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faiazalam's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
A powerhouse of a story, with a strong political aspect thrusting The Doctor, Jo and UNIT into a world that they're much less used to, and one that's infinitely more terrifying than any aliens they may have to face. This story gets so much right, it's astonishing to consider that I don't hear more about it.
The main element of the tale is humanity's inherent ability for cruelty, an ability oft disguised as a game of politics. Having our main crew face the ramifications of political instability and the beaurocracy of worldly matters, they find that their task isn't so black and white as finding a group of alien invaders and kicking them back. There's no resolve they can offer here, there's no solution that can be presented. It's all they can do to save themselves and maybe as many lives as possible in the process. An astonishingly strong premise, brilliantly executed.
The characterisations of the main crew, namely The Doctor, Jo, The Brigadier, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton, are all spot on. Jo's journey into trying to fit the maelstrom of human conflict into her version of perfect morality is extremely compelling, more often than not bringing her to loggerheads with The Doctor and the Brigadier. It's a shame this novel was written after the conclusion of the TV series, as it would have been a delight to see how she develops after this tale.
It's very rereadable, often giving a new insight into the supporting characters with each read, and allowing us to dig out more parallels with the world in which we live.
The breadth and scope of this tale is astounding, and it's really one I wish the television show was capable of at the time that it had aired.
The main element of the tale is humanity's inherent ability for cruelty, an ability oft disguised as a game of politics. Having our main crew face the ramifications of political instability and the beaurocracy of worldly matters, they find that their task isn't so black and white as finding a group of alien invaders and kicking them back. There's no resolve they can offer here, there's no solution that can be presented. It's all they can do to save themselves and maybe as many lives as possible in the process. An astonishingly strong premise, brilliantly executed.
The characterisations of the main crew, namely The Doctor, Jo, The Brigadier, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton, are all spot on. Jo's journey into trying to fit the maelstrom of human conflict into her version of perfect morality is extremely compelling, more often than not bringing her to loggerheads with The Doctor and the Brigadier. It's a shame this novel was written after the conclusion of the TV series, as it would have been a delight to see how she develops after this tale.
It's very rereadable, often giving a new insight into the supporting characters with each read, and allowing us to dig out more parallels with the world in which we live.
The breadth and scope of this tale is astounding, and it's really one I wish the television show was capable of at the time that it had aired.
saoki's review against another edition
3.0
This novel is the complete opposite of Time of your Life (the last Missing Adventure I read). A well-written, well-crafted book, with an interesting plot and good point of view characters. It is actually a relief to say that this is a good book! I might not usually read this kind of militaristic thriller, but it's still a proper novel. It's just not that good as a Doctor Who story, which is a shame.
Even as a UNIT-era story, it spends too much time being military and there is way too much shooting going on. I understand the author was probably going for more realism in the war scenario than Doctor Who stories usually get, as there is a proper chain of command, no one really trusts the UN forces (a Very 1990's Take), when Jo is arrested she's taken to an actually female prison, there is a member of the press present as there would be in a conflict like that and the contacts with the different factions are all hers. It doesn't adds up to a badly written story, but it feels a lot like someone threw the Doctor into a previously written military thriller where he didn't fit very well. It feels like half the horror of the story could have been prevented if only the Doctor had acted sooner, and that is never a good look for Doctor Who stories.
But I do have something to say. If this is what happened to Jo before The Green Death, than of course I get why she just declined the Doctor's offer and just left UNIT. I would also understand if she never again touched honey in her life.
Even as a UNIT-era story, it spends too much time being military and there is way too much shooting going on. I understand the author was probably going for more realism in the war scenario than Doctor Who stories usually get, as there is a proper chain of command, no one really trusts the UN forces (a Very 1990's Take), when Jo is arrested she's taken to an actually female prison, there is a member of the press present as there would be in a conflict like that and the contacts with the different factions are all hers. It doesn't adds up to a badly written story, but it feels a lot like someone threw the Doctor into a previously written military thriller where he didn't fit very well. It feels like half the horror of the story could have been prevented if only the Doctor had acted sooner, and that is never a good look for Doctor Who stories.
