A review by frakalot
Doctor Who: Byzantium! by Keith Topping
1.0
This was a big old NOPE from only a few pages in and it just got worse from there on. I don't have many nice things to say about this one. The period and the general "Doc and friends find trouble in a historic setting" theme would fit perfectly with what we have previously seen of the First Doctor's adventures but that's where the familiarity ends.
The characterisations were immediately off and never felt correct. The characters weren't even consistent within the story itself.
The plot felt like a weak attempt at boundary stretching as it focused largely on Roman era smut. It isn't that any of the sex and gore was historically inaccurate, just that it was an uninteresting subject matter. It didn't fit well as a first Doctor story at all and it didn't make a very engaging reader experience.
I rarely one star but I just didn't bite on this one at all.
The characterisations were immediately off and never felt correct. The characters weren't even consistent within the story itself.
The plot felt like a weak attempt at boundary stretching as it focused largely on Roman era smut. It isn't that any of the sex and gore was historically inaccurate, just that it was an uninteresting subject matter. It didn't fit well as a first Doctor story at all and it didn't make a very engaging reader experience.
I rarely one star but I just didn't bite on this one at all.