Reviews

Doctor Who: Tomb of Valdemar by Simon Messingham

Only show reviews with written explanations

shane's review against another edition

4.0

Very good. Tom Baker is always fantastic, and Romana II is undoubtedly his equal. Smart, funny and as sexy as Tom himself.

Read this, if only for the surprise ending.

Loved it... loved it... loved it!

chicafrom3's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The Fourth Doctor and the First Romana, in the middle of seeking the Key to Time, find themselves diverted into a Lovecraftian tangle of cults, Old Ones from higher dimensions who may or may not be dead, psychic powers, and much more. The concept is excellent; regrettably the pacing drags terribly and none of the characters give much to get attached to, and poor Romana is done terribly, left to spend most of the book simpering over an irritating incel, to her own great annoyance.

scampr's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The first 1/3 of this story was intriguing, but a lot of that potential began to wane as I trudged through. The pacing and tediousness of the plot made it a slow reading experience - and even though the Doctor and Romana are well characterised here, it wasn't enough to properly engage me. The rest of the characters are pretty forgettable, and the mysteries at play are either disappointingly generic or annoyingly unexplained by the end - with a whole framing device that just became confusing and pointless. The story felt pretty uninspired and didn't capitalise on the interesting ideas it presented early on. It's a shame but I personally wasn't satisfied with this adventure.

shane's review

Go to review page

4.0

More...