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| What: | Just War (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Mike McGovern, Edmonton, Canada |
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| Date: | Thursday 26 January 2006 |
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| Rating: |   1 |
The excellent cover hides a dreadful dull book. I didn't know it was possible to make a Nazi occupation so boring. After the genius of Terrence Dick's Exodus, I'd expect far more out of Lance Parkin.
So far every one of Parkin's novels has disappointed. I couldn't even get halfway through Father Time. The man has a terrible, clunky prose style, with none of the grace of Terrence's. They may both be writing for Doctor Who, but they live in totally differnt worlds. The slow pace and the lack of action really wears a person down.
Parkin's ideas aren't so wonderful either. He doesn't have a single original or brilliant notion in the entire book. His concept of the Nazis having built the largest bomber ever sounds clever, but it isn't executed with any sense of wonder or intrigue in the story. Altogether, a waste of space and time.
I can recognize a bad writer when I see one. So can my grandfather. He loves war novels, but he couldn't read this one. I gave him Terrence Dick's novel Exodus to read, and amazingly, he devoured the entire thing in just one day. Grandpa doesn't like or understand science fiction, but Terrence's style is just plain brilliant. The man is a master storyteller. And although the subject of Just War was the same, ie., Nazis, grandpa couldn't read or understand this one. A shody piece of storytelling, repulsively told.
Pathetic. A total failure.
A gorgeous, fantastic story! I wish it went on forever.
I began reading this book on the bus, and I was immediately living in the cheerful, charming world of the Warner Brothers. The quirky little cartoon figures were solid and real.The tiny, innocent lives of Porky Pig (aka., Streaky Bacon,) Bugs Bunny (briefly) and other familiar cartoon figures were humorous and endlessly fascinating.
The arrival of the Doctor and friends really heated things up. They accidentally expose the cartoon people to moral dilemmas, and there's something truly touching about watching Porky Pig and others learn about violent, tragic death and pain.
I read the novel over the course of a few days. I found myself utterly looking forward to re-entering the marvellous, goofy world of the cartoon and the Doctor. I felt like I'd lost a dear friend when the book was done, been locked out of a place I dearly loved to visit. It was fun and funny, and the philosophy behind it all was magnificent. Steve Lyons is a true genius, capable of conceiving endlessly clever occurences and plot twists, and every one of them was fascinating. Very rare for a writer. His other Doctor Who novel, The Witch Hunters, is equally magnificent, although in a darker way.
Outstanding. Utterly brilliant.
This may be the worst written Doctor Who book ever published. Hands-down winner (loser.) The writing is the stodgiest, dullest style I have ever seen, and the characters repelled me with their lack of life and/or sympathetic qualities.
Most distressing is the Doctor himself. In the past, master writers like Terrence Dicks have shown us the lovable, quirky charm of the Doctor, his thoughts, his feelings, his point(s) of view. The writers of "The Taking of Planet 5" never show the Doctor's thoughts at all, making him seem unpleasant, unsympathetic, and just plain irritating.
In this book, the Doctor's friends see him as this weird guy standing around in the background, saying things that nobody can understand, driven by things no sane person can fathom(ie., scientific curiousity), talking in useless, boring technobabble. I thought Doctor Who was all about the magic and the wonder of science. Guess I was wrong.
This book brings Doctor Who to a new low. I actually had to stop reading several times because the technobabble never seemed to end. Most of the time, I couldn't understand what was going on. The writing style was repulsive and difficult to read.
Most damaging of all, I believe, is the utterly horrid introduction this book gives the reader to the writings of genius science-fiction/horror author H.P. Lovecraft. I cannot think of a worse introduction to the ideas of this incredible man.
Lovecraft wrote the kind of vast, humbling narratives which make Tolkien's worlds look small. His primary literary accomplishment is the creation of colossal realms of darkness, in which awesome, terrible things live; alien entities, gods perhaps, which have left their mark upon the Earth in wild, scientifically remote regions. Vast, deserted cities built by the gods still exist in the world, in places that humans are only starting to investigate.
Hidden beneath the ocean, or deep beneath the ground, the vast powers live on, unleashed occasionally by the unwise probing of man's scientific investigation.
