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| What: | Castle of Fear (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 31 January 2010 |
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| Rating: |   2 |
One of the few modestly comedic moments:
(Floundering in the moat,) "I am a knight of Brittany! I do not... belong in the water... like some... common... Saxon!"
Monty Python this is not. Shades of Blackadder... I'll grant you that much - in Joe Thomas' Hubert, Earl of Mummerset. On and off comedy, with a Rutan that sounds like a Dalek thrown in. That's about all I can say about this one. It's possible that I just don't quite get it...
Unfortunate.
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 | Pigs, Hounds, a High-Speed TARDIS Tour |
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A Sting in the Tale continues the very macabre trend in these Hornets' Nest stories... Going further back in time, the Doctor makes a desperate journey through a snowy forest, and finds an old nunnery with a bizarre Reverend Mother. We have more animals inhabited by the alien hornets, and one leads the Doctor on a wild chase through the vast interior of the TARDIS. Eventually, time settles into its already established course, and a familiar outcome finds its fulfillment.
The jaunt through the "pocket universe" of the TARDIS interior, as the Doctor puts it, is quite interesting, though a bit rushed, and makes this oddity of a story all the more engaging. Not the best story of the bunch so far, but a solid entry in the series.
good
| What: | Novel Who (Miscellaneous factual books) |
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| By: | Pete, UK |
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| Date: | Friday 29 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
A self published effort that devotes a single page of a target sized book per story. Half of that is taken up by details - title, number, isbn etc. Leaving room for usually a two paragraph or less comment on each novelisation. Obviously only the barest of details can be offered. There is room in the marketplace for a good book with a proper critique and reviews of the Target Books by a professional. This isn't it. This doesn't even try to be it. It's simply a waste of money.
| What: | The Eyeless (BBC new series audiobooks) |
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| By: | qasim, birmingham |
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| Date: | Friday 29 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
this is a really good program so i want to buy this book
A wonderful completion of the two Nothing At The End Of The Lane books in one handy package.
Lots of terrific articles on the history of Who.
Highly recommended.
| What: | Farewell Great Macedon (Miscellaneous script books) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 28 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A glimpse into the beginning of Dr Who and how the programme might have gone in a different direction before the Daleks came along.
A fascinating full length, unfilmed adventure for the 1st Doctor and the original TARDIS crew as thet arrive at the court of Alexander the great.
Reccomenned for Who fans and those intrested in the history of UK TV alike.
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| Not altogether that great |
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The Slitheen are once more the bad guys and once again they were okay but not all that interesting or impressive. The story was okay, the writing was good and the plot was original enough but the end product wasn't really all that great.
The Doctor wasn't particularly interesting, not a particularly stellar characterisation. The character of June, a one-shot companion, wasn't too bad though and didn't come off as overly good or bad and yet managed to avoid being unimportant - though many times it seemed her purpose was solely to be a witness to events not happening in the presence of the Doctor.
The only real saving grace for this book is that I'm an ancient history buff and I love reading stuff about Cretean, Mycenean and Greek history... which kind of ruined a surprise for me at one point, though I smiled anyway.
Wouldn't be on my list of 'should reads'.
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| Thought-provoking, a nice change |
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The story is essentially a cleverly disguised thought experiment wherein we get a glimpse of the inherent benefits and defecits of a society than bans falsehood, embellishment, exaggeration, lying and even fictional storytelling.
The question being, that whatever the pros and cons are: When lying is illegal and anything that cannot be proved is essentially the same as a lie, when is the truth not the truth? When fiction is a public menace maybe the only greater dangers than purposeful deceit is truth KNOWN to be fiction and fiction KNOWN to be truth.
The plot was outlandish but seemed to go well with the setting, the Doctor, Rose and Jack were well characterised with some great writing and while the ending was strange a little lacklustre it was probably the right one, for the best effect.
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| Another flop from Jacqueline Rayner |
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| What: | Winner Takes All (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 24 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
What a surprise.
Standard work of Jacqueline Rayner: Barely better than Fanfiction, if that.
Smack dab in the middle of the mediocre, shallow characters and pre-schooler's kind of grasp regarding such things as motive, emotion and deception. I don't know why it is that when other authors can write a book that appeals to ages 10 - 35 that Jacqueline can't stretch it from more than ages 8 - 13.
The plot is terribly unoriginal, so unoriginal that it's even been reused again in the Sarah Jane Adventures childrens spin-off - except better.
The aliens were one dimensional, the technology strange and unsuitable, crappy badies, crappier non-baddies, haphazard and with a transparently obvious ending.
Probably my least favourite so far... and considering I've read all but 7 out of 36 that's saying something.
