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 | Why Dodo and why the alien? |
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I quite enjoyed this book and found nothing to complain of as regards the writing style. The explanation re the alien was clever and well thought out, and I liked the idea of Steven wielding the pen, as it were, for parts of the story. The historical background seemed well-researched and provided an excellent backdrop for the tale. From a purely personal point of view, I would have preferred a straight historical tale with no alien, but then I have never greatly cared for the 'monsters invade history' idea anyway. I wish the Doctor had shown more concern than he actually did over Mykola being tortured, or even made some attempt to save him - did I miss it or were we never told Mykola's eventual fate? I assume he died from the torture. As always, I found Dodo irritating: Steven and the Doctor by themselves would have been preferable. Why is the gap between the 'Dalek Masterplan' and 'The Massacre' never utilised by authors of these 'untold adventure' type novels? Oh, and Steven, as ever, was again denied any extra background, even in his narrating role. Overall, however, a worthwhile read.
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| A page turner from start to finish... |
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| What: | Time Zero (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 19 October 2002 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
Richards has crafted one of the three best novels in the 8th Doctor line in my opinion. Tightly woven, pulse pounding, and a thrill a minute! Everything I could ask for from a Who adventure.
His characterizations of Fitz and Anji continue the recent trend of making them seem like real people rather than plot points or cardboard stand ups. Combined with a plot that promises to keep on giving...just go read it for yourself and see!
Awesome!
| What: | Mad Dogs & Englishmen (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 12 October 2002 |
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| Rating: |  7 |
EQUATION: Paul Magrs to the exponent Tom Stoppart = A jolly romp!
UPSHOT: The Doctor, Fitz, Anji, and a cook visit various times in the 20th Century to counter a bunch of history-changing poodles.
THE GOOD: The laughs (the spacestation filmwatching scene is an absolute hoot!), Magrs' prose ... and we have a collection of timetravelling Noel Cowards!
THE BAD: The conclusion could have been tighter.
THE UGLY: Something is revealed about Freer on page 214 ... YUCK!
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| Why is Steven constantly overlooked? |
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This is a quite well-written book, faithfully sticking to the television story, and I found it fairly enjoyable, such as it is. I'll say at once, and this is of course no reflection at all on the author, who had no hand in choosing the basis for this story, that I have no great liking for historical stories injected with science fiction elements: these two story types are best done individually, in my opinion. I'm sure there must be enough interesting characters and events attached to 1066 or thereabouts with which to create an excellent pure historical, and especially a Hartnell historical. The character of the Monk, skilfully conveyed by the author, touches on another of my pet aversions: the Time Lords, as they were later designated. Hartnell's Doctor, the mysterious wanderer, the onlooker and observer, was by far the best interpretation of the character, with his beloved TARDIS and unquenchable thirst for knowledge. The introduction of the Monk, skilfully played on television by the late Peter Butterworth, somehow lessens the Doctor - the mischievous fellow would have come across far better as an actual clergyman of the eleventh century, either crooked or straight as the story required. The Monk's TARDIS I found an even more ghastly innovation: it marked the beginning of time and space travel being designated within the series as rather more commonplace, less the exclusive province of our hero, and less of the wonder it was in the eyes of the early companions. In the context of the latter I come to a criticism of the book itself (yes, I have digressed, I know): why did the author, in common with those producing the TV series at the time, fail to provide more background for Steven, the new time traveller? The novel was the ideal opportunity, even if only via a couple of paragraphs, to redress the balance regarding this constantly overlooked character, but all we get is his usual classification as a replacement, and less satisfactory, Ian Chesterton: the change of male companion is over, as it were, let's try and forget it's happened by hurrying on with the story. Steven, as a twenty-fifth century astronaut, had a potentially far more interesting background than a 1960's teacher. Sadly, the scriptwriters at the time, this author, and others since have failed to recognise this and have consistently deprived Steven Taylor of the depth of character I feel he could have had. Much appreciated, however, was the author's attempt at the beginning of this book to recap relevant events from the close of the previous story, which at least expanded Steven's introduction to some extent!
