Reviews

Doctor Who : Thirteen Doctors 13 Stories by Naomi Alderman

Only show reviews with written explanations

saoki's review

5.0

Oh this is marvelous. Not a single bad story, although some are definitely better than others. My favorites were:
"A Big Hand for the Doctor", because Peter Pan. And pirates. And the 1st Doctor being specially heroic.
"The Roots of Evil", which captures the essence of a 4th Doctor story while also being something that feels like it was written in this century.
"Tip of The Tongue", which is a great story, full stop. I will look into this author's books because I was actually impressed.
"Something Borrowed", because I love Sixie, but also because it's an Actually Good Story with the Rani in it, and that on itself is a wonder.
"Nothing O'Clock", because Neil Gaiman. I had actually already read this one in one of his collections, but I wasn't a Whovian back then and was mostly impressed with the villain. Now that I'm capable of fully appreciating how much trivia Gaiman manages to sneak into a story without making it bloated I understand that this story is really great.

lillianeis_bored's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

chicafrom3's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Originally a collection of eleven stories for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, updated edition for the Thirteenth Doctor, does exactly what the title says: thirteen short stories, one for each Doctor. Varying quality, but all ranging from good to very good. My favorite is Lights Out by Holly Black, featuring the Twelfth Doctor dealing with a teenage alien navigating the truth of their identity and past.

read_late's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This one was fun. I recommend it for Whovians and maybe for anyone with even a teeny tiny passing interest in Doctor Who. A few stories were a bit of a slog pace-wise, but even they when they were slow, they were fantastic. Each story captured that particular regeneration of the Doctor nicely (my favorite was Gaiman's story which I've read several times before in his Neil Gaiman Reader. This story loses nothing with multiple reads!) The narrator for Jodie Whittaker's was spot-on with Jodie's and Ryan's voices, which was wonderful, but that same narrator was a little aggravatingly overdone with the Southern accent character's voice (won't say the character's name or role... spoilers). If you're looking for a bit of nostalgia with beloved characters, solid storytelling, and the familiar set-up of Who episodes (Who both old and new) this is the book for you. 5 stars!

delmaamoun's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

2.25

Isn’t worth it

arrianereads's review

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4.0

Really enjoyed this book; it was my first foray into officially licensed Doctor Who fiction, and I’m so glad I decided to pick it up. My first proper encounter with some of the classic Doctors, too. A great read, especially with work by some of my favourite authors included in the anthology. Pick it up if you’re a fan!