Scan barcode
arthurbdd's review
3.0
Interesting concept, but this is ultimately just Inferno with extra Silurians and a TARDIS switcheroo. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2024/04/05/the-virgin-new-adventures-luciferian-blood-and-rising-heat/
zmull's review
4.0
Blood Heat is a sort of mash-up between the Third Doctor stories Inferno and Doctor Who and the Silurians, with the Seventh Doctor's New Adventures era emotional complexity. Aside from ditching Benny for 2/3rds of the book and a disappointing "cameo" from Jo Grant, this is beautifully crafted Doctor Who novel. It's fast and well paced and has great characters. Read it, if you can find it.
rowan5215's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
fullfledgedegg's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
scampr's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I'm a sucker for alternate timeline scenarios, and this story is a pretty thorough delve into the premise of "what if the Silurians were victorious and reclaimed the planet?"
The result is a distinctly bleak and violent story of the remaining human survivors in their desperate efforts to fight back. The worldbuilding and action was honestly my least favourite part of this story, as it's all pretty much what you'd expect for such a drastic timeline change. The real strengths are in the characters and their moral and emotional perspectives of the their conflict and world. This story almost becomes too much at times, but there is just enough "Doctor Who-iness" to make the darker tone work.
The result is a distinctly bleak and violent story of the remaining human survivors in their desperate efforts to fight back. The worldbuilding and action was honestly my least favourite part of this story, as it's all pretty much what you'd expect for such a drastic timeline change. The real strengths are in the characters and their moral and emotional perspectives of the their conflict and world. This story almost becomes too much at times, but there is just enough "Doctor Who-iness" to make the darker tone work.
nwhyte's review
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1713327.html
What if the Silurians had killed the Third Doctor in the 1970s and taken over the earth, leaving the Brigadier and Liz Shaw as leaders of a hunted and dwindling human resistance? Jim Mortimore brings the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny to a parallel universe to find out. It was particularly interesting to read it soon after listening to a slightly different alternate timeline for Liz (The Sentinels of The New Dawn) and also the Ace-in-devastated-England stories, Project: Destiny and A Death in the Family, which Big Finish did last year. Mortimore writes engagingly and I kept turning the pages, but I was not totally convinced by some of the details - the use of the Tardis to sort things out at the end, or the Jo Grant time line, or the plausibility of two decades of human resistance (including a functioning nuclear submarine). Still, a pleasing read, with the ending setting up (I suppose) a story arc for the next few novels.
What if the Silurians had killed the Third Doctor in the 1970s and taken over the earth, leaving the Brigadier and Liz Shaw as leaders of a hunted and dwindling human resistance? Jim Mortimore brings the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny to a parallel universe to find out. It was particularly interesting to read it soon after listening to a slightly different alternate timeline for Liz (The Sentinels of The New Dawn) and also the Ace-in-devastated-England stories, Project: Destiny and A Death in the Family, which Big Finish did last year. Mortimore writes engagingly and I kept turning the pages, but I was not totally convinced by some of the details - the use of the Tardis to sort things out at the end, or the Jo Grant time line, or the plausibility of two decades of human resistance (including a functioning nuclear submarine). Still, a pleasing read, with the ending setting up (I suppose) a story arc for the next few novels.
nukirisame's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5