically suicidal and again it got old quite quickly. It was just very Douglas Adams which I wasn't a fan of.
Overall I think this book is amazing and would defiantly recommend it if you're a fan of Doctor Who and you're looking for a 4th Doctor story! There are so many great ideas and the story is presented in such an interesting way. I think you'll be more than entertained.
Basically, the Tardis team arrives right at the end of a disaster and finds out they've already been here and saved it. But now they are getting mixed up in the events of the G-lock (the space station it's set on) and are having to go back in time because they know they have already saved it! They end up jumping around in time and meeting people in the wrong order. They're just trying to save the day and its madness.
Now you might be thinking that sounds too confusing, timeline-wise, but don't worry! You never feel lost! I think that's the best thing about this story, it's so well written that you won't feel lost, you'll just enjoy the ride. There are so many moments where a character will mention something or something will happen and then you'll see the same event from another perspective later down the line and it's so satisfying to see it come together.
I also think the pacing is very swift, there is always something happening and there was never a moment where I felt the story slowed down or wasted time.
The characterization is also very well done and the Doctor and companions feel great and the dialogue is great, you can just hear those actors voices coming off the page. The side characters are also very enjoyable, interesting, and well-written, there are lots of characters to fall in love with and I'm sure you will.
The villains are also very interesting, there are actually two different villains both with intersecting motives which makes it all the more interesting to find out what they both want.
A few points a didn't enjoy too much. There is a character called Hoopy who is basically a space hippy, very 'cool man far out!' kind of vibes. I found his dialogue entertaining at first but got a little old quite quickly. The same with the AI computer character called Eric who is basically comically suicidal and again it got old quite quickly. It was just very Douglas Adams which I wasn't a fan of.
Overall I think this book is amazing and would defiantly recommend it if you're a fan of Doctor Who and you're looking for a 4th Doctor story! There are so many great ideas and the story is presented in such an interesting way. I think you'll be more than entertained.
lairedae's review against another edition
4.0
This book was quite ambitious in the timey-wimey plot-line, but boy did it deliver. Very much enjoyed. Characterisations of Four, Romana II and K-9 felt spot-on. The supporting cast was delightful, and it was fascinating to follow the continuity of quirks and events.
felecia's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderfully woven time travel tale. The characterizations of The Doctor, Romana, and K-9 are spot on. The Mystery of the Cerebus and how The Doctor sacrificed his life to save the G-Lock are compelling and a nice romp!
nwhyte's review
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1523021.html
I have grumbled occasionally about writers (particularly Eric Saward) who thought that they could channel Douglas Adams, and were wrong. But Jonathan Morris's first novel is an excellent tribute to the Douglas Adams era of Doctor Who - set between Shada and The Leisure Hive, but clearly a story that escaped from Season 17 rather than Season 18. I really enjoyed this: the Doctor / Romana relationship is sheer crack, and yet the book survives the potentially gloomifying element of killing off (and then revivifying) various characters as part of a tourism attraction. There is even a spaced-out lizard who talks like Zaphod Beeblebrox. Great lines include:
''Normally, when I arrive somewhere, people point guns at me and throw me in prison. Within about twenty-four and a half minutes of arriving, usually,' said the Doctor.'
and, in a homage to Hunter S. Thompson:
'It was somewhere around the bow star on the edge of the galaxy that the drugs began to take hold.'
Over a few days when I was wrestling with technological problems of my own, this story of convoluted timelines, suicidal computers, mystical intelligent plants and mellow reptiles reassured me somewhat about the benign nature of the universe, and I am grateful to Morris for that.
I have grumbled occasionally about writers (particularly Eric Saward) who thought that they could channel Douglas Adams, and were wrong. But Jonathan Morris's first novel is an excellent tribute to the Douglas Adams era of Doctor Who - set between Shada and The Leisure Hive, but clearly a story that escaped from Season 17 rather than Season 18. I really enjoyed this: the Doctor / Romana relationship is sheer crack, and yet the book survives the potentially gloomifying element of killing off (and then revivifying) various characters as part of a tourism attraction. There is even a spaced-out lizard who talks like Zaphod Beeblebrox. Great lines include:
''Normally, when I arrive somewhere, people point guns at me and throw me in prison. Within about twenty-four and a half minutes of arriving, usually,' said the Doctor.'
and, in a homage to Hunter S. Thompson:
'It was somewhere around the bow star on the edge of the galaxy that the drugs began to take hold.'
