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| What: | Salvation (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 11 August 2011 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
Steve Lyons has written another excellent book. The basics are fairly straightforward. Lyons has written the backstory behind Dodo's first appearance in the TARDIS. She is running away from a confused alien who has taken over the body of man in her neighborhood and has kept her hostage for several days. Unbeknownst to her, these events are tied into a series of UFO incidents in Britain and the US. The Doctor takes Dodo to New York City, where it seems, the action is heating up. This involves a group of aliens who look like angels and gods and seemingly have the power to grant people their wishes. Things start to get out of hand when these alien-gods try to establish a cult to themselves in New York. It's a strange plot, but the novel is the most direct interrogation of something that has been on Lyons' mind, given what his other novels are about.
There are a few things to quibble about before getting to the essential work. Most of my quibbles revolve around Lyons' portrait of America. His New York is really London with different names for places. Likewise, his portrayal of the American military makes it more like the British military. General Marchant talks more like an Englishman than an American. He carries a swagger stick, which is not all that popular in the American military. Other American characters also fall into English rather than American diction, such as "keep to" rather than "stick to."
The essential novel more than makes up for these errors in rendering the setting. The issue here is religion. Lyons is not particularly concerned with questions of whether one or the other religion is "right" or "wrong." His novel is concerned with what motivates people to get religious in the first place. More generally, this becomes a matter of dedicating oneself to a concept.
The gods in the story are not gods, but aliens with weak psyches, little imagination, and tremendous power in manipulating reality and perception. They absorb the ideas of other minds and mold themselves and reality to fit these ideas. Thus, they appear to be gods because this seems to be what the people around them want. They start acting like the gods that the people want them to be. Instead of the religion molding the people, the people mold the religion. However, once a multitude of people start joining, they bring a multitude of desires and expectations. What started out as a simple message of peace to everyone becomes a confused cacophony of doctrines and pronouncements. The gods become angry and vengeful. Love turns into destruction. The whole process is a miniature enactment of the historical process of religion, or at least one interpretation of that process. The gods are really ideas made manifest. When the ideas start conflicting, so do the gods. Thus, factions are born.
Lyons writes in general about how dedication to ideals warps people's perceptions and ethics, taking their focus on where he thinks it should truly be, which is the ethics of person-to-person relations. Lyons displays the consequences of not following Immanuel Kant's dictum, that the source of ethics is in treating people as ends in themselves and not as means to ends. One has the example of General Marchant, dedicated to his idea of national security and America first every bit as much as a religious zealot is dedicated to his/her religious ideas. This drives Marchant to break all communications with his daughter. Even after they temporarily must work together, he cannot make the loving connection he ought, and turns her out of his life once again. There is the example of Steven, who is so desperate to find an idea to believe in, a cause that would in his view give meaning to his life, that he breaks away from the Doctor and even temporarily joins the new cult. Lyons shows in these examples how raising ideals above people breaks the personal connections that make life bearable. On the opposite side of this is the Dodo-Joseph story. The reader sees that Dodo's attachment to Joseph, even though he is an alien, brings him around. Through the emotional bond they share, Joseph can see how badly astray his fellow "gods" have gone. The gods, and Joseph too, are using people for their own ends, which is to give themselves identity and purpose. They cannot help themselves, and this is their danger to any intelligent species that has contact with them. Only through his connection to Dodo can Joseph see this and learn to do the right thing.
A reader can see these themes in other Lyons books, stories of the terrible consequences derived from people's giving up free will to the cause, whatever it might be. In "The Final Sanction," the loss of an entire intelligent species results from dedication to ideals and the resulting loss of ethical compass. Similarly, "The Witch Hunters" shows that the Salem witch trials were largely caused by the same impulse, that the idea one believes wholly in, whatever it is, is more important than the life of any person.
Lyons' explorations of these themes, and his technique of demonstrating them through plot rather than telling them through dialogue, is what I believe sets him apart as a writer from most the other writers of Doctor Who novels. It is what makes his books so popular and highly praised.
