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nwhyte's review
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1490630.html
This was Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book (in the Virgin New Adventures series), laying the groundwork for a subsequent career that has most recently produced The Lodger (though we have a couple more Sarah Jane Smith stories by him coming out towards the end of the year). A small plot element - London commuters whisked through a wormhole in space to encounter an alien menace - was re-used in Planet of the Dead, by Gareth Roberts and RTD. Fannish opinion on this one seems a bit polarised; I thought it was OK but not brilliant, with the best bit being the introduction of the alien Chelonians, a race of militant cybernetic tortoises who crop up in other, later Who novels and who were recently name-checked on screen in The Pandorica Opens. I was less impressed by galactic war criminal Sheldukher who I felt varied between dull and nasty. Poor Benny Summerfield has a hard time of it, with her brain being partially rotted by a spiked soft drink. Various other elements jumbled together, not completely successfully, but a fairly satisfactory Big Reveal at the end. The prelude to the book, published in DWM in 1993, is online athttp://www.drwhoguide.com/whona11p.htm
This was Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book (in the Virgin New Adventures series), laying the groundwork for a subsequent career that has most recently produced The Lodger (though we have a couple more Sarah Jane Smith stories by him coming out towards the end of the year). A small plot element - London commuters whisked through a wormhole in space to encounter an alien menace - was re-used in Planet of the Dead, by Gareth Roberts and RTD. Fannish opinion on this one seems a bit polarised; I thought it was OK but not brilliant, with the best bit being the introduction of the alien Chelonians, a race of militant cybernetic tortoises who crop up in other, later Who novels and who were recently name-checked on screen in The Pandorica Opens. I was less impressed by galactic war criminal Sheldukher who I felt varied between dull and nasty. Poor Benny Summerfield has a hard time of it, with her brain being partially rotted by a spiked soft drink. Various other elements jumbled together, not completely successfully, but a fairly satisfactory Big Reveal at the end. The prelude to the book, published in DWM in 1993, is online at
kmccubbin's review
1.0
Having read this and listened to Roberts' Big Finish audiodrama (coincidentally) very recently, it's pretty clear that he is a fan who got an inexplicable opportunity which he, at least initially, blew.
This is a train wreck of a book, a bunch of lifts from better writers that call to mind your irritating friend in 7th grade showing you his gorey stick figure drawings that he made because he'd read an issue of Heavy Metal once.
I'm trying to crawl chronologically through the New Adventures, as I only read a handful when they came out, and there has already been some truly wonderful stuff, but I may be skipping Roberts' work from now on.
This is a train wreck of a book, a bunch of lifts from better writers that call to mind your irritating friend in 7th grade showing you his gorey stick figure drawings that he made because he'd read an issue of Heavy Metal once.
I'm trying to crawl chronologically through the New Adventures, as I only read a handful when they came out, and there has already been some truly wonderful stuff, but I may be skipping Roberts' work from now on.
una_10bananas's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
nukirisame's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
hammard's review
2.0
This is Roberts first book for the Virgin range and he would become one the most prolific writers for it (equaling only Cornell in prose pieces with both writing 7 books and 2 short stories). However for me this is one of his weaker efforts.
There is still a good amount of humour to be found but some of the jokes are hit and miss, whilst others date. The Chelonians to me are the first example of the trend to emerge of basically sticking an animal head on a sontaran and calling it a new species. And the stuff around them being angry as they are constantly pregnant actually come across as in really poor taste.
Also annoying is the treatment of Bernice, who, for the second book in a row, has her mind altered. This time by drinking a weird form of soda. This largely seems to be to keep her out of the way of The Doctor's plot til the end and to avoid having to give much characterisation to a new character. She even says that how pointless that all was.
The Doctor's plotline is good but he is less manipulative than he is in the other books, more like the chaotic Fourth Doctor. The end twists however are dark and rather interesting.
Still very much an example of the series trying to find its feet.
There is still a good amount of humour to be found but some of the jokes are hit and miss, whilst others date. The Chelonians to me are the first example of the trend to emerge of basically sticking an animal head on a sontaran and calling it a new species. And the stuff around them being angry as they are constantly pregnant actually come across as in really poor taste.
Also annoying is the treatment of Bernice, who, for the second book in a row, has her mind altered. This time by drinking a weird form of soda. This largely seems to be to keep her out of the way of The Doctor's plot til the end and to avoid having to give much characterisation to a new character. She even says that how pointless that all was.
The Doctor's plotline is good but he is less manipulative than he is in the other books, more like the chaotic Fourth Doctor. The end twists however are dark and rather interesting.
Still very much an example of the series trying to find its feet.
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