Over a few days when I was wrestling with technological problems of my own, this story of convoluted timelines, suicidal computers, mystical intelligent plants and mellow reptiles reassured me somewhat about the benign nature of the universe, and I am grateful to Morris for that.
kateofmind's review
4.0
The plot of this Fourth Doctor/Romana II/K-9 romp is worthy of admiration and applause, as the TARDIS crew arrives on the scene of a disaster only to find that everyone who survived it is overwhelmed with gratitude towards our heroes for saving them, which telegraphs that timey-wimeyness is in the offing. And boy is there! I do love time travel stories that are actually about time travel and don't just treat the past or future as simply a weird kind of location.
BUT...
The author, Jonathan Morris, almost disappeared too far up Douglas Adams' fundament for this one. I was constantly distracted from the quite enjoyable plot and setting (oh, the setting: a 100+ spaceship pile-up in a collapsing hyperspace tunnel, which has been turned into a seriously far-out tourist attraction) by all of the rib-digging allusions to Adams (there's even a character named Hoopy. Oh please), to the point where, while ordinarily I'd be tempted to go back and re-read to admire the plot construction (which involves a lot of back-tracking along the TARDIS crew's personal timelines, Bill and Ted style), I don't wanna, because rolling my eyes is not fun.
Maybe someday.
But this could have been a five-star read. It should have been.
BUT...
The author, Jonathan Morris, almost disappeared too far up Douglas Adams' fundament for this one. I was constantly distracted from the quite enjoyable plot and setting (oh, the setting: a 100+ spaceship pile-up in a collapsing hyperspace tunnel, which has been turned into a seriously far-out tourist attraction) by all of the rib-digging allusions to Adams (there's even a character named Hoopy. Oh please), to the point where, while ordinarily I'd be tempted to go back and re-read to admire the plot construction (which involves a lot of back-tracking along the TARDIS crew's personal timelines, Bill and Ted style), I don't wanna, because rolling my eyes is not fun.
Maybe someday.
But this could have been a five-star read. It should have been.
sshabein's review
5.0
This is a really good one. Some DW novels are a good story, but only so so writing, but thankfully this isn't one of them. Enjoyed reading this to my son.
chloeimogen's review
4.0
Best Doctor Who book I've ever read. Very imaginative and even all the side characters were interesting.
shane's review against another edition
5.0
This was an excellent read. A very entertaining story. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward never let me down anyway and their voices and personalities really do come through in this book. I've said it before but I love the fourth Doctor and always enjoy reading his stories. This has it all really, the best Doctor, (one of)the best companions, an engaging storyline, some great supporting characters(hoopy is wonderful), and a lot of light-hearted fun all the way through.
If there's one thing that lets a lot of Doctor Who novels down a little, it's that the ones I've read so far tend to be set in places that involve the Doctor & Co. running through seemingly endless, same-ish corridors. However, I've not read enough Doctor Who books to be able to say that this is a feature/failing of most of them. Time will tell. I'm certainly planning on reading all of the 4th Doctor novels, I just miss Tom Baker so much in his role as the Doctor that it would be wrong of me not to continue with the rest ...and if they're as good as this and Shada I'll be glad I did.
If there's one thing that lets a lot of Doctor Who novels down a little, it's that the ones I've read so far tend to be set in places that involve the Doctor & Co. running through seemingly endless, same-ish corridors. However, I've not read enough Doctor Who books to be able to say that this is a feature/failing of most of them. Time will tell. I'm certainly planning on reading all of the 4th Doctor novels, I just miss Tom Baker so much in his role as the Doctor that it would be wrong of me not to continue with the rest ...and if they're as good as this and Shada I'll be glad I did.