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Reviews for Combat Rock

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Innocent Era and Mick Lewis Don't Mix

By:Dawn Livingston, USA
Date:Wednesday 22 January 2003
Rating:   1

I had read Rags, Mick Lewis' other book and though I thought it was too graphic, I though it did have an admirably creepy atmosphere that made checking out his future books seem worthwhile.

I dislike Combat Rock. No, I take that back, I despise Combat Rock. Never have I wanted to burn a Doctor Who book until now.

Is it because Doc 2 is my favorite, because I don't like gore, extreme violence, or think mixing the most unlikely things just because it can be done is a good enough reason? All of the above I guess.

I've heard the era of the 2nd Doctor called the most innocent of the Doctor Who eras. I would agree with that. That being the case, it just doesn't make sense to me to mix Mick Lewis and the 2nd Doctor together. It's like oil and water. The gore, extreme violence, mix in a little sexual content, force the character of Victoria to watch people being killed brutally... Maybe if you disliked the 2nd Doctor, didn't like the innocence of Victoria would you come up with a story like this written by Mick Lewis.

Another aspect of the story was the author's voice coming through too clearly in Victoria. I get the distinct feeling that Mick Lewis strongly dislikes the character, her time period so chooses her voice to speak for him in questioning colonialization. I don't disagree with what he says, but he's so heavy handed that his voice speaking through her seems jarringly wrong.

And the Doctor does nothing much until the end, is cardboard and is portrayed as mostly helpless.

I think that not everyone's way of writing, how they prefer to write fits DW. Mick Lewis is definately one. Especially for the 2nd Doc.

If you don't mind lots of violence, gore, some sexual content, cardboard characters with cardboard motivations, a poorly done Doctor portrayed as helpless, the author speaking strongly through Victoria making it a poor characterization and a muddled story composed of cannibalism, murder and running around the forest trying to keep from being killed horribly, this book may be for you after all. If you like something different than the usual Doc 2 stories, this is definately it.



cannibal ferox or cannibal terrible

By:justin , swansea, wales
Date:Tuesday 17 October 2006
Rating:   7

Well what do we have here, feels like im reading zombie flesh eaters rather than Doctor who very odd. Very readable indeed if you love the banned video nasty most Doctor who fans my feel alienated though.
Not a bad book in all, fast paced and theres always somehting going on but to have Pat troughtons doc in among all the gore, prostitution and needless drug refrences dont fit the era or capture the innocence and in my opinion rather distastful, Mick lewis could have had say the 6th, 7th, or 8th doctors and would have worked better.



Horribly Misjudged

By:Martin Smith, England
Date:Thursday 9 August 2007
Rating:   1

I've seen quite a few reviews of Combat Rock that have praised it for being uncompromisingly raw and a vivid read. Which it is, just not in the positive way that's implied.
It would be a cop out to have a book about jungle warfare and cannibalism neutered of its violence and gore, but Combat Rock widely oversteps the line in regards to what's too much. I'm not adverse to graphic violence, I perhaps even like it, but some of the scenes regarding the cannibalism are stomach churning at best. It really doesn't suit the manner of the 2nd Doctor era, even allowing for more mature stories within it. It doesn't even fit the manner of the more graphic New Adventures.
The story is populated with deeply unpleasant characters, with even the more endearing ones difficult to like much at all. This destroys most of the dramatic tension as I honestly couldn't give a damn what happens to any of them. The Dogs and the Indonian captain are most notably two dimensional and hollow, with Pan being hugely aggravating, as it's clear he was created solely with the notion that he's "edgy" and "raw", whereas he's actually more like the product of an exceptionally immature 14 year old boy trying to be deep.
The places and structure is also clearly an allegory for Indonesia, which makes the bizarre decision that all the native characters will speak in broken, unintelligent, pidgin English even more insulting. Leaving aside the facts that a) they probably wouldn't speak in English and b) that the Tardis crew could understand whatever language they used, it smacks of the author having a laugh at foreigners.
The real scare isn't until the last pages of the book, where Mick Lewis reveals that the book is based in part on his own experiences in Indonesia. It's mind-boggling how someone could get so involved with a culture like this, to the point of marrying into it, only to write such a crap, insulting book about it.



