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futurama1979's review against another edition
4.0
Polly, Ben, and the Doctor land in 1994, interrupting a professor's ghost-hunting outing with a few of his students in a cliff-side Cumbria holiday house. Forty thousand years prior, before the last great continental shift, five aliens who can shape reality with song touch down on Earth and begin to shape its development. These events are more related than they seem. Also featuring: tarot cards, lots of betrayals, a flying carpet ride sequence, and, of course, cat-people. The "campy, pulpy sci-fi" warning goes without saying.
I've read better-written books and rated them lower, so let me just say that if you're looking for a really well-written DW novel, this is not that. The rating was boosted by how interesting the plot was alone. Seriously, there were some really original, neat story elements in here; I really like when sci-fi really takes into account real scientific that would influence the plot, and this book did that well with the continental drift thing, among others. It's just grounded enough in Earth's science and history to be super entertaining, while still having really out there super sci-fi parts too.
The best thing for me, other than some of the plot stuff, was the character work! I can't say I'm super happy with everything they did with Ben and Polly, but the things I didn't like were small, one-off lines rather than big overarching stuff. On the whole, Russell did a fantastic job with them, and really put the work in to elaborate on their canon characterization - especially with Polly - in a way that I loved. And I loved the backstory content he wrote for her and Ben too!
My biggest issues were that the cat-people were sometimes a little too silly and pulpy, even for me. It was kind of hard to take them seriously. And then the stuff to do with race. I know Russell probably had completely good intentions, but he was still a white British guy in the 90s writing about Australian history; some of the stuff about Native people came off as weird and a little fetishistic.
I've read better-written books and rated them lower, so let me just say that if you're looking for a really well-written DW novel, this is not that. The rating was boosted by how interesting the plot was alone. Seriously, there were some really original, neat story elements in here; I really like when sci-fi really takes into account real scientific that would influence the plot, and this book did that well with the continental drift thing, among others. It's just grounded enough in Earth's science and history to be super entertaining, while still having really out there super sci-fi parts too.
The best thing for me, other than some of the plot stuff, was the character work! I can't say I'm super happy with everything they did with Ben and Polly, but the things I didn't like were small, one-off lines rather than big overarching stuff. On the whole, Russell did a fantastic job with them, and really put the work in to elaborate on their canon characterization - especially with Polly - in a way that I loved. And I loved the backstory content he wrote for her and Ben too!
My biggest issues were that the cat-people were sometimes a little too silly and pulpy, even for me. It was kind of hard to take them seriously. And then the stuff to do with race. I know Russell probably had completely good intentions, but he was still a white British guy in the 90s writing about Australian history; some of the stuff about Native people came off as weird and a little fetishistic.
faiazalam's review
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I came away thinking that this story was amazing, I couldn't put the page down at any point and yet it seems that the reviewers here don't have the same reverence for the story that I seem to.
The story is tightly plotted, with interweaving threads that come together harmoniously and provide a satisfying conclusion. The Cat-People are looking to harvest the Earth's energies so they can power their spaceship, the Euterpians are looking to do the same so they can get back home. Caught in the midst of this, The Doctor, Ben and Polly have to fight a battle on two fronts to stop the Earth from being destroyed. The story moves at a thrilling speed, going from Cumbira to Baghdad to outer space to a place outside of space altogether and gives us an opportunity to really delve into the inner lives of Ben and especially Polly.
The characterisation of The Doctor, Ben and Polly are fantastic. Ben gets some amount of depth and exploration into his past, but the strongest of this happens for Polly, with a really detailed dive into her past, what motivates her and how she has changed over the years. Tim is very well presented to, as a manipulative man who would play with other people to get what he wants.
As I'd said, I found it difficult to put this book down. You may not agree with me, but I'd suggest that it's worth trying out at least once.