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| Amusing, but we were still cheated! |
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| What: | The Romans (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Michael Baxter, Coalville, Leicestershire, UK |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Yes, I read this, and laughed, and enjoyed it, but it wasn't Doctor Who as I know and love it. I have a particular fondness for William Hartnell's Doctor, and for his historical adventures. I know the original scripts for this story were slanted towards humour, but this was not to the extent generally believed, and was no excuse to toss most of Dennis Spooner's material out of the window and plunge head-first into send-up. As a result, we lost some good moments and, it must be said, the very coherency of the tale. I almost wished Terrance Dicks had written it instead: there wouldn't have been much expansion on the television serial, but at least we'd now have a book of the story as it actually was. I think it was a mistake to let Donald Cotton loose on this. He novelised his own two stories very well, and I liked them, but it was rather reprehensible of him to devise the ludicrous business of the letters for 'The Romans', and make admittedly amusing nonsense of someone else's story, yet novelise his own far more straighforwardly, if equally tongue-in-cheek. Now, I suppose, we'll never have a proper novelisation of this adventure, which has to be a shame. There should have been more control exercised over the writers! Send-ups, however side-splitting, were not really what readers wanted - and I'm unanimous in that!
| What: | The Dark Path (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | , Quebec City, Canada |
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| Date: | Tuesday 8 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
"The Dark Path" offers an interresting glimpse in the Master's past. His former relationship with the Doctor, for example, is much more developped than in the TV stories and what is even more fascinating is the fact that, prior to this adventure, the Master (hmm...Koschei, actually)seemed to have lead the same existence as the Doctor: travelling through space and time with his TARDIS and a female companion (though no screamer she.)Most of the plot seems to thread on Third Doctor territory ca. "Frontier in Space": The Earth Empire, the Federation, the Draconians, the Master (of course)with more than just a sprinkle of Star Trek (The Federation, the starship "Piri Reis" and its multiracial crew.)It is surprising, and somehow refreshing, that McIntee choose to feature The Second Doctor in this story. Since it takes place before "Fury from the Deep" with references to "Evil of the Daleks", the author also takes time to examine Victoria's psychology a little bit and her the reasons behind her eventual parting with the Doctor and Jamie.
Psychology with a sense of the grand scale makes this novel highly entertaining throughout.
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| Tight plot, good soundtrack |
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| What: | The Macra Terror (TV episode audio soundtracks) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Monday 7 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
THE GOOD: Tight plot, good soundtrack, and well-played by the cast all around. Colin Baker does a good job with the linking bits.
THE BAD: Being audio, we don't actually get to see those nasty lobster-shaped Macra creatures ... but then again I heard the costumes didn't work anyway.
THE UGLY: Beware of Ben!
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| Bundles of action and humour |
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| What: | Trading Futures (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Monday 7 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
UPSHOT - It's America versus EZ and a new superspy has entered into the equation ... and he's got a blue shed!
THE GOOD - I've heard quite a bit about Lance Parkin and so I decided to make my first EDA a Parkin-adventure. Wow! I really should pat myself on the back for starting with such a fab story! Bundles of action and humour.
THE BAD - Who the heck is this Sabbath guy? He frightens me!
THE UGLY - Finishing this book is like going back to work after a wonderful vacation in Florida.
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| Excellent historical fiction |
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| What: | Asylum (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 5 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
The Good: Excellent historical fiction with a very unlikley combo ... It's the 4th Doctor with Nyssa before he actually met her!
The Bad: When the Doctor and Nyssa are seperated, Nyssa's scenes become somewhat padded.
The Ugly: The sanitation conditions in 1278 Oxford!
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| Could have been much better |
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| What: | Divided Loyalties (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 5 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Good: I liked the background information and scenes showing a young Doctor and Master.
The Bad: The companion sub-plots ... This story would have been much better if the Doctor were facing the Celestial Toymaker on his own.
The Ugly: The average rating of this book. A "3" is not a very good report card indeed!
| What: | Festival of Death (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 5 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
The Good: Everything ... the presentation of the Doctor and Romana II, the formula 1-paced plot, the ultra-witty dialogue, and constant SUSPENSE!
The Bad & The Ugly: Not in this story!
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| Great atmosphere, but a tad confusing |
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| What: | Drift (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 5 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
The Good: The Doctor talks circles around high-ranking military officials and CIA agents.
The Bad: Although the atmosphere is great, the running around bits are a tad confusing.
The Ugly: It's the first time I've seen colourful language in Dr. Who ... and I didn't mind it!
| What: | Last Man Running (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Cam Cobb, Canada |
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| Date: | Saturday 5 October 2002 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Good: Fast-paced chase scenes, very interesting monster, and witty dialogue.
The Bad: Too many characters I didn't like.
The Ugly: A confusing sub-plot revealed near the end.
I didn't like The People's Temple, but the other 2 stories were good. Paul McGann is good too, so I give it a six.
Looking at the summary and cover for Crooked World left me expecting something so outrageous that I'd be disappointed with the new Doctor line of books and thanking that they aren't sold in N. America. After reading it, however, I found myself not being able to put it down and thankful that I order through Amazon UK.
