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faiazalam's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I must be honest, this one didn't do it for me at all. It very much felt like a standalone novel with The Doctor and Sarah Jane plonked into the middle of it to somehow make it tangentially related to Dr Who. There really isn't anything for the main two characters to do apart from be swept up in events and then for The Doctor to be at the right place at the right time at the end so that he can be the hero of the tale as opposed to one of the other, more prominent, characters who had a much larger role in the story.
This story is very convoluted, dedicating not enough time to either the main plot at hand or the world-buildng going on around it. The Earth has changed remarkably at the point where this story is set, but the purpose for said change and the reason for the events of the tale don't seem in any way credible or really worthwhile. There's no real purpose to anything happening here and the events simply occur because they just so happen to be what the characters are doing at the time. There's no drive or impetus to push the characters in any direction.
The characterisation of The Fourth Doctor is excellent, and even though he does take more of a back seat than he usually would, it's great fun to picture The Doctor alongside characters such as Byron and Mary Shelley. Unfortunately, Sarah Jane is terribly ill served throughout the tale, being far more a puppet for the villains just because there's nothing for her to do. The supporting characters are vaguely interesting, but they rarely have enough life to really grip us and make us care about them or their actions.
I don't think I'm likely to visit this one any time soon, towards the end I'd definitely found myself wishing that the story would be over.
The ambitions of the tale are grand, and whilst there isn't nearly enough world-biuilding, what little is there is great to read.
This story is very convoluted, dedicating not enough time to either the main plot at hand or the world-buildng going on around it. The Earth has changed remarkably at the point where this story is set, but the purpose for said change and the reason for the events of the tale don't seem in any way credible or really worthwhile. There's no real purpose to anything happening here and the events simply occur because they just so happen to be what the characters are doing at the time. There's no drive or impetus to push the characters in any direction.
The characterisation of The Fourth Doctor is excellent, and even though he does take more of a back seat than he usually would, it's great fun to picture The Doctor alongside characters such as Byron and Mary Shelley. Unfortunately, Sarah Jane is terribly ill served throughout the tale, being far more a puppet for the villains just because there's nothing for her to do. The supporting characters are vaguely interesting, but they rarely have enough life to really grip us and make us care about them or their actions.
I don't think I'm likely to visit this one any time soon, towards the end I'd definitely found myself wishing that the story would be over.
The ambitions of the tale are grand, and whilst there isn't nearly enough world-biuilding, what little is there is great to read.
saoki's review
1.0
Ugh it's best if I don't say anything other than that the 1990's were indeed the birthplace of eDgY.
Also, fuck men that think any woman would walk around in a bikini when she could have made a dress out of her towel.
Also, fuck men that think any woman would walk around in a bikini when she could have made a dress out of her towel.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/657941.html[return][return]Great fun as Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith rush around a future landscape including reincarnations of Cardinal Richelieu, Casanova, Byron, another Byron, Mary Shelley, and various popes and poets. I think I just about understood what was going on, but it hardly matters.
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