The scope of this story is magnificent, going from different places and times and giving us such a good look at the cultures of both the Euterpians and the Cat-People. Additionally, there's a wonderful exploration into Aboriginal life and Tarot reading that I wouldn't have thought to have explored further had it not been developed so well in this story. A real strength this one.
The story is tightly plotted, with interweaving threads that come together harmoniously and provide a satisfying conclusion. The Cat-People are looking to harvest the Earth's energies so they can power their spaceship, the Euterpians are looking to do the same so they can get back home. Caught in the midst of this, The Doctor, Ben and Polly have to fight a battle on two fronts to stop the Earth from being destroyed. The story moves at a thrilling speed, going from Cumbira to Baghdad to outer space to a place outside of space altogether and gives us an opportunity to really delve into the inner lives of Ben and especially Polly.
The characterisation of The Doctor, Ben and Polly are fantastic. Ben gets some amount of depth and exploration into his past, but the strongest of this happens for Polly, with a really detailed dive into her past, what motivates her and how she has changed over the years. Tim is very well presented to, as a manipulative man who would play with other people to get what he wants.
As I'd said, I found it difficult to put this book down. You may not agree with me, but I'd suggest that it's worth trying out at least once.
The scope of this story is magnificent, going from different places and times and giving us such a good look at the cultures of both the Euterpians and the Cat-People. Additionally, there's a wonderful exploration into Aboriginal life and Tarot reading that I wouldn't have thought to have explored further had it not been developed so well in this story. A real strength this one.
hidekisohma's review against another edition
1.0
So full disclosure, I don't like the 2nd doctor. From what i've seen, The power of the daleks, tomb of the cybermen, and war games, he comes across as whiny and childish and I just don't enjoy his rendition.
However, as is the case with some other doctors, (especially 6) a lot of the time, the novels do the doctors a justice the series did not. and i REALLY wanted to give 2 a try. maybe the novels would show me a side of the 2nd doctor i didn't see before. So i did my best to find a plot i would like. I found Ben and polly (my favorite 2nd doc companions) and a story about invading cat people. it sounded straight forward and fun. like the doc and crew would have to fight off a band of evil cat people. i was actually kind of looking forward to it.
Silly me, i didn't bother to look at the goodreads score before buying this book. Welp, that was a mistake.
I should have been first clued in to why this is a bad book when i saw the author, gary russell. I have previously read a single book from gary and that was "Placebo Effect", an 8th doctor book. and it was incredibly convoluted with the titular "placebo effect" only taking up about the last 15 pages of the entire book. and, surprise surprise, it's the same situation here. I don't know WHY he feels he needs to have multiple plots rather than just 1, but he doesn't have the capability to pull off more than one story at a time.
You'd THINK with a book titled "Invasion of the cat people" the focal point would be....you know..an invasion of cat people. Instead the focal point is on a group of ancient immortals who use songs as power.
I know right? who couldn't have figured that out from the title?
This story gets so sidetracked and convoluted i actually sat there going "am i just stupid or something? i'm just not absorbing this book. i'm not understanding half of what they're throwing at me. The sheer level of mind numbing universe talk and technobabble turned me off nearly immediately. and this is not my first rodeo into doctor who either. i've read books from 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 before and normally, i don't have this issue. (with the exception of eleventh tiger and beltempest, but those are whole other cans of worms)
All the author had to do was have ben and polly go on a wacky adventure with 2 stopping cat people from destroying the earth. THAT'S ALL HE HAD TO DO. Instead he made 60% of the story about polly going off with this guy and having multiple tarot card readings and psychic power transportation and deadly songs and the college students in a house looking for ghosts and, it was just SO convoluted. He tried to basically squeeze two books into 1.
Which is a real shame, because, i actually enjoyed the cat people parts. I thought it was kind of interesting when he talked about the hierarchy of a cat like alien race and how they were conquerors and having the doc/ben trying to outsmart them. that was kind of interesting. the problem IS is that they only took up about 20% of the book while the rest focused on the stupid annoying immortal people and their stupid songs and philosophy. THEY DIDN'T NEED TO BE THERE.
