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hazelfizz's review against another edition
3.0
Got this one from the library, so I didn't think of unwrapping the jacket until I read a review here. Neat!
atlantic_reader_wannabe's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure I have the words to describe home much I enjoyed reading this collection. Beautiful illustrations for the title of each story, plus a bonus story on the dustjacket, matched with blue-edged pages make this book one of those gotta read types. Some of the stories I really wished lasted longer though, that's my only complaint.
mr5z33's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the stories missed their mark for me unfortunately. They just didn't seem to capture the essence of the Doctor in my opinion. Only 2 of the stories rang true in my ears/head.
bollerud's review against another edition
3.0
Real mix in story quality, but always nice to see the more fantastical Who stories they're able to spin with words, rather than with a limited FX budget.
thatnerdywoman's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
lshykula's review
3.0
Entertaining. I liked the first one the best, with the 4th Doctor. Captured his spirit.
kribu's review
3.0
This is one of those times that I wish I could rate the book, as an object, separately from its contents.
Because this is one lovely hardback. Double-page opening illustrations for each story, the dark blue edges of the pages, and of course the main draw of the hardback for those, like me, who'd already bought - and read - all or most of the individual stories as they were originally released as ebooks: the wrap-around dust jacket, containing an additional, exclusive, heavily illustrated (very) short Twelve & Clara story.
It's a gorgeous book, and while it took me a while to decide to buy it, because it wasn't cheap, I'd already bought and read all but one of the inside stories, and didn't really care for most of them. But hey, pretty book and some "official" Twelve & Clara in this excruciatingly long eight-month wait between series 8 and 9? How could I resist.
Anyway. I've rated & reviewed most of the stories before, so I'm not going to bother doing it again, especially as I didn't re-read them - I'll just say that they ranged from "urgh, awful" to "pretty decent", with mostly "meh". I'm glad to say that the one I hadn't read before, Anti-Hero by Stella Duffy (a Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe story), was more towards the "pretty decent" end of that scale, being .. well, basically a rather nice short story, even though it suffered from what 99% of DW short stories I've read in the last few years suffer from - a good start, nicely building up the story, establishing the location and characters, rolling onwards at a nice pace, and then ... suddenly, the end. Blegh. I don't like short stories, really.
The dust jacket story is really very short (500 words, maybe? I didn't count - it took me too much effort to just unwrap the cover and keep turning it around to find all the bits in the right order, but that was a lot of fun really! - but yeah, it's definitely a short story, considering it has to fit inside a dust jacket with lots of illustrations) but it was a cool little vignette and I enjoyed it. You don't really lose much for not reading it, but I really don't regret getting the book for it.
Because this is one lovely hardback. Double-page opening illustrations for each story, the dark blue edges of the pages, and of course the main draw of the hardback for those, like me, who'd already bought - and read - all or most of the individual stories as they were originally released as ebooks: the wrap-around dust jacket, containing an additional, exclusive, heavily illustrated (very) short Twelve & Clara story.
It's a gorgeous book, and while it took me a while to decide to buy it, because it wasn't cheap, I'd already bought and read all but one of the inside stories, and didn't really care for most of them. But hey, pretty book and some "official" Twelve & Clara in this excruciatingly long eight-month wait between series 8 and 9? How could I resist.
Anyway. I've rated & reviewed most of the stories before, so I'm not going to bother doing it again, especially as I didn't re-read them - I'll just say that they ranged from "urgh, awful" to "pretty decent", with mostly "meh". I'm glad to say that the one I hadn't read before, Anti-Hero by Stella Duffy (a Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe story), was more towards the "pretty decent" end of that scale, being .. well, basically a rather nice short story, even though it suffered from what 99% of DW short stories I've read in the last few years suffer from - a good start, nicely building up the story, establishing the location and characters, rolling onwards at a nice pace, and then ... suddenly, the end. Blegh. I don't like short stories, really.
The dust jacket story is really very short (500 words, maybe? I didn't count - it took me too much effort to just unwrap the cover and keep turning it around to find all the bits in the right order, but that was a lot of fun really! - but yeah, it's definitely a short story, considering it has to fit inside a dust jacket with lots of illustrations) but it was a cool little vignette and I enjoyed it. You don't really lose much for not reading it, but I really don't regret getting the book for it.
squidbag's review
4.0
Far more entertaining than most collections of short stories, even Doctor Who short stories. Featuring 2 Tens, 2 Threes, a Four, a Six, an Eleven and a Two, (so don't be taken in by the suggestion that there's a Twelve in here) these seem to be somewhat centered on themes of control and mock-realities, and were long enough to be fairly in depth, with arguably two exceptions. Quite worth the read.
esperata's review
3.0
The editor should have rearranged the order of these stories since the first offering doesn't introduce the Doctor until about halfway in and he then seems superfluous. Also, Cecilia Ahern's story should have been rejected outright. It's blatantly Cinderella - which could work if she'd at least had the Doctor recognise the fairytale and she'd made an effort to explain the 'magic'.
That said, Jake Arnott and Joanne Haris' tales are both well written and show understanding of the Doctor. I enjoyed the interweaving of historical fact with Arnott's story and the fantastical yet emotional nature of Harris' offering.
That said, Jake Arnott and Joanne Haris' tales are both well written and show understanding of the Doctor. I enjoyed the interweaving of historical fact with Arnott's story and the fantastical yet emotional nature of Harris' offering.