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charlieswrittenadventures's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
h3dakota's review
3.0
It was OK. Some of the ideas were kind of cool. Downside of the audiobook version: so many British narrators just can't do American accents. I truly wish they wouldn't even try, it is very distracting from the story.
scampr's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
When you have a sci-fi series with almost limitless possibilities, it makes sense that our modern knowledge and exploration of space travel often get swept under the rug - as the topic feels unremarkable and restrictive by comparison. It's unfortunate then that of the small-ish amount of times a Doctor Who story is focused on the moon, this 11th Doctor book treads very similar ground to the opening episodes of the show's sixth series with the very same Doctor.
Now, this is completely unintentional! The book was one of the first to be released after series five began, so it was likely written at the same time Moffat was developing the following series.
Plus, in practice, there is very little Apollo 23 shares with The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon plot-wise - it's mainly just some concepts and imagery. Nonetheless, it does mean this novel struggles to carve out a wholly unique identity for itself.
Rather than stepping into history, this story explores the idea that the USA has conducted secret space programs after the apparent 'cancelation' of Apollo 18 & 19. Having established a base on the dark side of the moon, the faulty teleportation technology raises the Doctor's suspicions and he and Amy soon begin to uncover several more shady elements of the operation.
There's unethical experiments with mind alteration, sabotage to the base, the Doctor becomes separated back on Earth, and Amy is left alone to investigate, with potential imposters and espionage about. It makes for quite a good mystery, and the tension in the first half or so of the story is really effective - but I will admit, the answers and resolution were a little underwhelming for me personally. It's nothing too egregious, but the latter half does begin to drag in some places, and once the Doctor makes it back to the base it does devolve into a lot of running around and convenient fixes.
Mild spoilers, but I was hoping the story didn't involve aliens, and was purely a result of human morals & negligence. The mind experiments turn out to be an alien ploy, and this is what leads us to a more action oriented, slightly generic ending to what had been built up before.
Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor is captured very nicely in this novel, with some excellent dialogue. Amy gets some good involvement in the plot, but isn't quite so successfully defined here - which I can understand given how early it is for this Tardis team. I much prefer her once Rory joins and we get that broader character & relationship development.
(side note; I believe Apollo 23 is meant to be set before Vampires in Venice, but given the rapport and experience Amy and the Doctor have, coupled with ZERO mention of Rory, I actually think it works quite well to imagine this takes place in that stretch after Cold Blood and his erasure from the time stream)
The guest characters are decent enough, with Major Carlisle and Professor Jackson being the two standouts.
Overall, the story comes together quite well, despite a little untapped potential and concept overlap with the astronaut stuff. If you want a solid dose of the series 5 vibe and and intriguing mystery, this is a nice easy read!
Now, this is completely unintentional! The book was one of the first to be released after series five began, so it was likely written at the same time Moffat was developing the following series.
Plus, in practice, there is very little Apollo 23 shares with The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon plot-wise - it's mainly just some concepts and imagery. Nonetheless, it does mean this novel struggles to carve out a wholly unique identity for itself.
Rather than stepping into history, this story explores the idea that the USA has conducted secret space programs after the apparent 'cancelation' of Apollo 18 & 19. Having established a base on the dark side of the moon, the faulty teleportation technology raises the Doctor's suspicions and he and Amy soon begin to uncover several more shady elements of the operation.
There's unethical experiments with mind alteration, sabotage to the base, the Doctor becomes separated back on Earth, and Amy is left alone to investigate, with potential imposters and espionage about. It makes for quite a good mystery, and the tension in the first half or so of the story is really effective - but I will admit, the answers and resolution were a little underwhelming for me personally. It's nothing too egregious, but the latter half does begin to drag in some places, and once the Doctor makes it back to the base it does devolve into a lot of running around and convenient fixes.
Mild spoilers, but I was hoping the story didn't involve aliens, and was purely a result of human morals & negligence. The mind experiments turn out to be an alien ploy, and this is what leads us to a more action oriented, slightly generic ending to what had been built up before.
Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor is captured very nicely in this novel, with some excellent dialogue. Amy gets some good involvement in the plot, but isn't quite so successfully defined here - which I can understand given how early it is for this Tardis team. I much prefer her once Rory joins and we get that broader character & relationship development.
(side note; I believe Apollo 23 is meant to be set before Vampires in Venice, but given the rapport and experience Amy and the Doctor have, coupled with ZERO mention of Rory, I actually think it works quite well to imagine this takes place in that stretch after Cold Blood and his erasure from the time stream)
The guest characters are decent enough, with Major Carlisle and Professor Jackson being the two standouts.
Overall, the story comes together quite well, despite a little untapped potential and concept overlap with the astronaut stuff. If you want a solid dose of the series 5 vibe and and intriguing mystery, this is a nice easy read!
matonnhermann's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Death
Minor: Medical content
lutin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fallingletters's review
3.0
Originally posted 25 October 2010 on Falling Letters.