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 | Typical Historical With A Twist |
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| What: | The Plotters (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Other reviewers seem to be wowed by this novel to a degree that baffles me. While the novel is entertaining and amusing, it is by no means brilliant. Gareth Roberts pretty much admits in his author's note that he is doing to late Renaissance England what "The Romans" had done to Nero's Rome. The TARDIS crew land they know not where. The Doctor splits from Ian and Barbara in a huff so that he can take Vicki off on his own little adventure. The Doctor and Vicki get caught up in court shenanigans while Ian and Barbara get swiftly plunged into danger. The specific historical event at the heart of all this is the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Of course, with the Doctor and crew around, events do not happen quite as history writes them. There is much fun to be had with a horny King, very similar to the horny Nero of "The Romans." In this case, however, we get a Shakespearean twist when Vicki must pretend to be a boy and the King gets the hots for her thinking she's a boy. There is also an over-the-top complication to the plot involving a master spy from religious cult. The novel is clever, but not deep.
| What: | Black Orchid (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Patrick Alexander, Bellevue, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Looks Fantastic
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| Some nice characterization |
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Plot isn't really the high point to this book, although it is somewhat interesting. I found that how the characters were written were much more in touch with how they seem on the show, especially Ianto. One of the original characters was made, at first, to seem more important than he ended up being, which through me somewhat. Overall, this is the best of the Torchwood novels I've read so far.
| What: | Lucifer Rising (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 7 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Lucifer Rising is a clever well thought out story, pulling Ace and the Dcotor back together, with good tensions as Ace has finally moved on an grown since her time away.
The images of strange worlds and aliens is excellent and all together a strong enjoyable read.
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| Ace, Hippy, Fungus & the internet |
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| What: | Love and War (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 7 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Love & War in many ways would have been ideal for the 7th Doctor on TV. As you read you can imagine all the hideous hippy costumes in a green lush world. The underlying myth of the planet combined with cyber/internet hippies somehow works. Doctor Summerfield is of course great from the very start.
Ace finally getting fed up with the Doctor using her all the time is not a surprise, but the gang of loosers she hooks up with are at times a pain.
All in all an entertaining story, which could have been very good but the fungus people are dealt with a little too easily for me.
| What: | Iceberg (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 7 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
David Banks has carefully studied all the 1st & 2nd Doctor's Cyberman stories and then cleverly weaved another between them.
The first half of Iceberg unfolds pulling together in an interesting story around the life of our main characters and a sense of mystry.
But as the boat sets sale this original and clever idea, starts to fall flat becoming just a basic copy of every classic plot device you expect with the cybermen, loosing much of it's strength as the book continues.
In the end Iceberg is simply an easy going story, our heroine however is strong and would have made a good companion for the 7th Doctor shame she missed the boat!
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| Start stop, good then dull |
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| What: | Parallel 59 (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Starting with drama and energy a the reader your pulled in but then it seems to slow down and then goes on with lots of running about.
Again Fritz is getting his leg over endlessly (lets please move on from this) but there is an excellent twist in his story when it comes. Compassion just seems to be in the room and dosen't really do much.
Overall moments of excellence, but peppered with long drawn rambling. An ok read if you can stick it out.
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| Steady, flowing adventure |
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| What: | Frontier Worlds (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A lot of the 8th Doctor books seem to start with the plot up and running and everyone stuck into the adventure. This means you have to catch up with the book and makes it a little slow to start.
However frontier worlds gathers pace and flows very smoothly, the Doctor is in his element and each companion are at their best. How many more women can fritz get away with.
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| Repeating the past success |
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| What: | Robophobia (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A good murder plot with the 7th Doctor in his favourite spot, mixing things up behind the scenes. If felt a little strange not having a companion and lacked some atmosphere at times, too easy to work out who dun it and relying too much on the fact that the robots where back.
Negatives aside, the doctor is strong, a good cast and whilst not a great story its a solid enjoyable one.
| What: | Match of the Day (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Darek Pilař, Pardubice, Czech Republic |
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| Date: | Friday 5 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This is my first DW Classic book which i read. I choose this one, because Leela always was and still is my most favorite companion and on this book she is on the cover :-D
I was very pleased with this book because most of it is about Leela and plus she is just awesome like she was in TV.
