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bethhhhhhh's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2595396.html
Possibly the last Twelfth Doctor / Clara novel, or at least the last we'll have for a while, this has the TARDIS arriving in a medieval-style society where knights have lasers. It's good fun, particularly the invocation of the Holy Grail quest, an interesting viewpoint character among the knights, and Clara's lines in general; there's perhaps not enough Doctor in it (though he too is well caught), and I wasn't quite sure in the end how the Glamour here fitted in with its other appearances. But a worthy addition to the shelves.
Possibly the last Twelfth Doctor / Clara novel, or at least the last we'll have for a while, this has the TARDIS arriving in a medieval-style society where knights have lasers. It's good fun, particularly the invocation of the Holy Grail quest, an interesting viewpoint character among the knights, and Clara's lines in general; there's perhaps not enough Doctor in it (though he too is well caught), and I wasn't quite sure in the end how the Glamour here fitted in with its other appearances. But a worthy addition to the shelves.
fictionandalice's review against another edition
5.0
This was amazing so fast paced and a very easy read. The best thing is that is that it is short and the Doctor and Clara are the same as they are in the show
gothamgal's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best things I can think of reading is a Doctor Who book–especially during the hiatus between the seasons of this BBC show. However, with things like Amazon and Netflix, my beloved Doctor is close at hand. Still, there are times when I would love to read about our favorite Gallifreyan–especially when it has some medieval elements, like in Una McCormack’s Doctor Who: Royal Blood.
Thank you to publisher, Broadway Books, and for Blogging for Books for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
The Doctor and Clara land the TARDIS in Varuz–a city on the brink of death. The Duke who ‘rules’ the land is ready to risk everything in order to save it–in one last battle. However, a holy man (aka the Doctor) and his companion begin to investigate what’s hiding under the surface of this city (and the laser swords), Lancelot and the Grail quest begin to pop up on this land, the Doctor begins to seriously investigate the strange properties of the everything on the planet–including a pendant given to Clara, herself! Will the Doctor be able to solve the mystery, and stop a war that might destroy the area? And, is the energy behind the scenes have ties to the glamour the Doctor has been investigating?
Una McCormack does an awesome job of taking Capaldi’s Doctor from the screen and translating him to the page. It is a flawless transition–I particularly loved the parts where our known world became part of the world IN Varuz. I also really enjoyed the Arthurian touches to the novel–they were perfect for moving the story along.
The Doctor just keeps getting better and better in my opinion–I really like reading this series, and cannot wait to finish the next in the Glamour Chronicles series–I think I have missed one of the books. The worlds that he is placed in allow him the opportunity to continue on his quest to learn more and more about humanity (via interacting with his companion), as well as the rest of the vast galaxies he interacts with.
I enjoyed this book, and look forward to the next one. Until I get to travel with the Doctor again, I will take my leave!
Thank you to publisher, Broadway Books, and for Blogging for Books for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
The Doctor and Clara land the TARDIS in Varuz–a city on the brink of death. The Duke who ‘rules’ the land is ready to risk everything in order to save it–in one last battle. However, a holy man (aka the Doctor) and his companion begin to investigate what’s hiding under the surface of this city (and the laser swords), Lancelot and the Grail quest begin to pop up on this land, the Doctor begins to seriously investigate the strange properties of the everything on the planet–including a pendant given to Clara, herself! Will the Doctor be able to solve the mystery, and stop a war that might destroy the area? And, is the energy behind the scenes have ties to the glamour the Doctor has been investigating?
Una McCormack does an awesome job of taking Capaldi’s Doctor from the screen and translating him to the page. It is a flawless transition–I particularly loved the parts where our known world became part of the world IN Varuz. I also really enjoyed the Arthurian touches to the novel–they were perfect for moving the story along.
The Doctor just keeps getting better and better in my opinion–I really like reading this series, and cannot wait to finish the next in the Glamour Chronicles series–I think I have missed one of the books. The worlds that he is placed in allow him the opportunity to continue on his quest to learn more and more about humanity (via interacting with his companion), as well as the rest of the vast galaxies he interacts with.
I enjoyed this book, and look forward to the next one. Until I get to travel with the Doctor again, I will take my leave!
tardislibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This Doctor Who book was so good! I was highly impressed with how well written it was (with the exception of a couple word errors, but I could be mistaken.) I was definitely caught off guard with a couple of things. But definitely a great read. :)
alexs_book_hoard's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
longtimereader's review against another edition
3.0
The Doctor and Clara arrive on a plant in need. Once high tech, this place has forgotten their roots! The people of this land think that The Doctor is there to start a war. Suddenly, a new man shows up and muddies things up by claiming he is the ambassador. That means now we have a war brewing for sure. The "Holy Grail" got a bit confused in the mess. It sort of popped up in there, and didn't totally close as well as it could have.
I liked it anyway, but it did come across as weaker. That was sad, because I think it could have been a bit stronger with some help.
My copy came from Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.
I liked it anyway, but it did come across as weaker. That was sad, because I think it could have been a bit stronger with some help.
