nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1014841.html#cutid7[return][return]Eye of Heaven, by Jim Mortimore, is a tale of Victorian adventure set in the South Pacific, specifically on and around Rapa Nui/Easter Island. The entire book is told in the first person, but by different narrators, Leela getting I guess about half of the chapters and most of the rest going to the English members of their expedition, though two are told from the Doctor's point of view - not hugely successfully, but I've seen worse. Leela's on-screen encounters with the England of bygone days were a delight, and the clash of cultures is equally fun here. The book's narrative structure, interweaving chapters from different sequences of the narrative, is a successful experiment. There are a couple of wobbly plot concepts - the Doctor's decision to sponsor the expedition, Leela's actual arrival on the island, the bit with the, er, aliens - but the ride is great value. It's a bit surprising that this was the very first Fourth Doctor / Leela novel to be published - the Virgin Missing Adventures never went to this time period - and a bit sad that none of the subsequent five is as good.
chicafrom3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
amygalloway0725's review against another edition
2.0
Great characterization, especially for Leela. Unfortunately, I don't know what was going on with the plot because it's told entirely out of sequence with multiple first person POVs and I just couldn't follow it. Statues, aliens, a whale, who knows? I made it to 95% and never found out. Would have quit at 5% but the Leela stuff was sooooo good it got me through.
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