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| Pretty Good for an Alien World story |
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| What: | The Monsters Inside (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 24 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Chock full of good technobabble - which is always a bonus to a connoisseur of such things, which I most definitely am.
A relatively clever story with a semi-formulaic plot. Great use of the 9th Doctor and Rose who were both well characterised with some good original characters and some not so good ones.
The story was a little hard to follow at times due to the scale of the scene that it is set upon and some overly complicated twists in the plot but all in all a fairly decent read.
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| A little good and a little not so good |
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| What: | Only Human (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 24 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
There were many things to like about this book but all the while tempered with numerous things that really didn't impress or not like at all.
The characterisation of the 9th Doctor was very Doctor like... but not outstandingly 9th-ish (if such a term is appropriate). Many parts of the story the Doctor could've been 10 and I'd never notice the difference, not much of his casual rudeness or his angry dispair in there.
Rose on the other hand was characterised well and even Capt Jack was done well. The real saving grace, as others have pointed out, is Das the Neanderthal adjusting to the 21st century, his dairy entries and Jack's own.
The ending was pretty badly hashed though, in my opinion, and the BigBad's minions could've been a bit more interesting.
A very interesting installment for a NewWho fan to get a insight into the enemy of the Sontarans, the mysterious Rutan Host.
The Doctor was characterised fairly well but lacked a lot of the darker and more insightful depths you get in other books. The original characters were well done though and the ending and theme were a bit of a change up from the usual.
This time the Doctor isn't facing off an enemy so much as protecting the people who get between two enemies facing each other which was a great concept to explore.
Somehow though the book lacked anything to take away with you when you'd finished it.
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| Good Monster-of-the-Week... |
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| What: | Forever Autumn (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 24 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
An original author-created baddie with some admittedly unoriginal traits but all in all they were used well and create a good theme and plot.
Some good original characters but many seemed superfluous, on the other hand the characterisations of Martha and the Doctor were spot on, best as I've ever seen in one of these books.
Well written, some nice twists and tricks, clever references and plenty of things to make a fan smile even if they somehow failed to enjoy the story itself.
I think Delta and the Bannerman was great! My favourite character is Ray because she would have been a better companion then Mel ever would! I think all the characters did a great job and played there parts well, it is one of my favourites Doctor Who stories. So I rate it: 9/10.
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| As dull as I remember it... |
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| What: | Peladon Tales (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Matt Saunders, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 19 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
...I was under the illusion that this was good when I listened to the Audio version. Sadly I was wrong - they are both quite dull. Some good bits, but mainly perdictable Pertwee stuff. There are many more Pertwee stories to come out - which are much better.
| What: | Wishing Well (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 17 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
Average fare as far as Doctor Who books go, relatively interesting and original plot idea, a couple of reasonably good original characters, decent characterisation of the Doctor but not so much with Martha and nothing particularly memmorable.
The plot stumbled to the climax with no real twists or events, the conclusion ...and ending pretty banal and unimpressive. Easily in the bottom five of books I've read in the last year.
Better luck next time, hopefully.
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| Another Gem Underappreciated |
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| What: | Sting of the Zygons (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 17 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Easily in the top 10 of the New Series books I've read and another with a rating that doesn't reflect what it is worth.
Sure there are some slow patches and the setting for the story isn't very exotic or exciting but the plot, characterisations of the Doctor and Martha, the original characters, the use of the Zygons and a mixture of great humour, suspense and surprise.
Every part of the plot that unfolds contains one startling set of new events, a set of clues that leave you asking what comes next and something else that you'll miss the significance of until later.
Reading this book really makes me hope that at some point Stephen Moffatt will revive them for NewWho.
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| One of the best I've read |
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| What: | The Deviant Strain (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tim, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 17 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
... and I've read most of them now.
Has a good helping of most of the things that make a book great and in pretty much just the right proportions.
The characterisations of the 9th Doctor, Rose and Jack are good, the Russian characters are well designed and used, lots of little subplots which weave in and out, humour and joke one-liners from the show itself, great plot and pace.
Honestly I can't understand why it has such a low rating, it's easily one of the better installments - like another reviewer said it could have easily and wonderfully been adapted to a two part episode. I read it in one go and was smiling when I finished.
| What: | First Generation (Cast biographies) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 15 January 2010 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
This Is a fairly interesting though flatly written auto biog of the classy & delectable Ms Tamm as she recounts her life from daughter of immigrant in Bradford to screen & TV star.
Apart the Who chapters the most interesting stuff is when Mary goes back to her parents homeland of Estonia. These chapters are very moving.
There is also the story of Ms Tamm being invited to a lesbian orgy, sadly without pictures !
Interesting.
