Reviews

Doctor Who: The Bodysnatchers by Mark Morris

Only show reviews with written explanations

cecesloth's review against another edition

3.0

The brutal atmosphere of Victorian London is well done and the Skarasen are terrifying, but the Zygons and Litefoot are underused. 8 and Sam have some nice moments, but her motivations are written clumsily and repeated over and over again.

decembera's review

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dark reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

hidekisohma's review

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4.0

So I finally got around to reading the third doctor who novel in the EDA series, and in all honesty, it's pretty good.

First off, if you haven't seen "Talons of Weng Chiang" before, i recommend watching it before reading this. one of the main side characters is from that arc and it'll help you as he makes references to it more than a few times.

The actual writing of this book is good as well. The pacing is pretty good and the 8th doctor acts very doctor-y.

The only real issues i have with this book are kinda prevalent in a lot of doctor who novels. there's a side story with characters which really amount to nothing and then they die.

The funny thing about this is that the side character in this story is named Jack and oh my god. it's HILARIOUS how evil this guy is. like, he's the most mustache twirling villainous dude i've ever seen in a doctor who story. his backstory literally involves beating a child to death because he annoyed him. He was more a caricature than an actual character and it bordered on silly.

Zygons, as it is, are not really my favorite who villains. they're fine, but i don't really care that much about them.

The side character, Litefoot, is always fun and i enjoyed him in talons too, so it was nice to see him do stuff.

I wasn't very thrilled with the way the book ended and felt they mixed up the two villains' order. (this makes sense if you read it)

Sam was a little whiny in this one, but not as bad as Vampire Science, and i'm hoping she grows and learns from this and gets better for War of the Daleks (as i've already read genocide).

Overall, i still had fun with the book and enjoyed it. It got a little too gory for me at the end and took some of the enjoyment out of it, but all in all, a good time with the 8th doctor.

4 out of 5.

rebelbelle13's review

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5.0

The Bodysnatchers is definitely the best Doctor Who novel I have ever read. It's got a little bit of everything you'd want to see in Doctor Who, and nothing you don't. There's plenty of the Doctor, very well characterized, and no long winded chapters about side characters who die or you'll never see again. The emphasis is placed exactly where it should be- on the Doctor and his companion, attempting to save the Earth from whatever outside forces threaten to take it. New Who fans will be familiar with the Zygons, the alien villain race in this particular novel, who at this point in time, had only shown themselves in a previous Tom Baker arc. The novel also heavily references The Talons of Weng Chiang, another Tom Baker arc, which takes place five years previous to the events in The Bodysnatchers. I'd highly recommend being familiar with both the alien race and Weng Chiang- as one of the characters from the latter plays a rather large role in the novel- and as for the former, it makes it easier to envision their appearance, abilities, and their spaceship.
The novel itself was wonderfully paced and I was never bored. Morris did a fabulous job of holding my interest and telling the story without filler. It really felt like this could have easily been a TV arc. There's a little bit of gore here, so be fore-warned. (That tends to happen when you have large alien pets with giant claws and teeth, and a character who is a mortician.) Also, Sam gets a little whiney and annoying, but I'll give that a pass since she hasn't been traveling with the Doctor for too long by this point.
If you're a fan of Who, regardless if you like Doctor 8 (McGann) or not, this is a brilliant story.

jennasvape's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

1outside's review

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3.0

Most of the time I spent reading this book I thought "this is good. you should be enjoying it more!" but I wasn't nearly as gripped by this as I was by the previous book, Vampire Science.
Not sure why. The Doctor is Eight enough, the Zygon mythology was interesting, Litefoot = yay!, but still...

I suppose I could do without about 60% less gore. I know it made the book seem all gritty and grown-up but would have preferred the attention was afforded the characters instead. Everyone was written competently, but I would have welcomed greater depth. Yes, that's possible in a Zygon adventure, IMO.

let's say this 3/5 is a 3.44444.../5. It's good, just not great.