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 | 1st part terrible, 2nd part Glorious! |
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Amazing! Wonderful! Full-blooded English adventure! ...The second part, anyway. Well worth the boring first section!
My advice: skip the first section of this book entirely. It was evidently written by Barry Letts, and it isn't very interesting. Go right the second part, undoubtably written by the great Terrence Dicks. It grabs hold with style and it won't let go!
Once again, Terrence Dicks shows himself to be the master of the Master, and of the printed word. The second part of this book is everything a dear, old-fashioned Doctor Who adventure should be, with a quiet, sleepy English village - quite charming on the surface - and strange, mysterious goings-on below the threshold. The third Doctor is absolutely magnificent once again, taken in new directions by Terrence, who appears to enjoy experimenting with the character.
Terrence expands the Doctor's range of abilities in a way that most other Who authors simply don't do.
For example, when confronted by a slavering, hostile dog, the Doctor subdues him simply by a powerful command of will, playing off the fact that dogs always look up to the strongest alpha in the area. It's a brilliant pschological trick, revealing a very nice dog, who had simply been treated unkindly by its owner.
Also, near the beginning, the Doctor reveals to Joe Grant what it really takes to achieve enlightenment. Wonderful little detail.
The rest of the story simply speeds delightfully by. The Master puts in an appearance, up to his old tricks again, with a new twist. The dear old Brigadier faces the usual frustration and mayhem that follows the Doctor about, and Mike Yates and Sergeant Benton give their best to solve their own particular part of the mystery.
UNIT once more brings out all the heavy artillary, but thankfully, I don't think very many people get hurt.
The ending is a little odd, but appropriate. It is a perfect deux et machina finale, which may seem a little cheap to some. But given that the most powerful characters in the book are Greek gods, literally, I can easily live with it, since deux et machina endings come from the Greek theater tradition. After such a superb story, I really don't care.
The last little bit with the Master is perfectly in character, too. Marvellous.
The first section by Barry Letts is dreadful. An utter washout. Don't even bother reading it. It's the only bad thing about a superb, superb book.
Bad beginnig aside, this certainly deserves a ten out of ten!
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| Cheap, thinly-written, scatterbrained. |
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I found this entire book to be very thin in substance. I object strongly to the character of Galileo. If we are to believe his genuine letters and writings, he is nothing like the character painted here. The arrogance and noxious attitude do not suit him at all.
Also, there a few wonderful ideas that the author simply doesn't follow through with. The part where Galileo looks through his telescope and spots a flying saucer swooping in from the moon is thrilling, and I waited for the scientist to perhaps go rushing from his dark little lab into the night moors and mist, searching for the incredible craft. Maybe he might meet a slavering horror in the black and get kidnapped. Who knows? Anything would be more thrilling than the big NOTHING the author gives us.
After seeing the saucer, Galileo does nothing. Several pages go by. Nothing. Several chapters. Nothing. It's like the "close encounter" never even happened. Absolutely despicable.
I have noticed the irritating capacity of several new "Who" writers who set up great scenes, but never capitalize on them. I got so fed up waiting for the other shoe to drop that I gave up reading this book for several months. When I did come back to it, I began skimming.
Christopher Marlowe nowhere resembles the no doubt serious man who wrote the masterful classic, Doctor Faustus. He is perverted and irritating, and gets up my nose. If you are going to depart from what is known about a historical character, at least do it with some believability and style.
A little dignity. Please.
I avoid Andy Lane's books on principle now. He has a dull, unengaging prose style that lacks richness and fullness. It feels thin and watered down. His action takes forever to happen, and when it does, it often has little or nothing to do with the central idea of the plot. The novel doesn't go anywhere, taking forever to advance.
By the end, I really hadn't seen or discovered anything of signifigance, except for a few pathetic stabs at religion taken by the Doctor and Galileo. Stupid, irritating move on the part of the author.
For a man who often quotes the word of Jesus, ie., "Teach a man to fish,...," the Doctor doesn't strike me as one who ridicules the idea of God. Out of character for Galileo, too, who in real life remained a faithful Catholic to the end, if his letters and corrospendence are to be believed.