Worst story ever?

By:Simon, Brazil
Date:Friday 25 September 2009
Rating:   1

I was apalled by such a terrible story. I've read hundreds of Doctor Who stories, and this one has to be the worst ever. The gratuitous violence and gore has nothing to do with the Doctor I know, positively making Ian Marter look like a saint. The Doctor shows a completely out-of-character indifference to life, just standing by as people are beheaded and mutilated around him. Come on! This is the Doctor that defeated the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Ice Warriors... And it treats the companions in the same manner: Victoria throws up (because of all the gore and mutilation) more than she screams, and Jamie taking pleasure in fighting alongside the bloadthirsty rebels?

The action revolves around either sadistic mercenary forces, murderous rebels or cannibals that are fighting each other, and the story could very well carry on completely without him or the companions.

I find it hard to believe that there are novels with worse ratings.



Pointless and Violent

By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Friday 18 May 2012
Rating:   2

Mick Lewis has tried to write a Vietnam War novel, Heart of Darkness story, Zombie invasion horror/slasher movie tale set in the Doctor Who universe. I emphasize tried. What comes out is a mish-mash so pointlentlessly violent and gory it defies description. Doctor 2, Jamie, and Victoria land on a jungle world that is so like 1960s Vietnam it seems utterly pointless to have made it an alien world. This society is in the midst of a civil war on a planet that still has tourism. Our heroes get hoodwinked into going to an island of "former" cannibals for some low-grade site seeing, predictably get attacked, split up, and variously assualted. Thus, the reader follows the three characters as they try to find each other and escape. There is a fourth plot involving a crew of nasty, ugly mercenaries who spend most of their time killing for the hell of it and nursing their psychoses. Into this, we get ruthless native freedom fighters, the aforementioned cannibals, several absurdly large and dangerous beasties, all in a journey-to-the-center plot. I say plot, but there really is not much of one. The story goes from one scene of brutality to the next, without respite, and without developing anything. There are so many villains that the big baddy, the Krallik, just feels like one of the crew rather than any sort of ultimate evil. The Doctor spends virtually the entire novel doing nothing but muttering "My giddy aunt." Victoria gets threatened with rape several times. Mick Lewis tries throwing in some "style" by using Tim O'Brien stream of consciousness passages with the mercenaries. I suppose there is material here for those with slasher movies tastes. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth that I am still trying to rinse away.



Couldn't finish it!!!!!!

By:C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand
Date:Saturday 26 July 2014
Rating:   1

Oh my god! What was this book? It wasn't Sci-fi? And it defiantly wasn't Dr Who. My main concern with this book though was that I kept thinking 'this is not the 2nd Doctor that I know and love'. maybe mick Lewis was going for a slasher type thing... But the plot was boring (actually the Saw movies have more plot than this thing).
I tried to finish it, I really did... but when you read a bit and put it down for a few day, then read some more and put it down for a few weeks that kinda says to me "start some other book" and I think this time I will listen to the little voice in my head.



Couldn't finish it!!!!!!

By:C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand
Date:Saturday 26 July 2014
Rating:   1

Oh my god! What was this book? It wasn't Sci-fi? And it defiantly wasn't Dr Who. My main concern with this book though was that I kept thinking 'this is not the 2nd Doctor that I know and love'. maybe mick Lewis was going for a slasher type thing... But the plot was boring (actually the Saw movies have more plot than this thing).
I tried to finish it, I really did... but when you read a bit and put it down for a few day, then read some more and put it down for a few weeks that kinda says to me "start some other book" and I think this time I will listen to the little voice in my head.



Couldn't finish it!!!!!!

By:C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand
Date:Saturday 26 July 2014
Rating:   1

Oh my god! What was this book? It wasn't Sci-fi? And it defiantly wasn't Dr Who. My main concern with this book though was that I kept thinking 'this is not the 2nd Doctor that I know and love'. maybe mick Lewis was going for a slasher type thing... But the plot was boring (actually the Saw movies have more plot than this thing).
I tried to finish it, I really did... but when you read a bit and put it down for a few day, then read some more and put it down for a few weeks that kinda says to me "start some other book" and I think this time I will listen to the little voice in my head.



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