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A review by eyreguide
Festival of Death by Jonathan Morris
5.0
As it says in the Introduction of the book, this story was written before Doctor Who got so complex, with multiple timelines and explorations of what it means to be a time traveler. And I thought that since I'm used to the shenanigans of Steven Moffat, this book would probably be pretty tame. Wrong. While it seems old hat now to have the Doctor realize he is going to die doing something, this story takes that chilling realization and spins out a very complex sequence of events. The plot moves back and forth between characters and incidents that build on each other as the pieces of the puzzle are gradually revealed. The pure technical skill in an author having to piece such a complex story together is admirable, and having the story come together so perfectly in the end is kind of awe-inspiring. There were so many little scenes that were dropped, seemingly tangentially, and later brought into the story and explained completely. Reading this book was pure enjoyment.
Aside from the technical crafting of the story, the characters that make up G-lock are varied, eccentric, and humorous. It seemed like a melting pot of all the kinds of characters the Doctor is used to coming up against, from pompous, self-important leaders to dutiful, not very bright policemen, selfish, arrogant villians, and kindly, innocent humans and aliens who are very brave. The characters make up a huge part of the charm of this story and the realistic way in which they are all thrown together gives a great backdrop for the Doctor and Romana to interact with. The author also captured the dry, sardonic humor of the Doctor, and the patient, efficient voice of Romana so well, that it felt like this story should have been filmed.
The novel also has a tongue-in-cheek humor about it, in the vein of Douglas Adams that made it delightful to read, and there are some great laugh-out-loud moments. While the many shifts between characters and incidents can make this story somewhat difficult to keep up with at times, I found the whole reading experience to be so much fun, and absolutely worth it!
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)
Aside from the technical crafting of the story, the characters that make up G-lock are varied, eccentric, and humorous. It seemed like a melting pot of all the kinds of characters the Doctor is used to coming up against, from pompous, self-important leaders to dutiful, not very bright policemen, selfish, arrogant villians, and kindly, innocent humans and aliens who are very brave. The characters make up a huge part of the charm of this story and the realistic way in which they are all thrown together gives a great backdrop for the Doctor and Romana to interact with. The author also captured the dry, sardonic humor of the Doctor, and the patient, efficient voice of Romana so well, that it felt like this story should have been filmed.
The novel also has a tongue-in-cheek humor about it, in the vein of Douglas Adams that made it delightful to read, and there are some great laugh-out-loud moments. While the many shifts between characters and incidents can make this story somewhat difficult to keep up with at times, I found the whole reading experience to be so much fun, and absolutely worth it!
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)