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kaz_brekker1's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
scampr's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
The Autons have a safe place as one of the more iconic villains of Doctor Who's history, but they have been used fairly sparingly over the years, and for good reason. I would consider them a fairly straightforward enemy, so there is a risk of falling into similar ideas and plot beats. As a result, a lot of their stories since their debut within Spearhead from Space have either explored a significant change/addition to their concept or allied the Autons with a third party.
This novel does delve briefly into the Auton consciousness and the empathy/identity of human duplicates, but they're not given much focus at all (and have been done better in other stories). Instead, most of the ideas this story has to offer are quite superficial, and don't stray beyond "this thing inside the shopping mall is made of plastic so it's under the Nestene control".
Most of my expectations were riding on something bold to elevate things beyond the recycled invasion plot, but that's pretty much all there is to this story - not bad, just disappointing. The Doctor visits Hyperville, a futuristic mall that so big it has gone beyond shopping to become a hub for entertainment and holidays. The definition of futuristic for this novel is 2013, which I think was a bit of a missed opportunity to push further, exploring more drastic the technological developments and how our relationship with plastics and consumerism could evolve.
After encountering problems with the theme parks of Hyperville, the Doctor begins to poke around and inevitably gets in trouble with the management. It's clear to him something odd is going on and he soon uncovers that the Autons are behind it with the help of some shifty humans.
As this is a post S4 10th Doctor adventure, he gets help with his investigation in the form of Kate, this story's one-time companion - and probably the only likeable one of what is a pretty forgettable bunch of characters.
The plot beyond this is as you'd expect, the Auton plan goes into motion and Hyperville becomes the beginning point of the invasion. It's your typical Doctor Who action stuff, the only novelty being the shopping mall setting - but it's just a surface level addition to what has been done with the Autons countless times.
A perfectly functional plot that makes for a solidly enjoyable adventure for the 10th Doctor. However, the overall impression feels very average (as it struggles to distinguish itself in any special way) and disappointing in regards to the Autons in particular.
This novel does delve briefly into the Auton consciousness and the empathy/identity of human duplicates, but they're not given much focus at all (and have been done better in other stories). Instead, most of the ideas this story has to offer are quite superficial, and don't stray beyond "this thing inside the shopping mall is made of plastic so it's under the Nestene control".
Most of my expectations were riding on something bold to elevate things beyond the recycled invasion plot, but that's pretty much all there is to this story - not bad, just disappointing. The Doctor visits Hyperville, a futuristic mall that so big it has gone beyond shopping to become a hub for entertainment and holidays. The definition of futuristic for this novel is 2013, which I think was a bit of a missed opportunity to push further, exploring more drastic the technological developments and how our relationship with plastics and consumerism could evolve.
After encountering problems with the theme parks of Hyperville, the Doctor begins to poke around and inevitably gets in trouble with the management. It's clear to him something odd is going on and he soon uncovers that the Autons are behind it with the help of some shifty humans.
As this is a post S4 10th Doctor adventure, he gets help with his investigation in the form of Kate, this story's one-time companion - and probably the only likeable one of what is a pretty forgettable bunch of characters.
The plot beyond this is as you'd expect, the Auton plan goes into motion and Hyperville becomes the beginning point of the invasion. It's your typical Doctor Who action stuff, the only novelty being the shopping mall setting - but it's just a surface level addition to what has been done with the Autons countless times.
A perfectly functional plot that makes for a solidly enjoyable adventure for the 10th Doctor. However, the overall impression feels very average (as it struggles to distinguish itself in any special way) and disappointing in regards to the Autons in particular.
zoeb2101's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
libkatem's review against another edition
4.0
The Nestene Consciousness returns to the most epic of shopping malls... think of all that plastic, and all those shop window dummies!! The Doctor is on his own for this one, it's a good thing that sharp thinking and fast acting Kate Maguire is around to make sure that the Doctor saves the day!!
thestackscat's review against another edition
Entertaining in typical Doctor Who fashion. The dialogue is a little lacking though
sybillshepard's review against another edition
3.0
Misses having a companion but Kate was fun. The story seemed like a rehash of the Arachnos story from the Christmas episode but I did enjoy it
iphigenie72's review against another edition
5.0
I have a special love for the Autons. Their first story Terror on the Autons is my favorite of the old show for many reasons, but mainly because it had my favorite old series Doctor and the best Master ever! The thing about the old Autons and I'm including Rose in this assessment is that they work a lot more in your imaginations and in reality sometimes their representation falls very far from Robert Holmes' idea.
Autonomy gives us the perfect Autons, they can do everything that they should do and even more, I really loved that part, it made a favorite villain that much better. The story is about a megacentre called Hyperville where people can shop, visit "alternate worlds", go to a casino and have a whole vacation there. The assistants of the big boss have a different idea about what they want for Hyperville and this includes the uses of a little too much plastic for their own good.
. The single story companions are not that exciting, their just a little bland and don't make their mark; I think maybe less characters might have been a good option there.
I think people who are fond of the Autons, but think they never quite got the perfect story will feel this book does that for them.
Autonomy gives us the perfect Autons, they can do everything that they should do and even more, I really loved that part, it made a favorite villain that much better. The story is about a megacentre called Hyperville where people can shop, visit "alternate worlds", go to a casino and have a whole vacation there. The assistants of the big boss have a different idea about what they want for Hyperville and this includes the uses of a little too much plastic for their own good.
Spoiler
I really enjoyed the way the Autons are portrayed, I wouldn't say they're made humans, but some of them are given a "real life" and are shattered when they learn what they are.I think people who are fond of the Autons, but think they never quite got the perfect story will feel this book does that for them.
mountford14's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1947037.html[return][return][return]Blythe brings back the Autons with a proper reboot, updating them to the new century in a way that wasn't possible for the TV episode Rose (which also rebooted the Autons, but much else besides) and actually paving the way slightly for the new wrinkles to the Autons that we saw in the first Matt Smith season. Lots of decent action, though the gruesome deaths don't quite fit with the general impression of Who novels of that year of writing for a younger age group.
simplyparticular's review
4.0
The hard part about reading some of these DW books is I can visualize them so clearly in my head and they would make a great episode. Hideously expensive, but awesome. Makes me wish they would do feature films 1-2x a year.