Lovecraft saw mankind as a tiny island in the dark, an accident of evolution, and he maintained that if humans ever found out the truth, we would almost certainly go mad.
This Doctor Who book was my first encounter with the ideas of Lovecraft, and it completely turned me against the man. Since this book is so boring, so badly written, so indescribably dull in every sense of the word, I thought that the source material, ie. Lovecraft's work, must be equally dull. I avoided Lovecraft for many years, all based on this stupid, stupid book. I could not have been more wrong.
Lovecraft's work is the very essence of everything that makes Doctor Who great, and far more. I have never yet seen a Doctor Who story that can threaten with the kind of cosmic vastness of Lovecraft's nightmare visions. Like the Doctor, Lovecraft considered himself a gentleman of science, and his work therefore has a cold scientific dignity, convincing and unforgettably real.
The authors of "Planet 5" completely fail to capture anything whatsoever of the style or the dignity of Lovecraft, leaving us with slim pickings indeed. A few of Lovecraft's monsters make an appearance, although what they are and what they truly represent are never effectively explained. Most of what goes on in the book is boring, or confusing, or both. Usually both.
I will never forgive these authors for being terrible writers, nor will I forgive them for damaging my emerging view of Lovecraft. I have seen a number of stories based on Lovecraft's work, one by Stephen King even, and every one of them has failed to capture the spirit of the man. It seems that the only one who could write like Lovecraft was Lovecraft. His style is unique.
Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham appear to have ripped off a number of Lovecraft's stories for this book, cheapening them in the process. Most notably is his legendary "At The Mountains of Madness," a true classic of science fiction and horror. My learned advice would be to read that book rather then this one.
Save yourself for the horror rather than the boredom.
This 4 part adventure starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred is lots of fun. From the evil witch, (otherwise known as Morgaine) and a evil blue ogre, (otherwise known as the Destroyer). Will the Dr with help from the retired Brigadeer and UNIT be able to stop Morgaine or could things get much more critical? Overall 10/10.
This 4 part adventure starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred is rather spooky. Spooky robot clowns, werewolves and God knows what else. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is sure to send a shiver running down everyone's spine. It also shows a darker side to Sylvester McCoy. I think it should be in everyone's top ten. Overall 10/10.
This 4 part adventure starring Sylvester McCoy & Bonnie Langford is full of Paradise & is extremely relaxing until... Robot cleaners go out of control & the Chief Caretaker turns into a total dork. There are lots of surprises in this story like when a deadly robot cleaner rises from the water when Mel is having a swim. Will the Dr be able to save Paradise Towers and stop the Chief Caretaker? Paradise Towers is not to be missed! Overall 9/10.
This story is really great it stars Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford.A lady called the Rani disguised herself as the Doctor's assistant. It is the 7th Doctor's first story ever made. The monsters are the Rani's assistants... The story is also very funny to. Also in the story at the end the castle blows up were the Rani lives. In the end the Doctor and Mel go back into the TARDIS.
This Three Part adventure starring Sylvester McCoy & Bonnie Langford is a great Rock'n Roll sequel. Delta the last surviver of the Chimeron race is in danger from the evil Gaverok and his Bannermen they want to find her and kill her meanwhile the Doctor and Mel win a holiday to Disneyland in the 1950s the Rock'n Roll year meanwhile Delta is running away from the evil Gaverok and his Bannermen she manages to catch a ride on the bus the Doctor and Mel are going on the Dr Decides to go in the TARDIS the bus is blown off course and they arive at a Holiday Camp but then the Holiday Camp field turns in to a battlefield the Gaverok and his Bannermen are coming. Will the Dr be able to discover the secret of Delta's before it's to late or will things get much worse. Overall 10/10.