My copy came from Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.
singerwriter94's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd
As I’m sure you know or can tell, I am a massive fan of Doctor Who, and I find the book series to be so fun, especially when waiting for new episodes. As soon as this particular novel was released, I was immediately intrigued by it. I love stories dealing with politics and conspiracy within a kingdom—particularly anything set in a medieval or medieval-esque time period. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling very disappointed by this novel. While it is a quick and light read, there are many, sometimes glaring, issues that are impossible to ignore.
In this novel, the Doctor and Clara find themselves in the land of Varuz where tensions are high, war is on the horizon, and secrets are profuse. Aurelian, the duke of Varuz is struggling to keep his city from falling apart completely. His enemy, Duke Conrad, is eager to capture the city for himself, and Aurelian is contemplating making Varuz’s last stand against the waiting army. After The Doctor’s path collides with Duke Aurelian’s men, he is mistaken for a holy man, and he and Clara are taken to the court of the duke. Aurelian is eager to receive The Doctor’s opinion on the decision, and the pair plan to leave as soon as he has given one. But The Doctor and Clara are soon enraptured by the fate of Varuz and the potential treason going on behind-the-scenes.
Even though I finished this novel a few months ago and have spent time thinking through it, I’m still finding the majority of the plot somewhat baffling. I’ll start off by saying that one of the biggest problems pertaining to the actual text itself is the massive amount of typos and grammatical errors. Frankly, I am stunned that they were so prevalent—you can find at least one spelling or sentence structure issue on every single page. It is as if no one bothered to proofread before publishing the book. This ended up being quite distracting, and made the lack of polish of story as a whole even more prominent.
After reading the synopsis of this book, I was very intrigued—it sounded like a story or episode of the show that I would have adored, and I wanted so badly to enjoy it. I love reading the novels about the Twelfth Doctor, especially ones containing Clara as I think she is a strong and intelligent protagonist. The interplay between the two is always enjoyable—they have so much chemistry and make a fantastic pair, balancing each other well. This is what I was hoping to find in this tale of their adventures, but I came out feeling very lukewarm about absolutely everything.
The plot just did not live up to it’s potential, and this could have been such a wonderful one in so many ways. It promised mystery and drama and suspense, but proved to be lacking all three. Too many facts are revealed too rapidly, and then it is essentially a slough to the end. Personally, I think it was a mistake to write this storyline in first-person in general, but even more so because of the character McCormack chose to be the main narrator. This choice ruins all of the enigmatic nature of the plot, the primary element on which it is heavily riding. We also spend a far too short amount of time focusing on The Doctor himself, a pitfall that the novels in this series sometimes run in to.
McCormack’s writing is sufficient, but definitely mediocre and much weaker than I was expecting. There are a number of aspects of the various settings in the novel that are depicted with a reasonable amount of detail, however, the world-building is quite wholly inconsistent. For me, there were times where I found it challenging to imagine what the city of Varuz, and the outside environment in general, looked like. This adds another challenge when trying to become immersed in the world.
I also found the character depiction in this story to be very hit or miss, particularly with the Doctor and Clara. Early on, McCormack does a decent job of replicating the personalities of the characters we already know and love. However, she soon slipped up, and they began to come across the wrong way. Their personalities are in constant instability—one moment things are matching up and then they suddenly talk or act in ways that are completely uncharacteristic of the characters from the show. The side characters in the narrative are, for the most part, very bland and one-dimensional. They are not built up well enough for the reader to feel any sort of connection to them.
While I generally judge these types of books on a bit of a different scale due to the simple and fun nature of them, this particular installment had a greater quantity of weaknesses than I typically find. With this all being said, it is still an interesting enough novel, and makes for a light, quick read. Despite its flaws, the imperfections do not make it so difficult that it is impossible to understand. And while this should not be entirely the job of the reader, one’s imagination and inner editor can easily fill in the gaps and make corrections when needed. As always though, the books from the Doctor Who literature series are always nice to have around when the show is in between seasons.
Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd
As I’m sure you know or can tell, I am a massive fan of Doctor Who, and I find the book series to be so fun, especially when waiting for new episodes. As soon as this particular novel was released, I was immediately intrigued by it. I love stories dealing with politics and conspiracy within a kingdom—particularly anything set in a medieval or medieval-esque time period. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling very disappointed by this novel. While it is a quick and light read, there are many, sometimes glaring, issues that are impossible to ignore.
In this novel, the Doctor and Clara find themselves in the land of Varuz where tensions are high, war is on the horizon, and secrets are profuse. Aurelian, the duke of Varuz is struggling to keep his city from falling apart completely. His enemy, Duke Conrad, is eager to capture the city for himself, and Aurelian is contemplating making Varuz’s last stand against the waiting army. After The Doctor’s path collides with Duke Aurelian’s men, he is mistaken for a holy man, and he and Clara are taken to the court of the duke. Aurelian is eager to receive The Doctor’s opinion on the decision, and the pair plan to leave as soon as he has given one. But The Doctor and Clara are soon enraptured by the fate of Varuz and the potential treason going on behind-the-scenes.
