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kmt75's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
scarletsky's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
librarycobwebs's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jepha's review
4.0
A fun and fast paced adventure with Hartnell's Doctor. A nice quick read, easily polished off in a matter of hours.
Featured Book of the Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejCQdo8XG2s&index=8&list=UUYyAI_xuidpstsdWxSiKGrw
Featured Book of the Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejCQdo8XG2s&index=8&list=UUYyAI_xuidpstsdWxSiKGrw
joebardsley's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jazzab1971's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
3.5
I first read this book around 45 years ago, some time around when it was first published. I remember getting the hardback out from the library.
As I held it in my hands this time I remembered how thrilling I found it and how this book and many more in the Target range got me hooked on reading for life.
I opened the book to the first page and even before I had read a word I remembered how it starts with a roboman throwing himself to his death in the River Thames. Some things stick in the mind.
And so I began to read and evaluate the book with adult eyes...
So, it is a fast paced retelling of the TV story. I found it odd though that Terrance gives no description of a dalek at all. When the first one appears we are simply told a "dalek was rising from the water". Even when later we see Chesterton and the Doctor musing about the daleks being on Earth we just get the two of them discussing that the daleks have "evolved" with Chesterton commenting "I see what you mean. These do look a bit different. I wonder if that's got anything to do with their increased power of movement". No description of how they have changed, no mention of them having a dish on their backs, just a mention of them being bigger than the ones they met before.
Presumably Dicks assumed everyone knew what a dalek looked like and so didn't bother wasting a sentence or two describing them. But to not describe the changes to the daleks in this story is quite bizarre.
Also, you'd think if your reader knew what a dalek was and so didn't need to describe it at all, then logically your reader would know what the TARDIS was an so would similarly give very little details about it. But not so here...Dicks spends a page and a half describing the ship, it's crew and how they came to travel together.
As the book continues you can piece together things about the daleks with mentions of their eye stalk, sucker arm, casing and so on, but never a concise description.
There are also somethings missing in the book when compared to the TV version. So no poster telling people not to dump bodies in the river, no scene of Susan and Barbara reacting to the fact that daleks are on Earth and a different farewell speech from the Doctor at the end. All this suggests Dicks worked from an early script to produce this novelisation.
In conclusion, a flawed but straightforward retelling of this story.
As I held it in my hands this time I remembered how thrilling I found it and how this book and many more in the Target range got me hooked on reading for life.
I opened the book to the first page and even before I had read a word I remembered how it starts with a roboman throwing himself to his death in the River Thames. Some things stick in the mind.
And so I began to read and evaluate the book with adult eyes...
So, it is a fast paced retelling of the TV story. I found it odd though that Terrance gives no description of a dalek at all. When the first one appears we are simply told a "dalek was rising from the water". Even when later we see Chesterton and the Doctor musing about the daleks being on Earth we just get the two of them discussing that the daleks have "evolved" with Chesterton commenting "I see what you mean. These do look a bit different. I wonder if that's got anything to do with their increased power of movement". No description of how they have changed, no mention of them having a dish on their backs, just a mention of them being bigger than the ones they met before.
Presumably Dicks assumed everyone knew what a dalek looked like and so didn't bother wasting a sentence or two describing them. But to not describe the changes to the daleks in this story is quite bizarre.
Also, you'd think if your reader knew what a dalek was and so didn't need to describe it at all, then logically your reader would know what the TARDIS was an so would similarly give very little details about it. But not so here...Dicks spends a page and a half describing the ship, it's crew and how they came to travel together.
As the book continues you can piece together things about the daleks with mentions of their eye stalk, sucker arm, casing and so on, but never a concise description.
There are also somethings missing in the book when compared to the TV version. So no poster telling people not to dump bodies in the river, no scene of Susan and Barbara reacting to the fact that daleks are on Earth and a different farewell speech from the Doctor at the end. All this suggests Dicks worked from an early script to produce this novelisation.
In conclusion, a flawed but straightforward retelling of this story.
cat_ze's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
leighsnerdlife's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1019617.html[return][return]Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth was the first Dicks novelisation of a Hartnell story. It leans a bit on the Peter Cushing film as well as on the originally broadcast version. Its most remarkable innovation, and improvement on the screen, is the Daleks pet monster, the Slyther, which is much more terrifying on the page. But unfortunately a lot of the good bits of the TV story the desperate chase across a deserted London in episode 3, and even the Doctor s farewell to Susan at the end are truncated and lose their effect. It s still a good story but this comes across rather in spite of than because of Dicks efforts.
ianbanks's review against another edition
4.0
An absolutely cracking opening line followed by a fast-paced adaptation of a beloved story. Mr Dicks was an absolute master of the compact sentence, not just relying on memories of the series but also conveying the mood and atmosphere in a succinct way that feels amateurish but really deserves a closer look.