But I do have something to say. If this is what happened to Jo before The Green Death, than of course I get why she just declined the Doctor's offer and just left UNIT. I would also understand if she never again touched honey in her life.
scampr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm really not sure what to think of this novel, it was just weird more than anything. The central plot of an invasion of hive-minded insectoid aliens is not particularly original, and nor is the 'replacing people with duplicates' aspect of the story.
It's serviceable and does a couple of unique things with the concept, but it was the extraneous elements to the uninspired invasion that carried my enjoyment - this includes the unique setting, the mythology and history of the alien threat, the exploration of UNIT dealing with bureaucracy, and most importantly the initial hook of the Doctor's future predicting machine.
The supposed vision of the Brigadier's betrayal in cold heartedly killing the Doctor and Jo drives a significant chunk of the narrative, and provides us with some good emotional beats and character exploration.
Dancing the Code takes place in a fictional north-African country, Kebiria, which is experiencing territorial disputes between the state and the villages/tribes outside the developed city areas. Sometimes settings and situations like this serve only to be an exotic backdrop visually/atmospherically, so I was glad to find some substance to the decision. The novel uses this conflict, alongside the conflict with the alien invaders, to explore some ideas and morals about war, authority, responsibility, escalation and extremism.
In turn, the volatile setting enhances the stakes of the sci-fi half of the plot, which intersects to form a dangerous mess of conflicts and motives.
This does however lead me onto my main criticism and source of confliction with Dancing the Code, which is the tone. This story is pretty serious, is trying to tackle some mature morals and politics, and does this all with a large amount of violence, body horror and general bleakness.
With a little dialling back, this would align well with the approach of Season 7 of Classic Who! But instead, the writer decided to base this story in the latter half of Season 10, and I just don't understand why.
Season 8 and beyond firmly established a more light-hearted tone, evolving the Doctor's personality, giving us the 'UNIT family' dynamic, and of course the wonderfully likeable Jo Grant. The characters at play are totally at odds with the type of story they're in, and while subverting such things can be interesting, it just doesn't work here. While I can somewhat buy into the Doctor, the Brig and the UNIT soldiers going through this story, it's pretty rough on them - but Jo is completely out of place in this kind of warzone and the amount of traumatic stuff she goes through.
On paper this novel is perfectly fine, some interesting sci-fi ideas and weird alien imagery, an uncommon setting and diverse characters, an engaging plot with some fun twists, some thematic and emotional weight, and enjoyable action beats - but the intensity of some of the darker/more serious elements made this story clash with the era it was meant to belong to. This will not be an issue for everyone, so I don't consider this a bad story, just a flawed one.
My one last nit-pick is that Dancing the Code was a little slow and dense to read, and does get slightly annoying/repetitive at times (you'll know what I mean).
It's serviceable and does a couple of unique things with the concept, but it was the extraneous elements to the uninspired invasion that carried my enjoyment - this includes the unique setting, the mythology and history of the alien threat, the exploration of UNIT dealing with bureaucracy, and most importantly the initial hook of the Doctor's future predicting machine.
The supposed vision of the Brigadier's betrayal in cold heartedly killing the Doctor and Jo drives a significant chunk of the narrative, and provides us with some good emotional beats and character exploration.
Dancing the Code takes place in a fictional north-African country, Kebiria, which is experiencing territorial disputes between the state and the villages/tribes outside the developed city areas. Sometimes settings and situations like this serve only to be an exotic backdrop visually/atmospherically, so I was glad to find some substance to the decision. The novel uses this conflict, alongside the conflict with the alien invaders, to explore some ideas and morals about war, authority, responsibility, escalation and extremism.
In turn, the volatile setting enhances the stakes of the sci-fi half of the plot, which intersects to form a dangerous mess of conflicts and motives.