This Six part adventure Starring Jon Pertwee should be in everyones top ten Jon Pertwee comes face to face with his evilest enemys the Daleks also featuring the Dalek Supreme Planet of the Daleks is not to be missed overall 10/10.
| What: | Deep Blue (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 18 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
"Deep Blue" might have been a good novel had there been at least one more serious go-round at editing. In particular, if the fan wank stuff were removed and the story told without all the intertextual references, it would have worked quite well. The premise is typical Doctor Who. There is an alien menace out for blood (lots of it) and attacking a small town of no consequence (a beach resort). The problems begin when we start with UNIT in the 1970s, but have Doctor 5 instead of Doctor 3 dealing with the crisis. This sets up a number of needless complications that get in the way of the story, such as the necessity for the Brigadier to forget that he meets Tegan now, so that he can be "introduced" to her in "Mawdryn Undead." Finally, the resolution is just plain silly. (Attention: Spoiler). The idea that people are turning into alien killers simply because of some psychic "virus" just makes little sense, and ranks with the various pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo nonsense explanations handed to us by Dave Martin and Bob Baker. Serious editing could have fixed all these problems and made this a very good novel.
I have to agree, excellent, witty and entertaining, the plot is building and I pray part four can meet up with a grand ending we all hope for.
Better than the Dalek spin off as the screaming of the Daleks soon gets on your nerves, the Cybermen know when to hold back to keep the energy and surprise needed and not overwelm the listener
This one give a strong plot which holds you well, not easy to guess what's going to happen next. The sense of emptyness and ending is dealt with well and the futile hope of trying to end what has already happened gives the story its real strength.
I agree that it is does fall down with Turlough's comments at times and the final show down is a little typical put overall its very good.
If you really think Big Finish is that bad i.e. a score of 1 every month why don't you simply give up and try something less boring instead
| What: | The Mind Robber (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | simon, |
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| Date: | Friday 13 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A sublime piece of sci-fi history,which scrubs up well alongside any 'classic' A story which epitemises creative writing, and production as the script had to be cleverly re-written during it's recording due to unforseen circumstances or chicken pox to give it it's clinical name!
the mind robber is literally out of this world!
...and that catsuit is just...purrrfect!
| What: | The Eight Doctors (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Piers, Lancashire, UK |
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| Date: | Tuesday 10 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Having finished reading all the EDAs from 'The City Of The Dead', I decided to go back to the beginning and catch up on those I missed (especially seeing as the book output is now somewhat diminished...). Well, this book hardly lives up to the standard that the range was maintaining a few years later. This is an overly simplistic tale, although it is quite fun if not taken too seriously. The best part of the book for me was working out which episodes of the show each segment was taken from, and in some parts loose ends are tied up from various stories.
My main gripe with book is the plot. If the Doctor has to go to his past selves to recover his memory, why doesn't he just go back and meet the Seventh Doctor who still retains all the memories of his previous incarnations? Or maybe he could have travelled back 10 minutes to encounter himself before the booby trap went off?! I guess any plot device to bring all the Doctors together is always going to be a bit hokey.
As mentioned in another review, the distribution between the Doctors is very uneven. The First Doctor's appearance is little more than a cameo, and the Seventh Doctor is only here for a chapter. Maybe Dicks left these characters alone as he was the least familiar with them as he wasn't involved with the show during those eras.
This book also serves another purpose: the introduction of the new companion Sam. She is suitably set-up in the earlier chapters, but the final part where she joins the Doctor and the TARDIS feels very forced and doesn't really ring true. Where's the sense of amazement at what the Doctor can offer her? She just acts as though she owns the place within a page and that just grates.
This book is ann enjoyable read, but doesn't really live up to its promise.
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 | 1 of the Best Dr Who Storys Ever!!! |
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Just fatastic the 7th Dr coming face to face with his worst enemys the Daleks & their creator Davros!!! Overall 10/10 Fantastic!!!
| What: | Singularity (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
I was really looking forward to hearing this. As I'm a big fan of Space 1889: The Steppes of Thoth, I had high hopes.
Spoilers follow.
Plot wise it's tightly structured, each episode moving the plot on logically to the next. And it was a pleasant surprise not to be able to second-guess the story - a sure sign of a writer who has very obviously worked hard at getting it right. I liked the idea of the villains being human beings. Fighting against our future selves. Very good. It's always nice when the TARDIS is actually used in a story rather then just a device to get the Doctor into the story and out again.
There are a few things that did get on my nerves a wee bit though. I know it must be hard to write for audio and BF have been doing it for a little while now so you would think that the script editor would be able to give the writers a few pointers and to what works and what doesn't. Turlough talks to himself at the beginning of the play and it's quite obvious that the writer is using this by way of describing what's going on. But it's a bit clunky and at one point in a very bad post-modern way he mentions it, as if to excuse the bad dialogue.
