scampr's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
From time to time, Doctor Who indulges in a type of sci-fi horror story that could stand successfully independent of the IP - think Midnight, Blink, etc. This novel is one I would consider amongst that group, but like the others, its existence within the Whoniverse is to no detriment - providing a lot of groundwork for the characters and worldbuilding, as well as a unique flair.
Set primarily within the cave system of an isolated moon that has a dark past, the environment and atmosphere is appropriately claustrophobic and creepy. When populated with the characters of the shady underdog pirates and the cold consortium operatives fighting over mineral rights, it paints a world that fits so perfectly in the 5th Doctor era.
With this as a familiar starting point, the ominous tone begins to build into an engaging mystery until the action and terror erupts.
Fear of the Dark is on the slightly longer and slower side compared to other Doctor Who novels, but uses this intentionally to its advantage in exaggerating the extreme tension and threat of the story.
There is a brilliant understanding of Nyssa, Tegan and the 5th Doctor as characters, as well as their relationships with each other - and they all receive some great exploration and emotional beats throughout the novel. The guest characters serve their purposes but are well written and interesting overall. This grounded and tangible quality to the characters is so important for a story like this to make the horror land in a believable and impactful way.
In a lot of stories darkness can be a cliched source of danger, bringing with it cliched themes and imagery. It is easy to dismiss simple and familiar concepts like this, but when executed properly a primal fear such as darkness can be just as if not more effective than more specific or complex ideas.
This novel plays with a lot of great sci-fi concepts and extrapolates both the grimly serious and inexplicable horrors they can incur.
The story relishes in a mix of supernatural, psychological, physical and visceral forms of horror, which ebb and flow as the plot unfolds, really keeping you on edge and never quite understanding everything. It’s bleak, it’s gory, it’s spooky, it’s tense, it’s introspective and it’s unrelenting.
This overwhelmingly dark tone does mean that Fear of the Dark won’t be to everyone’s tastes, and on top of that I’d also say it’s a novel you have to be in the right mood for. But personally, there really isn’t much I can flaw it on outside of a few nitpicks. A well earned fan favourite it seems.
aims42's review
4.0
Definitely the goriest 'Doctor Who' book I've come across. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but I couldn't put it down for the last half of it. Onto a lighter read next to cleanse my palate
whovian2711's review
4.0
Initially, this novel feels like an authentic Davison-era tv story. Before long, it ventures far beyond this, with strong levels of gore and psychological horror that could only exist in a Doctor Who novel aimed at adults.
It's well written, although the pacing does feel a little slow at points, mostly due to the fact that the slow building of tension and atmosphere inherently don't work as well in prose as in a visual medium (in my opinion).
The psychological horror is the most effective aspect of this book, which is bolstered by a level of gory gruesomeness that manages to avoiding becoming crass or unnecessary.
If you're looking for an adult Doctor Who horror story, this is a solid read.
It's well written, although the pacing does feel a little slow at points, mostly due to the fact that the slow building of tension and atmosphere inherently don't work as well in prose as in a visual medium (in my opinion).
The psychological horror is the most effective aspect of this book, which is bolstered by a level of gory gruesomeness that manages to avoiding becoming crass or unnecessary.
If you're looking for an adult Doctor Who horror story, this is a solid read.
kerenzavivyan's review
4.0
This is a Doctor Who novel and covers the fifth doctor's stay in the TARDIS.
This book was full of action and had a prologue which will grab you and make you almost unable to put the book down. This book is a great book to start with if you are new to the Doctor Who books. The action is captivating and the book is like an episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor also shows his more human self in this book, showing fear can affect the greatest and heroic of people.
My only problem with this book is the development of the monster and although we are warned of this monster and the deaths that it cause throughout the first section of the book, the monster doesn't full feature until the later on in the novel. There are two different monster which feature however, when thinking back to the novel, this just adds more confusion to the novel in the first place.
This doesn't however, spoil the book that much and we gain the sense of mystery as to who might die next. The story line is very well developed and is defiantly written by a true whovian, who know their stuff about Doctor Who and especially the fifth doctor.
This book will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole book. You will feel for the compassion for each character and hope that they might survive in some way. This book will make you scared to turn the light off at night!.
This author has written this novel very well and knows a lot about Doctor Who and is a talented writer in his own right. I hope to see him write some more in the future and maybe not just in Doctor Who.
This book was full of action and had a prologue which will grab you and make you almost unable to put the book down. This book is a great book to start with if you are new to the Doctor Who books. The action is captivating and the book is like an episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor also shows his more human self in this book, showing fear can affect the greatest and heroic of people.
My only problem with this book is the development of the monster and although we are warned of this monster and the deaths that it cause throughout the first section of the book, the monster doesn't full feature until the later on in the novel. There are two different monster which feature however, when thinking back to the novel, this just adds more confusion to the novel in the first place.
This doesn't however, spoil the book that much and we gain the sense of mystery as to who might die next. The story line is very well developed and is defiantly written by a true whovian, who know their stuff about Doctor Who and especially the fifth doctor.
This book will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole book. You will feel for the compassion for each character and hope that they might survive in some way. This book will make you scared to turn the light off at night!.
This author has written this novel very well and knows a lot about Doctor Who and is a talented writer in his own right. I hope to see him write some more in the future and maybe not just in Doctor Who.
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