The most enjoyment I had with this book was that it wasn't your typical chase them around a space station or planet epic. It showed exactly what the Doctor's and companion's presence can do to change a world. It was nice to see them all at a total loss as to how to behave and react in a new world.
What was really fun was figuring out which real-life cartoons the citizens of Crooked World resembled. some were a bit more obvious than others and I had several of my friends remembering Saturday morning cartoons here in the States to figure out some of them (esp the Wacky Racer teams)
All in all, I'd say that this has been my favorite 8th Doctor book this year. I just hope that the continuation of this story arc is just as good.
| What: | Bunker Soldiers (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | James, Bristol, England |
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| Date: | Thursday 19 September 2002 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
This book had a really intriuging cover and blurb that grabbed me right away. Sadly, the writing wasn't quite good enough to bare it out. The crew land in Kiev in 1240, just before its going to be sacked by the Mongols, and theres a nasty alien thing running around too. I don't want to reveal more than that. The plot of this book was very ambitious (a huge cast of characters and scenes ranging from alien-infested catacombs to the splendour of the Mongol army) and, to be fair, damn good. The historical setting was also quite well researched. However, the writing style let it down. The dialogue seemed stilted and the Doctor's actions were made to seem *senseless* rather than *mysterious* (he does several about-faces on changing history). There were surprisingly few action scenes. The author had the chance to make the scenes in Dmitri's house ones of suspense and paranoia, but this doesn't come across - the Russians seem content to *ignore* the alien. Some new tricks are tried, such as doing Steven's bit in the first-person, but the tone used felt wrong for Steven. None of the characters are really explored (with the exception of Yevhen). The end chapters are very cheesey, but the first few are quite good. The author should have waited longer before introducing the alien, though he did a good job of keeping you guessing about it's motives. The Mongol attack on Kiev is well told, and the alien's flashbacks are atmospheric, but overall I found this book disappointing, because it should have been absolutely amazing (Mongols, struggling not to change history and aliens - what more should you want?).
| What: | Camera Obscura (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
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| Date: | Wednesday 18 September 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Things have definitely been improving over the last several novels! Again, the characterization is excellent and Anji and Fitz are portrayed as three dimensional. Fitz has never seemed more human. I only wish we had been given more of those human moments--perhaps Fitz is finally coming of age (he is in his 30's now).
I will not give any of the plot away, but I suspected that after CITY OF THE DEAD, Rose would deliver a rich novel. I expected to be teased by certain events and I was. Happily, the resolution to the on-going tease was satisfying and did not seem contrived or forced. To say nothing of the bomb that was dropped at the end...
Where do we go from here?
This is one of those books where it takes a long time to make any sense out of it as well as exciting. The first three quarters of this book dragged on and was mostly chase scenes. With the appearance of the Unnoticed, things got a little more interesting. The book really seemed to take off once the Doctor learned of the location of the Unnoticed's planet.
SPOILER>>>DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THE BOOK YET:
Was Carmodi the future self of Rhian??? The only confusing part of this whole paradox mess...
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| Basically, the thing is the keys! |
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| What: | The Keys of Marinus (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Mark Seymour, Brighton, England |
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| Date: | Friday 13 September 2002 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Basically, the Doctor in this one is hardly in it and at the end of the day lacks authority. The thing to remember, though, guys, is that this story basically features one of the 1960s design classics (no, not the ice guards!!!)the sensational Voord. At the end of the day, I have to say that my Aunt knew two of the people who played Voords (apparently!), Peter Diment and Jenny Tyler and both complained of heat rash at the end of the week's shooting! Other than that, the quest bit can get a bit dull and that actress in the cellar (Fiona Walker) is awful: thank God her performances in Dr Who (Silver Nemesis) and the Mokades classic 'The Mighty Bum' were better! Go back and re-watch!
| What: | Colditz (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Nick Skerten, Surrey |
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| Date: | Friday 13 September 2002 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
If ever there was an under-rated Big Finish play, it's this one. From the superb paradox the Doctor and ace find themselves in to the chilling and yet fallible Klein, this one is one of my favourites. McCoy has nailed 'the Doctor' and has become the character the TV series seemed to be driving towards, with his mixture of trickster (the 'tearing' of Klein's papers)and the manipulator. The magnificently eerie and uncanny scenes of the Doctor and Klein in the darkening German forest are easily some of the most thrilling yet, and it is a sheer delight for Klein to escape into the night at the end. More please!