On beginning I was little bored with all that Keefer passages, but with more and more pages i accepted and I like it. So because of few paragraph with Keefer and little to fast and simple ending I give 9! :)
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| My favourite monster voices |
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| What: | The Krotons (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 3 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Having the misfortune to be sandwiched between two of Doctor Who's all time greatest stories, The Invasion and The Seeds of Death, the Krotons still holds its own very respectably. This is quite a wonderful little tale despitee maybe just a few wooden performances, but this is forgiveable for the stories main theme itself is highly interesting. The only thing that this story does not boast as all Rob Holmes stories after this does is a brilliant double act or a comic duo, but cut him some slack. This is a great first story from a great writer.
Patrick Troughton is ever the more quirky and bumbling which just makes me love him all the more. He always will be my favourite time lord. He just had such infectious energy and such amusing quips that endear him to my heart very much indeed. His annoyance at not getting the questions right in episode two is a classic example of his brilliant portrayal, and his sparkle in his eye as he's annoyed at Zoe afterwards for being so easily coaxed by the Krotons teaching machines. This is pure Troughton magic that never once left the screen during his time as the Doctor.
Frazer Hines is perhaps just a little two sidelined, although his fight with one of the gonds is amusing and funny. Wendy Padbury gets given a good chunk of story to get her teeth into.
The Krotons are a brilliant looking race, and their comeback is highly interesting and a little different for once. But what i like the most about the Krotons is those grating harsh vibey voices that drown out nearly all the other sounds on screen whenever they are talking, they truly are one of the most effective voices that the BBC ever came up with, more piercing than even the Daleks and Cybermen. And their diamond heads are brilliant, and the melting of the Dynatrope at the end is particularly well done and looks pretty flipping cool if you ask me.
The only thing that mars the tale a bit is the totally unremarkable Gonds, aside from Phil Madoc no one really gives a knockout performance here, although maybe the Gond leader is a little better than the rest of the Gonds. But as I said this is the only slight quibble, and some scenes are a lot better than others, such as when the Doc tries to help Vana come out of her coma, that is one of the best scenes in the show.
And its the first time we get to hear of the HADS. So theres a little vain of brilliance when the TARDIS appears to have been destroyed but has only moved to escape from being damaged by the Krotons.
So yes, the Krotons may not be an all out knockout, but for a first story from Rob its solid and works quite well all in all. By no means is this one of the worst stories, it just above middling in that there is plenty to spark the interest and keep it throughout.
Just that snake like cam thing could have been a bit better realised too! But its just ha ha and still makes me grin even now. And i do rate this better than Pyramids of Mars and The Robots of Death!
| What: | Paradise Towers (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 2 August 2011 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
There is so much to the story that should make this a real classic, futuristic tower block, gangs of feral young girls, killers machines, but it is let down so badly by many things.
Richard Briers terrible overacting, some hammy acting, terrible props ie the thing in pool & the cleaners for starters.
Sylvester McCoy does his best to rise above this and he has some nice moments, rasing his hat to a machine for the start.
The DVD extras are not much. Horror on the high rise is a standard making of doc while Girls! Girls! Girls! is an intresting chat between 80's female companions Sophie Aldred, Janet Fielding & Sarah Sutton.
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| Obvious plot from the start |
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| What: | Torchwood: Border Princes (Torchwood novels) |
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| By: | Almatos Miren, Madison, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
The inclusion of the new character made it very obvious from the beginning how the story would ultimately play out. Adding in the romance with Gwen did not help to make the character more believable (or Gwen more likable, truth be told), simply adding to the overall "alternate reality" feel of the book. No matter how much the author tries to spin the idea that everything will have been forgotten in time, simply too much happened emotionally to the main characters to have it fit into the main timeline of the show.
Writing wise, I did not like the way this was written. I found the language and style confusing at times, the actual story getting lost in 60s-ish hyperbole. A more straight-forward story would have made this one better, I feel.