Talking of bad dialogue would Turlough really say 'tropical with beaches and pretty girls'? He was in the TARDIS with Janet and Sarah for God knows how many episodes! Duh! Hello! Why suddenly take an interest now? The Doctor and Turlough didn't feel like the Doctor and Turlough I remember. Sorry folks.
Sometimes the dialogue just seemed to get in the way of the action 'We don't have time for another one of your paranoid episodes' just as they are about to jump into a car. Too much dialogue is sometimes worse than not enough. At one point the Doctor says in front of Lana ' It makes me feel 100 years younger' and she completely ignores him! If someone said that to me I'd give them a wide berth! Or at the very least back away slowly. Later Turlough says 'I'm a very unusual kinda guy - on this planet at least' in a cod- Douglas Adams/Ford Prefect type way and the character completely ignores him too! Why? Especially as this very fact becomes a plot point later on. Goodness me!
Talking of cod-Adams dialogue: 'Where's your sense of adventure?' 'In a box in the TARDIS marked 'Sense of Adventure'.
Dear oh dear.
Are lines like this supposed to be a Season 17 homage?
'Silent animal - cease you repellent bleating!'
'Get back! The stench of your psyche is revolting!'
'You loathsome meddler!'
'Get away from me you primitive savage!'
If they are, they've hit the nail on the head. I half expected someone to shout 'Weakling scum!' at one point!
If they're not, they're just bloody awful lines.
And there's more:
'Its like a explosion in a wire factory'
'Its like something out of a Victorian madhouse'
'It's like a mad scientists scrap yard'
It's very, very bad is what it is!
Who talks that way?
It seems like while BF were getting on with the production values (which are excellent) it feels like no one bothered to actually read the script and say 'Any chance of re-writing the dialogue a bit? So the characters sound like real people instead of cliché machines? Ta.'
I expected a lot, lot more from the writer of 'Steppes of Thoth'. As I thoroughly enjoyed that and I'd still recommend it to anyone who likes good, well written science fiction
But this? Nope. A great plot, but bad dialogue.
It's almost like they were written by different people. Maybe - as I mentioned before, it's in the editing?
I don't know.
I think some quality control is needed.
As soon as possible, please
| What: | The Quality of Mercy (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berksire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Ace!
I enjoy these more ‘talky’ audios. A very intelligent script. A nice line in dialogue about the nature of faith and belief. It really appealed to the Darwinist in me. Good work.
Though low on action, I didn’t miss the normal ‘runarounds’ that I usually expect from the Big Finish main Doctor Who line and that’s to the plays advantage. It doesn’t rush things over it’s hour(ish) running time.
The sound design and direction was great too. Very high quality.
I would very much like to hear more of the adventures of Guy de Carnac.
| What: | Sontarans: Silent Warrior (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Oh dear.
I had such high hopes because the last BBV audios I've listened to have been great. A couple of which rival the best of Big Finish in quality. Good job I didn't listen to this one first, it would've put me right off.
The story was just a too 'Startreky' for me, especially the ending, a bit of a duex ex machina. Which to me always smacks of lazy writing. I couldn't get the hang of the character 'Alex' either. The Director, the actor (who sounded to me like a cross between Steve Coogan and Chris Eubanks) and the writer all seemed to have a different idea of how he should be played.
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| It?s better than Scherzo. Honest. |
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| What: | Punchline (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berksire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Once again Mr McCoy surprises me with the quality of his acting. Is he being directed in a different way than while he is working for Big Finish I wonder? A great script that just stretches the conceit far enough so you don’t get fed up with the pastiche. It may be a one-note story but it’s so well written that you don’t notice.
For those Rob Shearman fans out there, let me let in into a secret:
It’s better than Scherzo. Honest.
| What: | The Barnacled Baby (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Oh, Boy! I loved this!
The sound design sent you right into Victorian England and put the story into context. The ending has a brilliant twist that isn’t exactly a surprise but opens up endless possibilities.
OK, it’s a wee bit like The Elephant Man, but I didn’t really care that much. If you’re going to nick something, nick the best.
Recommended.
