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A review by eleanorflovver
Doctor Who: Lungbarrow by Marc Platt
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
honestly, that was not as bad as i was expecting. but still, what the fuck??? as a story though, it's honestly fine. the plot is interesting enough to support the insane quantity of lore peppered throughout the text, and it's always good to see leela and romana in action with the k9s. the house of lungbarrow as a living, illogical entity is also an idea i really like, along with the development of past ideas like gallifreyan chapters and the elusive hermit. i also love the concept of the other, especially as a consciousness embedded within the doctor. i personally love anything that references the time before time and the founders of gallifrey, and the implications introduced not just by the existence of the other, but by the fact that they live on somehow in the doctor has so much potential, especially with the timeless child.
however, not everything was amazing. while an interesting concept for another society and a good meme, making time lords woven from looms is just a huge no. i know the lore is fluid and all that, but gallifreyan children do exist, and i think should exist within the show because of the empathetic resonance with the audience. also, while the writing was objectively fine a lot of the time, parts of it were convoluted, especially the ace dialogues and chris' dream sequences. and while i love leela, i did question at times why it was necessary to have her there. the characterisation for seven also felt a bit flat in places, which i suppose may be as a result of the subject matter, as well as the fact that lungbarrow is essentially a tv adaptation, but it definitely felt like the story relied on us to know seven and apply that rather than doing the work for itself.
another thing (though this is definitely on me and not the fault of the novel itself) is that quite a lot of the lore is incongruous with big finish, for understandable reasons. while i know the bf owes a lot of initial legwork to vna traction, i was really struggling to consolidate this leela/romana dynamic and also the lack of braxiatel. it's also quite funny to look back to when the cia was just a faceless monolith of vague time lord insidiousness. not in a bad way, but it's just entertaining how times change.
all in all, it's certainly not the best doctor who story, or even the best but id extended media. but i'm glad i read it, if only for the bragging rights.
however, not everything was amazing. while an interesting concept for another society and a good meme, making time lords woven from looms is just a huge no. i know the lore is fluid and all that, but gallifreyan children do exist, and i think should exist within the show because of the empathetic resonance with the audience. also, while the writing was objectively fine a lot of the time, parts of it were convoluted, especially the ace dialogues and chris' dream sequences. and while i love leela, i did question at times why it was necessary to have her there. the characterisation for seven also felt a bit flat in places, which i suppose may be as a result of the subject matter, as well as the fact that lungbarrow is essentially a tv adaptation, but it definitely felt like the story relied on us to know seven and apply that rather than doing the work for itself.
another thing (though this is definitely on me and not the fault of the novel itself) is that quite a lot of the lore is incongruous with big finish, for understandable reasons. while i know the bf owes a lot of initial legwork to vna traction, i was really struggling to consolidate this leela/romana dynamic and also the lack of braxiatel. it's also quite funny to look back to when the cia was just a faceless monolith of vague time lord insidiousness. not in a bad way, but it's just entertaining how times change.
all in all, it's certainly not the best doctor who story, or even the best but id extended media. but i'm glad i read it, if only for the bragging rights.