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| By: | Simon, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Monday 5 August 2002 |
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| Rating: |   4 |
Didn't like this book much, which is a personal disapointment for me because I love the cover, it's one of my favorites. The Doctor was hardly in this story at all, and when he was, he wasn't doing anything. I don't mind a bit of blood and guts, but a story would be nice...
This book is available for trade at www.sf-books.com
Well, if you could get past all the blood and violence you have the makings of a good dr. who story. Note the word good. it's not great...the explanation for the ragman is pretty weak in my opinion and the climax of the story even weaker. seems that the extreme violence was there to cover up the inadequacies of the storyline. jo grant mesmerized by the music is nothing new, she is always getting hypnotized in some form or another. and what's with mike yates? why wasn't he really affected by the ragman until the very end? less violence and more substance and you've got yourself an a+ book.
| By: | Harold Cogle, Irmo, USA |
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| Date: | Tuesday 24 October 2006 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
This was just an excuse to write a horror novel. The Doctor Who characters were not themselves. I consider it a non-Doctor Who book and not an enjoyable read at all.
| By: | Andrew M, Manchester England |
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| Date: | Saturday 19 July 2008 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Let me put my cards on the table my favourite Doctor is the 3rd. I love rock music and horror movies. My favourite part of the world is the south west of England this is like my Dr Who wish list gone wild I saved it to read whilst on holiday down there which might have helped but I love it. Agree that the doctor isnt in it enough this is why I went for 8 and not a home run 10.
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 | Unpleasant and depressing |
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| By: | Nicholas Murphie, Newtown, Australia |
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| Date: | Friday 23 October 2009 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Just because Doctor Who can be any format and any genre, it does not mean it *should* be... and this book is a case in point.
It's deeply unpleasant, violent, depressing and really does not belong in Who, and particularly not with the 3rd Doctor and Jo.
I am not saying it's badly written, but I was just glad to turn the last page.
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Saturday 4 May 2013 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
"Rags" is something like "Doctor Who" had Clive Barker written it. The basic story is that an ancient evil thing that causes people to go on murder rampages for the heck of it has been reawakened because of a nearby car crash between a group of punk rockers and a group of upper-class twits. Feeling the negative vibe between the two classes it decides to torque up the hatred between the two groups with predictable bloody results. Delighted, it then decides to create an apocalyptic class war through a punk-rock hippie caravan in southwest England. The thing resurrects cadavers to use as puppets for its mesmeric tricks, but gets most of its success through exuding a psychic influence that stretches for miles.
Like Mick Lewis's other book I read, "Combat Rock," this novel is deeply unpleasant. Lewis as a writer seems to enjoy his own descriptions of murder just a bit too much for my taste. Lewis's 1978 England is land of nothing but hatred, disaffection, and bitterness. Almost all of his non-DW characters are overly fond of the word "shit." As with most horror novels, explanations of the horrible thing are thin and unconvincing. [Spoiler Alert]. The ending of the novel has the Doctor mostly lecturing the horrible thing just long enough to allow the person you most expect because he is the person you are supposed to expect least to effect a heroic self-sacrifice and re-entomb the horrible thing. [End Spoiler Alert. You may return to your regular activities]. Lewis's characters are mostly realistic in their particular distasteful ways, as is the dialogue. He writes a good sentence and describes action very well. I suppose one's satisfaction with this novel will rest on how much one likes gory horror stories. I do not like such stories in general, so could not work myself into liking this novel all that much.
