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andrew_j_r's review against another edition
3.0
20.9.17: So, what can I say about this book?
Well, the first things is the format. There are twelve stories here with a contrived link that is the zodiac, twelve stories that have a nominal link to the sign of the zodiac. A story about fish. Pisces. Check. A story about a a murderer called The Capricorn Killer. Capricorn. Check. And so on.
So before each story you have a link that tells you about the zodiac sign, strangely from a Gallifreyan point of view. A page wasted as there is nothing there to get your teeth into.
The stories, on the other hand, vary from genuinely interesting (Andrew Collins’ The Invertebrates of Doom), via fun but silly (Jealous, Possessive by Paul Magrs which is essentially letters written between K9 Marks I and II) through to creepy (The True And Indisputable Facts In The Matter Of The Ram’s Skull by Mark Michalowski). Some hit, some miss, but there are some good tales in here. This is the first of a series that ran to twenty nine volumes, if they all have as much to offer as the better stories in here then hopefully they will be a joy to read.
Old review: suppose the problem with a short story colllection is that there is no way that everyone will like all of the stories. Some of the stories are great (I love the bitchy letters betweeb K9's Mark I and II, as well as the one where five incarnations of the Doctor meet up) but most of them were average.
And the "Zodiac" linking theme is pointless - there are twelve stories but there is nothing (that I could see) linking the stories to the sign of the Zodiac that they allegedy represent.
So for a first book a bit dull and disappointing. I am sure they will improve as the series continues.
Well, the first things is the format. There are twelve stories here with a contrived link that is the zodiac, twelve stories that have a nominal link to the sign of the zodiac. A story about fish. Pisces. Check. A story about a a murderer called The Capricorn Killer. Capricorn. Check. And so on.
So before each story you have a link that tells you about the zodiac sign, strangely from a Gallifreyan point of view. A page wasted as there is nothing there to get your teeth into.
The stories, on the other hand, vary from genuinely interesting (Andrew Collins’ The Invertebrates of Doom), via fun but silly (Jealous, Possessive by Paul Magrs which is essentially letters written between K9 Marks I and II) through to creepy (The True And Indisputable Facts In The Matter Of The Ram’s Skull by Mark Michalowski). Some hit, some miss, but there are some good tales in here. This is the first of a series that ran to twenty nine volumes, if they all have as much to offer as the better stories in here then hopefully they will be a joy to read.
Old review: suppose the problem with a short story colllection is that there is no way that everyone will like all of the stories. Some of the stories are great (I love the bitchy letters betweeb K9's Mark I and II, as well as the one where five incarnations of the Doctor meet up) but most of them were average.
And the "Zodiac" linking theme is pointless - there are twelve stories but there is nothing (that I could see) linking the stories to the sign of the Zodiac that they allegedy represent.
So for a first book a bit dull and disappointing. I am sure they will improve as the series continues.
mordecai's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
nwhyte's review
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2585097.html
This was the first of 29 anthologies of stories featuring the first eight Doctors published by Big Finish between 2002 and 2009. This takes the dubious proposition that astrology as developed on Earth might somehow be relevant to Gallifrey, and asks twelve writers to write stories based on signs of the Zodiac. The results are variable; the one that particularly grabbed me was Ian Potter's Third Doctor / Brigadier / Liz Shaw story "Still Lives", though I did not really see its relevance to the sign of the Crab which it supposedly represents. Also noted for one of my other lists, Joseph Lidster's "I Was a Monster!!!", representing Capricorn, which is set in Dublin.
This was the first of 29 anthologies of stories featuring the first eight Doctors published by Big Finish between 2002 and 2009. This takes the dubious proposition that astrology as developed on Earth might somehow be relevant to Gallifrey, and asks twelve writers to write stories based on signs of the Zodiac. The results are variable; the one that particularly grabbed me was Ian Potter's Third Doctor / Brigadier / Liz Shaw story "Still Lives", though I did not really see its relevance to the sign of the Crab which it supposedly represents. Also noted for one of my other lists, Joseph Lidster's "I Was a Monster!!!", representing Capricorn, which is set in Dublin.
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