A foolish, boring, slow burn of a book. Andy Lane fails to move me as a writer. His lack of a solid, fun plot ruins the pace, and his abuse of the source material makes me shudder. Detestable and excremental. To be avoided.
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| Nothing can get into the TARDIS... |
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Very well written 8th Doctor adventure with a great plot and believable characters.
Shame about the over-complicated ending.
An experimental Who story which, for the most part works. The story loses pace around Episode 3, but the end makes up for it.
Very Good.
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| Doctor Who at its best... |
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Terror of the Autons is brilliant.
Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning give fine performances, the Autons are creepy, and the telephone cable strangling the Doctor is...interesting to say the least.
Worth tracking down if you haven't already seen it.
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| Less challenging than The Sun crossword |
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I picked up this book for £1, which is all it's worth. The most fun to be had with this book is skimming through it looking for mistakes. Rubbish.
After reading Chris Boucher's terrible Last Man Running, my hopes for this book weren't high.
Fortunately I was wrong. The characters of the Doctor and Leela are well catered for, and the story moves along at a steady pace. The ending, however, is one of those blink and you'll miss it ones, and leaves the reader slightly perplexed as to what's just happened. Nevertheless, this is much better than Boucher's previous books
I hated this book. It was dull, the characters were instantly unlikeable, the Doctor was completely out of character, and the story goes nowhere.
The only one who is served well is Leela, who obviously Chris Boucher can write for very well.
Disappointing.
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| Nothing ventured, nothing gained... |
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| What: | Terror Firma (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | the Traveller, Dalek-infested Folkestone |
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| Date: | Saturday 11 February 2006 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
Despite the absence of any kind of reasonable plot, Terror Firma is, in my opinion a success.
The cast are superb, special mention must go to Terry Molloy and Julia Deakin. And the scenes where Davros appears completely insane are actually quite disturbing.
Overall, an entertaining Dalek adventure spoilt slightly by the over-complicated plot.
| What: | The Last (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | the Traveller, Bortresoye |
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| Date: | Saturday 11 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Until the very end, The Last came across as a magnificent triumph from Big Finish. That was, until the reset button was pressed, and everything that the listener had gone through with the characters was rendered obsolete, as if the writer wasn't brave enough to finish the story with the ending it deserved.
Despite the lame ending, The Last makes for excellent listening, and the cast are all on top form.
| What: | The Fearmonger (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | the Traveller, the Mick Thompson Show studio |
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| Date: | Saturday 11 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The Fearmonger is one of the best Big Finish productions. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred give assured performances, the supporting cast are strong, and there are some great cliffhangers. Fantastic.
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| Ghost story with a twist... |
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BASIC PLOT: Nyssa and the Doctor investigate the actions of a supposed poltergeist at a school in the Swiss Alps.
Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and the supporting cast all give great performances, and the story is a strong one. Very good.
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| Tom Baker takes on a cactus... |
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| What: | Meglos (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | the Traveller, Zolfa-Thura |
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| Date: | Saturday 11 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
THE BASIC PLOT: A power-crazy talking cactus named Meglos persuades a gang of Gaztacs to assist him in stealing a powerful artefact from the nearby planet of Tigella, the Dodecahedron.
Is this supposed to be a comedy?
Bar Tom Baker and Lalla Ward's performances, this story is weak. The Gaztacs are irritating, the effects are poor, K-9 is again side-lined from the action and is even kicked at one point... and the villain is a cactus.
Oh, and why do all the Tigellans have the same hair style???
THE BASIC PLOT: The Rani kidnaps the newly regenerated Doctor to help her in her latest crackpot scheme.
Onece you can get over the ludicrously daft plot, if you can call it that, (I mean, the Rani dressing up as Mel and wearing a ginger wig to fool the Doctor) this story is actually quite enjoyable. Sylvester McCoy gives a promising first performance, and the effects and title sequence look fantastic. However, Bonnie Langford is terrible, the Lakertyans can't act, and Kate O' Mara hams it up ridiculously as the Rani.
Cannot be beaten.
| What: | Dalek Survival Guide (Miscellaneous humour / parody) |
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| By: | Soul-Hunter, The TARDIS |
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
GO THIS BOOK WE ALL KNOW THE LOOMING THREAT THAT APPROACHES US ALL...MAINLY THE COINCIDENCE OF THE DALEKS ARRIVAL AND CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
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| The Start of a Great Series |
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| What: | Timewyrm: Genesys (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Lord Animus, England |
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Great Well worth a read!