The weirdest part was, some of the least bad parts were the 2nd doctor talking. I followed along and understood what he was doing. However, whenever the author cut away from the main 3 and followed the stupid song people it became an incomprehensible mess that i really didn't want to continue reading.
If I didn't say i'd finish this book as part of a deal, i absolutely would have dropped it. Gary tried WAY too hard to be convoluted and sound smart in this book. it's what i call "jim mortimore syndrome".
I can normally plow through a doc who book in 2-3 days. this one took me 7. Just every time i looked at it i dreaded picking it up again. and that's enough to give this a low score.
Maybe there are better ben/polly 2nd doctor stories out there. Who knows. The problem is, this book soured me on that idea.
1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1.
However, as is the case with some other doctors, (especially 6) a lot of the time, the novels do the doctors a justice the series did not. and i REALLY wanted to give 2 a try. maybe the novels would show me a side of the 2nd doctor i didn't see before. So i did my best to find a plot i would like. I found Ben and polly (my favorite 2nd doc companions) and a story about invading cat people. it sounded straight forward and fun. like the doc and crew would have to fight off a band of evil cat people. i was actually kind of looking forward to it.
Silly me, i didn't bother to look at the goodreads score before buying this book. Welp, that was a mistake.
I should have been first clued in to why this is a bad book when i saw the author, gary russell. I have previously read a single book from gary and that was "Placebo Effect", an 8th doctor book. and it was incredibly convoluted with the titular "placebo effect" only taking up about the last 15 pages of the entire book. and, surprise surprise, it's the same situation here. I don't know WHY he feels he needs to have multiple plots rather than just 1, but he doesn't have the capability to pull off more than one story at a time.
You'd THINK with a book titled "Invasion of the cat people" the focal point would be....you know..an invasion of cat people. Instead the focal point is on a group of ancient immortals who use songs as power.
I know right? who couldn't have figured that out from the title?
This story gets so sidetracked and convoluted i actually sat there going "am i just stupid or something? i'm just not absorbing this book. i'm not understanding half of what they're throwing at me. The sheer level of mind numbing universe talk and technobabble turned me off nearly immediately. and this is not my first rodeo into doctor who either. i've read books from 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 before and normally, i don't have this issue. (with the exception of eleventh tiger and beltempest, but those are whole other cans of worms)
All the author had to do was have ben and polly go on a wacky adventure with 2 stopping cat people from destroying the earth. THAT'S ALL HE HAD TO DO. Instead he made 60% of the story about polly going off with this guy and having multiple tarot card readings and psychic power transportation and deadly songs and the college students in a house looking for ghosts and, it was just SO convoluted. He tried to basically squeeze two books into 1.
Which is a real shame, because, i actually enjoyed the cat people parts. I thought it was kind of interesting when he talked about the hierarchy of a cat like alien race and how they were conquerors and having the doc/ben trying to outsmart them. that was kind of interesting. the problem IS is that they only took up about 20% of the book while the rest focused on the stupid annoying immortal people and their stupid songs and philosophy. THEY DIDN'T NEED TO BE THERE.
The weirdest part was, some of the least bad parts were the 2nd doctor talking. I followed along and understood what he was doing. However, whenever the author cut away from the main 3 and followed the stupid song people it became an incomprehensible mess that i really didn't want to continue reading.
If I didn't say i'd finish this book as part of a deal, i absolutely would have dropped it. Gary tried WAY too hard to be convoluted and sound smart in this book. it's what i call "jim mortimore syndrome".
I can normally plow through a doc who book in 2-3 days. this one took me 7. Just every time i looked at it i dreaded picking it up again. and that's enough to give this a low score.
Maybe there are better ben/polly 2nd doctor stories out there. Who knows. The problem is, this book soured me on that idea.
