philosopher_kj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
philosopher_kj's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
scampr's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
This story isn't doing anything crazy lore or character wise, but it doesn't need to - it's just a solid adventure that expands the 7th Doctor and Benny's early friendship. The warmongering Chelonians and an infamous space criminal Shelduker are the two main antagonistic forces, and they're fleshed out really well. I liked the humour and dialogue, and there were a lot of cool ideas at play here.
The opening third of the book focused on the mystery and worldbuilding in an engaging way, and the concluding third delivered some great explanations and climaxes to what was set up. The middle third was unfortunately the weakest section, and felt a bit tedious in comparison. I don't think it drags the rest down by much though, so as long as you push on there's a fun story and good moments overall.
My only other complaint would be that I really didn't care for Benny's subplot with a certain group of side characters, which felt a little pointless and convoluted. It was annoying that she got side-lined with that for a bit, while the Doctor and other characters were involved in much more fun and interesting things.
Despite some flaws, this is ultimately a good story though.
The opening third of the book focused on the mystery and worldbuilding in an engaging way, and the concluding third delivered some great explanations and climaxes to what was set up. The middle third was unfortunately the weakest section, and felt a bit tedious in comparison. I don't think it drags the rest down by much though, so as long as you push on there's a fun story and good moments overall.
My only other complaint would be that I really didn't care for Benny's subplot with a certain group of side characters, which felt a little pointless and convoluted. It was annoying that she got side-lined with that for a bit, while the Doctor and other characters were involved in much more fun and interesting things.
Despite some flaws, this is ultimately a good story though.
fullfledgedegg's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
nwhyte's review
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1490630.html
This was Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book (in the Virgin New Adventures series), laying the groundwork for a subsequent career that has most recently produced The Lodger (though we have a couple more Sarah Jane Smith stories by him coming out towards the end of the year). A small plot element - London commuters whisked through a wormhole in space to encounter an alien menace - was re-used in Planet of the Dead, by Gareth Roberts and RTD. Fannish opinion on this one seems a bit polarised; I thought it was OK but not brilliant, with the best bit being the introduction of the alien Chelonians, a race of militant cybernetic tortoises who crop up in other, later Who novels and who were recently name-checked on screen in The Pandorica Opens. I was less impressed by galactic war criminal Sheldukher who I felt varied between dull and nasty. Poor Benny Summerfield has a hard time of it, with her brain being partially rotted by a spiked soft drink. Various other elements jumbled together, not completely successfully, but a fairly satisfactory Big Reveal at the end. The prelude to the book, published in DWM in 1993, is online athttp://www.drwhoguide.com/whona11p.htm
This was Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book (in the Virgin New Adventures series), laying the groundwork for a subsequent career that has most recently produced The Lodger (though we have a couple more Sarah Jane Smith stories by him coming out towards the end of the year). A small plot element - London commuters whisked through a wormhole in space to encounter an alien menace - was re-used in Planet of the Dead, by Gareth Roberts and RTD. Fannish opinion on this one seems a bit polarised; I thought it was OK but not brilliant, with the best bit being the introduction of the alien Chelonians, a race of militant cybernetic tortoises who crop up in other, later Who novels and who were recently name-checked on screen in The Pandorica Opens. I was less impressed by galactic war criminal Sheldukher who I felt varied between dull and nasty. Poor Benny Summerfield has a hard time of it, with her brain being partially rotted by a spiked soft drink. Various other elements jumbled together, not completely successfully, but a fairly satisfactory Big Reveal at the end. The prelude to the book, published in DWM in 1993, is online at
kmccubbin's review
1.0
Having read this and listened to Roberts' Big Finish audiodrama (coincidentally) very recently, it's pretty clear that he is a fan who got an inexplicable opportunity which he, at least initially, blew.
This is a train wreck of a book, a bunch of lifts from better writers that call to mind your irritating friend in 7th grade showing you his gorey stick figure drawings that he made because he'd read an issue of Heavy Metal once.
I'm trying to crawl chronologically through the New Adventures, as I only read a handful when they came out, and there has already been some truly wonderful stuff, but I may be skipping Roberts' work from now on.
This is a train wreck of a book, a bunch of lifts from better writers that call to mind your irritating friend in 7th grade showing you his gorey stick figure drawings that he made because he'd read an issue of Heavy Metal once.
I'm trying to crawl chronologically through the New Adventures, as I only read a handful when they came out, and there has already been some truly wonderful stuff, but I may be skipping Roberts' work from now on.