Unfortunately when I started to read this book, I was getting bored of the Eighth Doctor line - mainly because I hadn't stopped since the Eight Doctors - one every two weeks or so, and so I really didn't get into this. This year, I started this one again, and absolutely loved it. I am not going to give it 10/10 because it took me a while to get into it - but once it picks up the pace, wow. It's sad, happy and painful. Well done to the writer. Buy it second-hand or one of the re-prints.
| What: | The Ancestor Cell (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt Saunders, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
It is such a clever little book and I really loved this. We get to see so much of the Eighth Doctor's personality too. We also get to see more of his Tardis than normal, and this sets up the next few really excellent "Earth bound" books. Buy this second-hand, well worth it.
| What: | The Sun Makers (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
The Sun Makers is a story that prooves that you dont need all out action to have a thoroughly excellent story. The Sun Makers I feel is perhaps Rob Holmes most brilliant story, full of his trade mark expertly written characters. But here there is just some added dimension that makes the whole story sparkle no end. It really is no wonder that Louise Jameson said that this story was her favourite. It has so much amusing stuff floating around, not least of all the quite brilliant mix of the Gatherer and The Collector, two of the most over the top and yet excellent villains to ever grace the Doctor Who universe.
And the taxed citizens go through a nice change about, they start out being rather weak and tepid and all mouth and no action, but then the at last get some back bone and go against the grain of the enforced system now imposed on Pluto. That the planet should itself be now thoroughly taken over and made habitable is a really interesting notion.
The Blood sucking leech, in the form of a Uxarian is brilliantly brought to vivid life and is such a well rounded character. Nicely evil and sadistic in how he loves to watch the torture and death of all of his employees! A real marvel of a character. This story really does have a bold point: taxes taxes taxes. One of the biggest bains of modern society I know. And Rob definitely lets us know how he feels about such things in this delightful tale that is my favourite Tom Baker story of all.
Louise jameson is on fine form, she doesnt scream, she just is fierce to the fore. All the more spice to an already delicious tale! And theres no real need to mention Tom Baker at all really, except that he's his usual brilliant bold and bright self...
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| Complete and utter brilliance |
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| What: | The War Games (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I have to say that Doctor Who is one of the only programmes that can have a serial last for ten episodes and keep the interest fresh and imaginative all the way from the start right to the end. And to say the very least, The War Games is a triumph of television in every respect. It boats all the perfect elements that made the Patrick Troughton years so brilliant, theres the comedy, the seriousness, the well thought out plot and the brilliant acting from everyone involved.
The characters here are all solid and have guts. The rebels are all fantastically portrayed by every single player. The villians of the piece are all on top class form as well, especially Noel Coleman as the decidedly soulless General Smythe, and Phil Madoc doesnt really need any introduction. His War Lord is one of the most memorable villains in the shows history. There is so much tension and grit all along the road with this story.
Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury too are on perhaps the best form theyve ever been, Jamie getting to leap into action to save Zoe or Lady Jennifer ( who happens to be one of my very favourite Doctor Who characters ever) almost at every turn. And we also have his bumbling and amusing side, when he first meets all the rest of the resistance parties! These scenes are comical and offer an oasis of comic relief amidst the more harder plot elements along the way.
The climax part , Episode Ten has to be counted as one of the finest episodes of Who in the universe. Its a brilliant end to the Pat Troughton reign as the errant Time Lord. We get our first hint at who the Doctor really is and his background, although enough is left unsaid so still the character has a lot of mystery about him. And Pat is on sublime form all the way throughout this highly engaging adventure, his best performance in his three leading years as the Doctor. He gets to be manipulative, caring, giving, and angry at many times throughout the script, which adds up to some very very good scenes.
And for the time, even the action scenes are not that badly done at all. It manages to convince and isnt over the top at any place. Its all just peppered throughout the tale well. The story itself is highly imaginative and is pretty bold a notion too for the time. And all the plot threads gel strongly and one never feels that the story is getting strained or weak along the way, the pace is just brilliant and never gets tepid or lazy. So all these factors combine to make this story definitely in the top five slot of the entire history of Who for me. One cant get much better than this story in my opinion, its great television!
| What: | Spare Parts (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | jason Oakley, Portsmouth, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 22 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I have listen to this more than any other, there are lots of great stories but to me this remains the best of all Big Finish audios, superb
| What: | The Resurrection Casket (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Jade Teague, Gold Coast, Australia |
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| Date: | Thursday 21 July 2011 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Great story and enjoyable with lots of twists and an ending that makes you want it to keep going. It's good to read more than once so you don't miss any details.. some things i didn't pick up until the third time.