1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1.
saoki's review against another edition
1.0
The only good thing this novel has is the main trio characterization. Everything else is boring, with way too much repetition and scenes that add nothing to the story. After a while I found myself dynamic reading so I'd get to the parts with the Doctor.
frakalot's review
2.0
A Second Doctor story about a terribly unappealing adventure.
My main problem was that I found the evil, singing, gypsy kittens unimpressive and their tarot guided, mystical plan was perfectly uninteresting. It isn't that I didn't buy it. The Whoniverse is full of ridiculous aliens with equally ridiculous plots. It just isn't an intriguing concept to me. Maybe it's because I'm not a cat person. Maybe it's because...
This book started off well written but it descended below my minimum decency bar. There's actually a lot more historical and political commentary than I would call reasonable. Kudos for doing some background and aiming at some cultural content but a major fart in your general direction for a disrespectful attempt.
The way the author described scenery and the darker events was a positive aspect of the writing, it gets fairly devilish at times even if not appealing. The main team are often recognisable, The Doctor especially so, although it's becoming par for the course that many of the authors do slip up on this at times and this one did that too.
This still managed to have some fun moments, it also had a fair sprinkling of gore in it. I'm glad I read it... but this one is only for the completionists among us. Nothing special.
My main problem was that I found the evil, singing, gypsy kittens unimpressive and their tarot guided, mystical plan was perfectly uninteresting. It isn't that I didn't buy it. The Whoniverse is full of ridiculous aliens with equally ridiculous plots. It just isn't an intriguing concept to me. Maybe it's because I'm not a cat person. Maybe it's because...
This book started off well written but it descended below my minimum decency bar. There's actually a lot more historical and political commentary than I would call reasonable. Kudos for doing some background and aiming at some cultural content but a major fart in your general direction for a disrespectful attempt.
The way the author described scenery and the darker events was a positive aspect of the writing, it gets fairly devilish at times even if not appealing. The main team are often recognisable, The Doctor especially so, although it's becoming par for the course that many of the authors do slip up on this at times and this one did that too.
This still managed to have some fun moments, it also had a fair sprinkling of gore in it. I'm glad I read it... but this one is only for the completionists among us. Nothing special.
nwhyte's review
1.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1942887.html
this early Missing Adventure is not a hit. Aliens who look exactly like cats plan to tear the earth in half, as you do, but are stymied by the fact that continental drift has moved crucial equipment out of alignment over a few dozen millennia (when continents would only have drifted by about a kilometre). Some nice descriptive passages, especially about Cumbria and Polly, admitted by the author to be particular interests in the foreword, but otherwise the narrative is confused and cluttered.
this early Missing Adventure is not a hit. Aliens who look exactly like cats plan to tear the earth in half, as you do, but are stymied by the fact that continental drift has moved crucial equipment out of alignment over a few dozen millennia (when continents would only have drifted by about a kilometre). Some nice descriptive passages, especially about Cumbria and Polly, admitted by the author to be particular interests in the foreword, but otherwise the narrative is confused and cluttered.
hammard's review
2.0
This is a story with some holes in. Unfortunately, not small holes but gaping ones. Firstly, structural. This is written to be a six part story but there is only enough content in each part for about 15 minutes of screen-time so it reads more like a selection of webisodes with incident occurring at start and finish and the middle being most talking.. What's more, much of it is filler (in particular there is an almost completely pointless part in Baghdad) so the main plot could be rounded up in half the length.
Secondly, it involves a number of pieces of offensive language used, both by characters and the narration itself, which makes for unpleasant reading. Thirdly, what plot there was a faintly ridiculous mix of b-movie sci-fi and the poorer end Hammer Horror.
There are some intersting bits in it but much of it is a mess.
Secondly, it involves a number of pieces of offensive language used, both by characters and the narration itself, which makes for unpleasant reading. Thirdly, what plot there was a faintly ridiculous mix of b-movie sci-fi and the poorer end Hammer Horror.
There are some intersting bits in it but much of it is a mess.
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