This does however lead me onto my main criticism and source of confliction with Dancing the Code, which is the tone. This story is pretty serious, is trying to tackle some mature morals and politics, and does this all with a large amount of violence, body horror and general bleakness.
With a little dialling back, this would align well with the approach of Season 7 of Classic Who! But instead, the writer decided to base this story in the latter half of Season 10, and I just don't understand why.
Season 8 and beyond firmly established a more light-hearted tone, evolving the Doctor's personality, giving us the 'UNIT family' dynamic, and of course the wonderfully likeable Jo Grant. The characters at play are totally at odds with the type of story they're in, and while subverting such things can be interesting, it just doesn't work here. While I can somewhat buy into the Doctor, the Brig and the UNIT soldiers going through this story, it's pretty rough on them - but Jo is completely out of place in this kind of warzone and the amount of traumatic stuff she goes through.
On paper this novel is perfectly fine, some interesting sci-fi ideas and weird alien imagery, an uncommon setting and diverse characters, an engaging plot with some fun twists, some thematic and emotional weight, and enjoyable action beats - but the intensity of some of the darker/more serious elements made this story clash with the era it was meant to belong to. This will not be an issue for everyone, so I don't consider this a bad story, just a flawed one.
My one last nit-pick is that Dancing the Code was a little slow and dense to read, and does get slightly annoying/repetitive at times (you'll know what I mean).
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
In one of the last few chapters of the book there is a very brief mention of an antagonist's intention/attempt to SA/R*pe a female characternwhyte's review
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2217422.html[return][return]One of the earlier Virgin Missing Adventures, which piqued my interest when I realised that a substantial chunk of the plot revolves around a conflict bordering Morocco and Algeria, a situation to which I have a professional connection. However there's one important difference - Leonard's fictional country of Kebiria is on the Mediterranean coast rather than the Atlantic. The plot is actually rather similar to the last Eighth Doctor novel I read, in that actors in a local conflict find that they have potential alien allies, but those alien allies actually have their own agenda. But I liked it a lot more, partly because setting a story like this in the firm anchorage of the Third Doctor and Jo Grant UNIT era gives Leonard a good stock cast for this sort of thing, all of whom he does well by (apart from Yates who is unsalvageable anyway), and also partly because his aliens do a neat line in dopplegangers, which I always enjoy, and body-horror, which I like when it's done right.
nukirisame's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
markk's review
1.0
In a small North African country, government forces campaigning against rebels suddenly vanish without a trace. In the rebel encampment, a British reporter witnesses a battered UNIT jeep crash into a tent, driven by a dying man exuding a honey-like substance. And in England, the Doctor detects a vision of the future, one in which the Brigadier will shoot both him and Jo Grant in cold blood. Together the three events point to the latest alien threat facing the Earth, one that threatens to consume all of humanity unless the Doctor can stop it.
This was the second of Paul Leonard's contributions to the Doctor Who franchise that I have read, and i approached it with expectations shaped by his previous novel for the Virgin Missing Adventures series, Venusian Lullaby. Perhaps this is why I was so disappointed with the work. Unlike his previous novel, which drew its strengths from its quirky setting and immersion into truly alien culture, this one suffered from a tired premise poorly developed by it. With numerous characters hurriedly introduced into the plot there is little investment in their fates, nor is there any suspense in a climax that doesn't measure up to its supposedly epic scale. With an ending that is equal parts rushed and predictable, the result is a book that is not among the better contributions to the series.
This was the second of Paul Leonard's contributions to the Doctor Who franchise that I have read, and i approached it with expectations shaped by his previous novel for the Virgin Missing Adventures series, Venusian Lullaby. Perhaps this is why I was so disappointed with the work. Unlike his previous novel, which drew its strengths from its quirky setting and immersion into truly alien culture, this one suffered from a tired premise poorly developed by it. With numerous characters hurriedly introduced into the plot there is little investment in their fates, nor is there any suspense in a climax that doesn't measure up to its supposedly epic scale. With an ending that is equal parts rushed and predictable, the result is a book that is not among the better contributions to the series.
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