***
Normally I don't purchase these kind of things: novelizations of movies, books based on television shows, etc. But I may have a tiny obsession with DW and there is such a long wait between July and the lone Christmas episode and then finally another season in April and I had a Chapters gift card and it was only $12 and I thought I would just buy one to see what it's like. The Doctor Who novels are not just book versions of the television series; they're original stories. DW is a big franchise, I suppose, comprised of three television series, audio dramas and novels that are all part of the official canon (I believe that's how it works). So choosing to read one of these isn't stretching the fandom tooo far...;P
There isn't too much to say about this book. I enjoyed it, but that's because I'm a fan and it was fun reading a story, hearing my favourite characters again. I especially liked this one because it was a 'space base' kind of story and I love those stories. Would you enjoy this if you aren't already a DW fan? Probably not. But if you are, and you're looking for more DW, I'd recommend giving this a shot.
***
Normally I don't purchase these kind of things: novelizations of movies, books based on television shows, etc. But I may have a tiny obsession with DW and there is such a long wait between July and the lone Christmas episode and then finally another season in April and I had a Chapters gift card and it was only $12 and I thought I would just buy one to see what it's like. The Doctor Who novels are not just book versions of the television series; they're original stories. DW is a big franchise, I suppose, comprised of three television series, audio dramas and novels that are all part of the official canon (I believe that's how it works). So choosing to read one of these isn't stretching the fandom tooo far...;P
There isn't too much to say about this book. I enjoyed it, but that's because I'm a fan and it was fun reading a story, hearing my favourite characters again. I especially liked this one because it was a 'space base' kind of story and I love those stories. Would you enjoy this if you aren't already a DW fan? Probably not. But if you are, and you're looking for more DW, I'd recommend giving this a shot.
rebelbelle13's review
3.0
This was another solid, easily readable installment of modern Who. The whole astronaut thing seems a bit redundant given Smith's second season, but the story morphed quickly enough into alien invasion, mind control and human race ending stakes, as per usual. All of the side characters melded together for me, and there was no one that stood out as memorable or different. I'm not sure if that's an intentional slight on Americans or not, but I'll give Richards the benefit of the doubt here and say that he was just going for run of the mill military-type characters. Eleven and Amy seem to be perfectly within character, although this feels like very early days for both of them.
Bonus here, (as with most modern who novels) the plot doesn't ever stall, and you are left wondering what the next plot point will be, and where the story is ultimately going. The final 'gotcha' moment takes awhile to play out, most likely for the benefit of the characters in the book, as the reader will have determined what the Doctor's plan is well before it takes place.
A note about the audiobook: the narrator was not the right choice to perform this novel, due to all of the American accents needed. It was not apparent what type of accent the narrator was going for, but he seemed to be attempting a mix of Southern Texas, Appalachian and the Bronx. (Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.) He pronounced the name Candace as 'canned ace' and Carlisle as 'Carl AISLE' and he swapped from Hoo-stan to Hue-stan. (In the first chapter, he actually said "Hoo-stan, we have a problem." REALLY?)
Audiobook performance aside, this was a decent, if forgettable, novel in the Modern Who series.
Bonus here, (as with most modern who novels) the plot doesn't ever stall, and you are left wondering what the next plot point will be, and where the story is ultimately going. The final 'gotcha' moment takes awhile to play out, most likely for the benefit of the characters in the book, as the reader will have determined what the Doctor's plan is well before it takes place.
A note about the audiobook: the narrator was not the right choice to perform this novel, due to all of the American accents needed. It was not apparent what type of accent the narrator was going for, but he seemed to be attempting a mix of Southern Texas, Appalachian and the Bronx. (Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.) He pronounced the name Candace as 'canned ace' and Carlisle as 'Carl AISLE' and he swapped from Hoo-stan to Hue-stan. (In the first chapter, he actually said "Hoo-stan, we have a problem." REALLY?)
Audiobook performance aside, this was a decent, if forgettable, novel in the Modern Who series.
jenne512's review
4.0
It's a fun read for any fan of the TV series. I think my biggest concern was if the writer would keep Amy and the Doctor consistent in their characterization - which Richards does. Also, the story keeps you on your toes at a good, consistent style. I once listened to a Doctor Who audiobook which completely changed the themes and plot of being focused on Rory/Amy to what seemed to be the Doctor's plot and made the whole story feel completely different and out of place. This book balances out both the Doctor's and Amy's independent adventures, and still keeps with a humor that you would expect from any Doctor Who episode.
tom724148's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
beth_books_123's review
3.0
A great edition to the Doctor Who book franchise.
Okay, I admit it, there are many Doctor Who books that are much better than this but for an extremely short read I found it okay.
My problems...
The aliens were very undeveloped for a Doctor Who novel which I found was disappointing. I learnt little about the species, their home planet and motives. Also, I felt that Amy and the Doctor weren't as developed as they could have been and this was probably because of the start-stop plot.
Overall, I think that this plot had extreme potential if there was a development into the plot and character.
Okay, I admit it, there are many Doctor Who books that are much better than this but for an extremely short read I found it okay.
My problems...
The aliens were very undeveloped for a Doctor Who novel which I found was disappointing. I learnt little about the species, their home planet and motives. Also, I felt that Amy and the Doctor weren't as developed as they could have been and this was probably because of the start-stop plot.
Overall, I think that this plot had extreme potential if there was a development into the plot and character.