Even though I finished this novel a few months ago and have spent time thinking through it, I’m still finding the majority of the plot somewhat baffling. I’ll start off by saying that one of the biggest problems pertaining to the actual text itself is the massive amount of typos and grammatical errors. Frankly, I am stunned that they were so prevalent—you can find at least one spelling or sentence structure issue on every single page. It is as if no one bothered to proofread before publishing the book. This ended up being quite distracting, and made the lack of polish of story as a whole even more prominent.
After reading the synopsis of this book, I was very intrigued—it sounded like a story or episode of the show that I would have adored, and I wanted so badly to enjoy it. I love reading the novels about the Twelfth Doctor, especially ones containing Clara as I think she is a strong and intelligent protagonist. The interplay between the two is always enjoyable—they have so much chemistry and make a fantastic pair, balancing each other well. This is what I was hoping to find in this tale of their adventures, but I came out feeling very lukewarm about absolutely everything.
The plot just did not live up to it’s potential, and this could have been such a wonderful one in so many ways. It promised mystery and drama and suspense, but proved to be lacking all three. Too many facts are revealed too rapidly, and then it is essentially a slough to the end. Personally, I think it was a mistake to write this storyline in first-person in general, but even more so because of the character McCormack chose to be the main narrator. This choice ruins all of the enigmatic nature of the plot, the primary element on which it is heavily riding. We also spend a far too short amount of time focusing on The Doctor himself, a pitfall that the novels in this series sometimes run in to.
McCormack’s writing is sufficient, but definitely mediocre and much weaker than I was expecting. There are a number of aspects of the various settings in the novel that are depicted with a reasonable amount of detail, however, the world-building is quite wholly inconsistent. For me, there were times where I found it challenging to imagine what the city of Varuz, and the outside environment in general, looked like. This adds another challenge when trying to become immersed in the world.
I also found the character depiction in this story to be very hit or miss, particularly with the Doctor and Clara. Early on, McCormack does a decent job of replicating the personalities of the characters we already know and love. However, she soon slipped up, and they began to come across the wrong way. Their personalities are in constant instability—one moment things are matching up and then they suddenly talk or act in ways that are completely uncharacteristic of the characters from the show. The side characters in the narrative are, for the most part, very bland and one-dimensional. They are not built up well enough for the reader to feel any sort of connection to them.
While I generally judge these types of books on a bit of a different scale due to the simple and fun nature of them, this particular installment had a greater quantity of weaknesses than I typically find. With this all being said, it is still an interesting enough novel, and makes for a light, quick read. Despite its flaws, the imperfections do not make it so difficult that it is impossible to understand. And while this should not be entirely the job of the reader, one’s imagination and inner editor can easily fill in the gaps and make corrections when needed. As always though, the books from the Doctor Who literature series are always nice to have around when the show is in between seasons.
antomicrose's review against another edition
5.0
For the first time the BBC New Series Doctor Who adventures released a series of connecting novels, all involving a mysterious artifact. In this novel the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald arrive in the crumbling city if Varuz and become involved in the politics and mystery of the land.
Una McCormack writes the 12th Doctor with such skill that it's hard to believe that this is her first time writing for him. Funny, caring, sarcastic and genuinely done with everything the 12th Doctor here is one of the best written portrayals of the character I've ever read. The Doctor joins a quest to find the holy grail and the mystery itself is intriguing and sets up the next novels well without leaving any characters in this novel unresolved.
Clara Oswald here is written just as fantastically as the Doctor, intelligent, caring, sassy and controling. Clara finds herself caught up in some political intrigue and tries to stop an invasion. Much like on TV Clara takes on much of what she thinks the Doctor will do, not stoping for a second to doubt if she can or not.
The Knights that are searching for the holy grail are an interesting concept, knights that have spent thousands of years searching for something that they know nothing about, but existing only to find it. The conclusion feels like something from a TV episode and McCormack paints an interesting picture of Clara sat on a hillside at sunset watching a battle take place, a scene that I wish we saw on TV.
All in all this an interesting and fun read that saw the Doctor and Clara at their best, together and apart.
Una McCormack writes the 12th Doctor with such skill that it's hard to believe that this is her first time writing for him. Funny, caring, sarcastic and genuinely done with everything the 12th Doctor here is one of the best written portrayals of the character I've ever read. The Doctor joins a quest to find the holy grail and the mystery itself is intriguing and sets up the next novels well without leaving any characters in this novel unresolved.
Clara Oswald here is written just as fantastically as the Doctor, intelligent, caring, sassy and controling. Clara finds herself caught up in some political intrigue and tries to stop an invasion. Much like on TV Clara takes on much of what she thinks the Doctor will do, not stoping for a second to doubt if she can or not.
The Knights that are searching for the holy grail are an interesting concept, knights that have spent thousands of years searching for something that they know nothing about, but existing only to find it. The conclusion feels like something from a TV episode and McCormack paints an interesting picture of Clara sat on a hillside at sunset watching a battle take place, a scene that I wish we saw on TV.
All in all this an interesting and fun read that saw the Doctor and Clara at their best, together and apart.