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philosopher_kj's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nwhyte's review
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2039812.html[return][return][return]A New Adventure novel, with the Seventh Doctor and Benny ending up at the awful end of the Albigensian crusade; a rare case of a purely historical story, with the Tardis crew's presence the only sfnal element.[return][return]I rather enjoyed it. I am a Benny fan, and the fact that she gets a decent, if doomed, romance was cause for cheer. (Apparently there are two other McIntee stories featuring her love interest - one audio, one novel. I shall look out for them.) There is a decent effort at gritty and vivid historical detail, and the Doctor gets to solve a locked-room murder mystery. Benny is surprisingly up-to-date with late twentieth-century Earth culture, but she is a woman of many talents after all. And as a partial reboot of the range, after the departure of Ace, who constituted half of the NAs' continuity with Old Who, it did the job for me.
nukirisame's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
hammard's review
2.0
This is one I disliked more than a lot of other people, and reading it in sequence hasn't increased my opinion.
I found going into it I only remembered the beginning, the end and the fact that Benny had a romance with a possibly doomed knight in medieval Southern France. The reason it turned out is because that is more or less all there is to it. The Doctor has a locked a room mystery and there is some faffing about with an artifact people want. But that isn't what it is about.
Really this is a piece historical fiction where Benny gets to have a romance, like Doctor Who doing Outlander*. However, McIntee is nothing like Gabaldon. I get no sense of place or atmosphere. The inevitible ending is not only obvious but manages to lack the sense of impending doom many Doctor Who stories do so well.
I know a lot of people like that Benny gets a starring novel but this doesn't really serve her well or give her more depth. It's for her to have a terrible time in order to setup the events of Human Nature, aping what was already done with Ace in Love and War.
Now it is not terrible, just a bit meh. The action scenes are well written, the virgin range gets to do their first pure historical and staying prior to 19th century for the entire adventure. A sign of better things to come.
*A book I have other problems with but I do not deny how well written it is.
I found going into it I only remembered the beginning, the end and the fact that Benny had a romance with a possibly doomed knight in medieval Southern France. The reason it turned out is because that is more or less all there is to it. The Doctor has a locked a room mystery and there is some faffing about with an artifact people want. But that isn't what it is about.
Really this is a piece historical fiction where Benny gets to have a romance, like Doctor Who doing Outlander*. However, McIntee is nothing like Gabaldon. I get no sense of place or atmosphere. The inevitible ending is not only obvious but manages to lack the sense of impending doom many Doctor Who stories do so well.
I know a lot of people like that Benny gets a starring novel but this doesn't really serve her well or give her more depth. It's for her to have a terrible time in order to setup the events of Human Nature, aping what was already done with Ace in Love and War.
Now it is not terrible, just a bit meh. The action scenes are well written, the virgin range gets to do their first pure historical and staying prior to 19th century for the entire adventure. A sign of better things to come.
*A book I have other problems with but I do not deny how well written it is.
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