Slightly over the top with a plot that is thin at best. Generally nothing really happens apart from the usual, beating the enemy with whatever is in reach, a lot of luck and a fall guy close at hand. Should have been a lot better.
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| Worst Doctor Who Novel Ever Published. |
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This is the novel that ruined Doctor Who. It was the most horrid, depressing thing I had ever seen when it was first published in '92. I cannot describe what this did to my young, happy mind. Truly weird and truly unpleasant.
This novel established my firm hatred of Paul Cornell's work. Apparently it was his first novel, and it was partly responsible for my leaving Doctor Who fandom for a time. I came back, thankfully, when it became clear that later writers like Gareth Roberts were beginning to cheer things up again. But it was a long, hard wait.
Revelation is a story obsessed with loss, sadness and death. The first quarter of the book is interesting enough, with the Doctor and Ace arriving in the small English town, and a "what's going on" mystery is established. Then Ace runs through some bushes and finds herself on the moon' surface, and things just sort of fall apart from there, becoming really, really strange, confusing and meaningless, twisted and sad.
All semblence of plot and intrigue simply disappear, to be replaced with oodles and oodles of the Doctor doing strange, mystic stuff that seems to mean nothing. A Church is snatched off Earth and carried to the moon by an alien power, Ace is drawn into what appears to be Hell, and the Doctor becomes a shadowy, haunted figure of hidden, nostalgic torments. Cornell lovingly evokes all sorts of dark adult resentments about childhood, and then explores them in all their disturbing, Freudian glory.
Bullies and bullets. Machine guns and roses. Punky, irritating, tragic and bleak.
For no apparent reason, Ace finds herself back in her hometown of Perivale, going to bars, trying to pick up guys, lounging around with her backward street-girl friends. I do not have the words to describe how much I loathe seeing things like this in Doctor Who.
The Doctor Who series I grew up with took me to fantastic, wonderous places of scientific mystery and adventure. No swearing. No irritating street-talk. No sex (thankfully.) This stupid book changed all that, and I will never forgive Paul Cornell for opening the door to this disgusting trash writing in my favorite series.
I was thirteen when I first read this book, and the punky weirdness of it all depressed me so much that I quit reading around page 80. It was two whole years before I finally plucked up the nerve to finish the dratted thing. Ugh. What a long, useless haul.
Unfortunately, this so-called novel set the tone for much of what was to come for quite some time. In search of light and hope in my fiction, I actually became *gasp* a Star Trek fan for several years. I am so ashamed. All because of this moronic novel. When it became clear that Star Trek was a lost cause, I began to look at Doctor Who again, and recieved a pleasant surprise. Around 1997, cheerful, brilliant Doctor Who stories were beginning to reappear. No more Paul Cornell! Hurray!
Revelation is beyond failure. It is vile and viperish. I hate it with every particle in my being. I lack the imagination to visualize what state of mind is necessary to write this piece of gutter trash. Avoid, avoid, and once again, avoid!
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| Best read I've had in years! |
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| What: | Only Human (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Mike McGovern, Edmonton, Alberta |
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| Date: | Sunday 5 February 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A wonderful page turner! They should all be like this!
Gareth Roberts gets better and better with every book. A splendid round of adventure with the Docter and his friends. It's like reading the old Target series with style.
Roberts has established himself as the new Terrence Dicks of the Doctor Who range. His prose has improved to the point where it is difficult to improve anymore. The Neanderthal situation is handled with dignity and tact, and Das's coping with the modern concept of lying (and the modern world) is charming in an old-fashioned way that has been missing from science fiction for many a year. I love watching primitive people portrayed with intelligence, with believable limitations and personality, and I love watching them cope with the modern environment.
Gareth's enthusiasm for the new Ninth-Doctor series is evident from the get-go. The characters sparkle with life and wit, especially the Doctor himself. After reading this book, I was left charged with energy, feeling that I could do anything.
Wonderous, stunning, and joyful all round. Shows real promise!
