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hidekisohma's review against another edition
3.0
I am not entirely certain what it is about writing for the 1st doctor, but i find it that most of the stories written for him...well they're not very good. This is my 6th 1st doctor novel and i can say the only real GOOD one was "City at World's End". It's sad because Ian and Barbara are some of my favorite companions ever, but i figured i needed to give some of his other companions a try, so, i gave Steven and Dodo a shot.
I was a little hesitant going in, as I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Dodo as a character, but i figured "well, it couldn't be worse than Eleventh Tiger". And how did it work out? Well.. it honestly wasn't terrible.
The short non-spoilery version of the plot is that the doc and steven end up in new york in the 60's and there's a bunch of aliens that are pretending to be gods.
Something i found interesting about this story is apparently when Dodo joined the TARDIS in the show, she just kinds of appears. This novel goes into her origin about her backstory and how and why she joined the doctor in the first place. and i have to say, that in itself was pretty interesting.
The doctor was very in character and even had his patented fumbling over his words which was neat. His characterization and logic were fine and i had no real problems in the scenes he was in.
Ah. those are the key words "the scenes he was in". Because he was not in a LOT of this book. This was a VERY heavy Dodo book and they didn't want you to forget that.
That was the problem with this novel. There were a LOT of side characters. a LOT of them. I lost track of a bunch of them after a while. i was like "so there's the manager, the reporter, the general, the soldier, the..." but my brain had a hard time remembering who was who at times. There was too much going on with too many people and sadly, one of the major players in the story completely slipped my mind until the end when i went "oh yeah, he WAS a guy wasn't he?"
This caused the story to slump in the middle. from page 80-180 was a bit of a schlog, but towards the last 50 or so pages it got better and more actiony.
In both of the first doctor books of his i've read, Steve lyons seems to have this weird anti-religion thing going on as Witch hunters also put religion in a very poor light. I know Who kinda has this underlying "anti-religion" feel going on, but it's not usually OVERT. Steve lyons is right in your face about it and it can definitely be a little offputting at times.
Overall, the book was better than some of the other more awful 1st doctor novels, but it wasn't great. It's definitely a smack dab in the middle 3 out of 5. Not bad, not great. Just...kind of right there.
3 out of 5.
I was a little hesitant going in, as I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Dodo as a character, but i figured "well, it couldn't be worse than Eleventh Tiger". And how did it work out? Well.. it honestly wasn't terrible.
The short non-spoilery version of the plot is that the doc and steven end up in new york in the 60's and there's a bunch of aliens that are pretending to be gods.
Something i found interesting about this story is apparently when Dodo joined the TARDIS in the show, she just kinds of appears. This novel goes into her origin about her backstory and how and why she joined the doctor in the first place. and i have to say, that in itself was pretty interesting.
The doctor was very in character and even had his patented fumbling over his words which was neat. His characterization and logic were fine and i had no real problems in the scenes he was in.
Ah. those are the key words "the scenes he was in". Because he was not in a LOT of this book. This was a VERY heavy Dodo book and they didn't want you to forget that.
That was the problem with this novel. There were a LOT of side characters. a LOT of them. I lost track of a bunch of them after a while. i was like "so there's the manager, the reporter, the general, the soldier, the..." but my brain had a hard time remembering who was who at times. There was too much going on with too many people and sadly, one of the major players in the story completely slipped my mind until the end when i went "oh yeah, he WAS a guy wasn't he?"
This caused the story to slump in the middle. from page 80-180 was a bit of a schlog, but towards the last 50 or so pages it got better and more actiony.
In both of the first doctor books of his i've read, Steve lyons seems to have this weird anti-religion thing going on as Witch hunters also put religion in a very poor light. I know Who kinda has this underlying "anti-religion" feel going on, but it's not usually OVERT. Steve lyons is right in your face about it and it can definitely be a little offputting at times.
Overall, the book was better than some of the other more awful 1st doctor novels, but it wasn't great. It's definitely a smack dab in the middle 3 out of 5. Not bad, not great. Just...kind of right there.
3 out of 5.
chicafrom3's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The First Doctor, Steven, and Dodo encounter aliens mistaken for gods in 60s New York; set immediately after the Massacre.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
frakalot's review
3.0
It took ages to kick into gear for me, it was 40+ pages and an attempted alien rape before we even got to the TARDIS. After that the story picks up and the plot gets slowly more interesting, it'd make a reasonable First Doctor episode, but I found the story telling rough.
It's nice to have a bit of Dodo's background but I think it could have been handled better.
It's nice to have a bit of Dodo's background but I think it could have been handled better.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/810487.html?#cutid1[return][return]At the end of the televised story The Massacre, Dodo wanders into the TARDIS while it is parked briefly on Wimbledon Common in 1966; by the start of the next story, The Ark, she is perfectly happy to believe that the TARDIS has taken them to a different part of contemporary England, but has difficulty grasping the possibility of time travel. Also (to the mockery of generations of fans) her accept has completely changed, from something rather north of England to something more uncertainly southern. Salvation rewrites Dodo's first scenes in the TARDIS as part of an encounter with godlike aliens in 1966, which takes her, the Doctor and Steven to New York. Lyons has invented vast amounts of back-story for Dodo here, all of which makes the character (and her accent quirks) much more believable; he does the same to a lesser extent for Steven, catching Peter Purves' characterisation of him perfectly while also adding to his background. And his Doctor is very Doctor-ish, taking charge of the confused officials trying to deal with the situation, confronting and defeating the bad guys while also determined to minimise casualties. The exploration of humanity's relationship with gods, and with belief, is a bit pale compared with Neil Gaiman, but then isn't everything? My biggest criticism is that while Lyons gets New York's physical geography, he does not really capture the city's vibrant multi-ethnicity very well; most of the American characters might as well have been English, which is a bit ironic given that he saves the phenomenon of Dodo's accent.
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