Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kvclements's reviews
1430 reviews
Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
3.0
This is the first Doctor Who novel that I've read and I was quite pleased with it. The e-book version I'm reading didn't have a cover, so I wasn't sure which new Doctor it would be, but the dialogue style was so spot-on that I could tell it was the 9th Doctor almost immediately. The adventure is solid and entertaining with some good twists; I could picture it as an actual episode.
Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole
4.0
Rose gets to visit her first alien planet...and winds up in prison! The TARDIS lands on a planet that turns out to be part of a solar-system-wide penal colony for humanity's undesirables. Rose is dumped in with the regular inmates, only to discover that an old foe might be calling the shots. The Doctor is placed in the alien ward where he's put to work solving scientific puzzles for humanity under the direction of the well-meaning and complacent scientist/jailer Flowers.
This is a story with a break-neck pace and Rose especially gets put through her paces. Lots of fear, running, and saving of worlds. This is one of those adventures that would have broken the special-effects budget for the TV show, but is wonderfully realized on paper. Great read!
This is a story with a break-neck pace and Rose especially gets put through her paces. Lots of fear, running, and saving of worlds. This is one of those adventures that would have broken the special-effects budget for the TV show, but is wonderfully realized on paper. Great read!
Doctor Who: Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner
3.0
*CAUTION! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!*
The Doctor and Rose are back in London, but there's something strange going on. People are winning consoles for a new video game and other are getting scratch-off tickets giving them a free holiday...only they aren't coming back. Instead, they are transported to another world to become living avatars in a game created by aliens to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. This people are controlled by unsuspecting humans playing the game through the consoles back on Earth.
The basic plot idea of a video game turning out to be real isn't new, but the execution is still really enjoyable. Rose is especially good in this book, being very resourceful in a pinch, but also reacting in a very natural way to adversity and challenges. The Doctor shows his more human side with a boy named Robert who was kidnapped, but also shows his more alien side when he doesn't react with sympathy or concern when Rose's mom is hospitalized. There's also an especially poignant moment when Rose is put into the game and the Doctor is forced to control her. When he starts making modifications to the controls to increase Rose's efficiency in the game, he gets really upset, realizing that this entire scenario of controlling other people is wrong, that what he is doing to Rose is wrong...and yet he has no choice because without a controller, the aliens will kill her and everyone else in the game.
3.5 stars because the part with Mickey recruiting other folks to help the Doctor free people from this game was rather shaky, more a matter of plot convenience rather than being convincing. Also, there isn't a moment at the end of story when Rose and the Doctor talk about or acknowledge in any way the moral implications of the Doctor taking control of Rose...even though it was part of the video game and done to save her life and the lives of others. I thought that should have been touched upon. But despite these problems, I still really enjoyed the book.
The Doctor and Rose are back in London, but there's something strange going on. People are winning consoles for a new video game and other are getting scratch-off tickets giving them a free holiday...only they aren't coming back. Instead, they are transported to another world to become living avatars in a game created by aliens to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. This people are controlled by unsuspecting humans playing the game through the consoles back on Earth.
The basic plot idea of a video game turning out to be real isn't new, but the execution is still really enjoyable. Rose is especially good in this book, being very resourceful in a pinch, but also reacting in a very natural way to adversity and challenges. The Doctor shows his more human side with a boy named Robert who was kidnapped, but also shows his more alien side when he doesn't react with sympathy or concern when Rose's mom is hospitalized. There's also an especially poignant moment when Rose is put into the game and the Doctor is forced to control her. When he starts making modifications to the controls to increase Rose's efficiency in the game, he gets really upset, realizing that this entire scenario of controlling other people is wrong, that what he is doing to Rose is wrong...and yet he has no choice because without a controller, the aliens will kill her and everyone else in the game.
3.5 stars because the part with Mickey recruiting other folks to help the Doctor free people from this game was rather shaky, more a matter of plot convenience rather than being convincing. Also, there isn't a moment at the end of story when Rose and the Doctor talk about or acknowledge in any way the moral implications of the Doctor taking control of Rose...even though it was part of the video game and done to save her life and the lives of others. I thought that should have been touched upon. But despite these problems, I still really enjoyed the book.
Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards
4.0
What a fast-paced read! Set at a Russian research institute alongside derelict nuclear subs and a village of people just barely eking out a living (a "village of the damned" so to speak), the 9th Doctor, Rose, and Jack Harkness respond to an alien distress signal. And what they find is worthy of a horror movie. (Less blood, but more chilling.)
I enjoyed reading an adventure with Rose AND Captain Jack present. Sometimes the dialogue seemed almost too light for their situations, but that's typical of Doctor Who. The story is well-thought out with some cool twists, lots of running, and a solution that is suitably last-second ingenious and last-second. The death toll is pretty high, with a bittersweet touch at the end...because you can't save everyone.
I enjoyed reading an adventure with Rose AND Captain Jack present. Sometimes the dialogue seemed almost too light for their situations, but that's typical of Doctor Who. The story is well-thought out with some cool twists, lots of running, and a solution that is suitably last-second ingenious and last-second. The death toll is pretty high, with a bittersweet touch at the end...because you can't save everyone.