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hidekisohma's review
2.0
So normally if i enjoy a doctor who book, it takes me about 2-3 days to read it. if i DON'T enjoy it... 1-2 weeks. This book took me TWO MONTHS. i have read a LOT of doctor who books. like over 50 and this is the LONGEST its ever taken me to read one of these. During this book i read a novel, a light novel, and a manga before finishing this one, and if it hadn't been for an agreement i made with myself that i would read every single third doctor book there's no way i would have finished it.
The weird thing about it is, it has the makings of a good story. 3rd doctor, jo, and mike go to a planet. first of all this is neat because a lot of third doctor books are on earth. The planet has people turn into winged bird people when they kill each other and the people who die become mud robot people called "the dead". the planet has low gravity and a fake sun. it SOUNDS like an interesting premise. BUT like everything Paul leonard touches, the execution is bad. (this is my 4th PL book and i've read 2 of his short stories so i feel i've read enough of his stuff by now to make this opinion)
The doctor was in character, and he was fine, but Jo was very much...not good in this book as she kinda had this weird partial mind control which was just an excuse to make her be radically out of character (ala another 3rd doc novel 'Rags' which was also bad) and Mike Yates was...FINE for the half of the book he's in. (he's absent for a good half of it for spoilery reasons).
It's honestly hard to describe why this book took so long to finish. and it's not like because it's the worst who book i've read. it's not. It's not even the most boring. It's just like...there was some weird air about this book where i just...didn't care. I don't know if it was because there were WAY too many characters, or if Paul was trying to be psychological, or was trying to squeeze WAY too much into 240 pages. like they dedicated a good 20 pages to this character named "Xaai" and i just... didn't care as she added nothing to the story whatsoever.
The villain's motivations made no sense to which he goes "duhh oh yeah!" by the end and overall it just... i never wanted to go back and read it. this was definitely a chore to get through and like i said, if it wasn't for my self imposed rule, i would have DNF'ed it back in 2 months ago.
It's hard to put a finger on why this book nearly put me in a book slump. i couldn't tell you. i think it was just everything combined in the package of OOC Jo, too many characters, too much going on, a stupidly fast wrapped up conclusion, and Paul Leonard's need to be violent and sad. A good story is buried somewhere in here, and i think a better who author like Justin Richards could have done a much better job.
Overall, i don't HATE this book, but i'm a little annoyed it almost put me in a slump. i actually need to take a little break from who reading to clear out my brain. overall..i SEE what Paul was trying to go for but MAN was it executed badly. i 100% can see why this book has such a low average rating and why hardly anyone has read it. it's just...it's not good.
even 2 out of 5.
The weird thing about it is, it has the makings of a good story. 3rd doctor, jo, and mike go to a planet. first of all this is neat because a lot of third doctor books are on earth. The planet has people turn into winged bird people when they kill each other and the people who die become mud robot people called "the dead". the planet has low gravity and a fake sun. it SOUNDS like an interesting premise. BUT like everything Paul leonard touches, the execution is bad. (this is my 4th PL book and i've read 2 of his short stories so i feel i've read enough of his stuff by now to make this opinion)
The doctor was in character, and he was fine, but Jo was very much...not good in this book as she kinda had this weird partial mind control which was just an excuse to make her be radically out of character (ala another 3rd doc novel 'Rags' which was also bad) and Mike Yates was...FINE for the half of the book he's in. (he's absent for a good half of it for spoilery reasons).
It's honestly hard to describe why this book took so long to finish. and it's not like because it's the worst who book i've read. it's not. It's not even the most boring. It's just like...there was some weird air about this book where i just...didn't care. I don't know if it was because there were WAY too many characters, or if Paul was trying to be psychological, or was trying to squeeze WAY too much into 240 pages. like they dedicated a good 20 pages to this character named "Xaai" and i just... didn't care as she added nothing to the story whatsoever.
The villain's motivations made no sense to which he goes "duhh oh yeah!" by the end and overall it just... i never wanted to go back and read it. this was definitely a chore to get through and like i said, if it wasn't for my self imposed rule, i would have DNF'ed it back in 2 months ago.
It's hard to put a finger on why this book nearly put me in a book slump. i couldn't tell you. i think it was just everything combined in the package of OOC Jo, too many characters, too much going on, a stupidly fast wrapped up conclusion, and Paul Leonard's need to be violent and sad. A good story is buried somewhere in here, and i think a better who author like Justin Richards could have done a much better job.
Overall, i don't HATE this book, but i'm a little annoyed it almost put me in a slump. i actually need to take a little break from who reading to clear out my brain. overall..i SEE what Paul was trying to go for but MAN was it executed badly. i 100% can see why this book has such a low average rating and why hardly anyone has read it. it's just...it's not good.
even 2 out of 5.
saoki's review
2.0
Good setting and interesting alien species, but the whole manly fighty but of it it got on my nerves after a while. Not the best 3rd Doctor story in this line, not even the best by this writer, but good enough for a bus trip.
olegx's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nwhyte's review
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2250996.html[return][return]It's fairly obvious by now that I am not a huge Third Doctor fan, and still less a fan of the character Mike Yates. Yet here we have something rather good: just before The Green Death, the Doctor takes Jo on an excursion to a low-gravity planet where several richly realised cultures, which practice bodily resurrection in the most literal of senses, compete for control of their environment. I see that Speed of Flight has not picked up rave reviews in general, but I thought the world-building here was really something a bit special, both physically and anthropologically. It's still a bit odd to plonk the wooden, conventional Yates into an alien environment, but if that's the least impressive part of the book you're doing OK by me.
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