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wynnifer's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
hidekisohma's review
3.0
*There may be SLIGHT spoilers in this review. nothing major*
So at the time of writing this review, the overall rating for this book is a 3.03, and honestly, that's perfect. Because that's what this book is. Very very average.
The issue is, that after Seeing I, basically ANY 8th doctor book is going to be good. The bar has been set so low, that you could just basically step over it.
Placebo Effect is very much a "Monster of the week" kind of story. There's definitely moments where they remind you that 3 years passed in the previous novel, but they don't focus TOO too much on it.
The stakes, while high for the planet on this book, feel negligible. Kind of like, the doctor and sam, are just having fun. lots of people are dying around them as per usual, but i never really felt a sense of DANGER with these two. like they treated the whole situation like a "oh dear, ANOTHER situation where genocide might be a thing? oh you silly alien races, tee hee".
There's never a moment where i worried they were in REAL danger and just kind of went along for the ride, which, after the previous books in the "missing sam" arc, can be a little refreshing.
There ARE a few weird things about this book though. So the doctor is going to the wedding of two of his old companions, stacy and ssard. they're apparently 2 people who traveled with 8 for a bit after he lost sam. we didn't SEE this though as this was during some comics.
You'd think with the return of these two companions, they'd be...you know, useful in the story, but
once they get married, they literally disappear from the story
that's so weird. like, why make them named characters you've met before only to have that happen when the story's JUST picking up. Wasted potential.
The next issue with this books is there's SO many side characters it gets exhausting. They keep adding new characters nearly every chapter in which a good 1/2 of them just show up for a few pages, get their entire backstory told and then die horribly. It got to the point that whenever a new char showed up i kind of just read what their job was and then was like "Welp, no point getting invested. they'll be dead soon."
A good section of this book is devoted to Sam's struggle with religion which, to me at least, was an odd choice. Like, not sure why they thought Sam's agnosticism was worth more pages than the doctor doing stuff but...i guess they were riding the "high" of "Sam's deep character" from the previous book?
I'm not entirely certain why these authors are feeling i need to have a "Deep dive" of Sam. like, they think i actually CARE about her childhood when she was forced to visit church, or her current feelings on religion. which, (i know this is shocking) i don't. I signed up for doctor shenanigans. Can i see more of him? Thankfully, there was LESS sam than Seeing I, but then again, it would be nearly impossible for them to have had MORE and have the doctor in the book at all.
The villains were pretty stock, generic twirling mustache "assimilate a planet" plans (despite them being a callback to a tom baker arc) and Sam was in full "i'm older now and therefore my ego is now bigger" mode which gave me Clara from capaldi flashbacks.
It was fine for what it was, but it 100% is not going to light the world on fire. What i DID like about it though, was i did like how it felt happier and more light spirited than the previous book. Even with all the death, to the two main characters, it was just another wacky adventure, and there were enough comedic moments to make it all right.
Not great, not bad, straight in the middle generic. Which, all in all, compared to Seeing I, it's a blessing. Solid 3 out of 5.
So at the time of writing this review, the overall rating for this book is a 3.03, and honestly, that's perfect. Because that's what this book is. Very very average.
The issue is, that after Seeing I, basically ANY 8th doctor book is going to be good. The bar has been set so low, that you could just basically step over it.
Placebo Effect is very much a "Monster of the week" kind of story. There's definitely moments where they remind you that 3 years passed in the previous novel, but they don't focus TOO too much on it.
The stakes, while high for the planet on this book, feel negligible. Kind of like, the doctor and sam, are just having fun. lots of people are dying around them as per usual, but i never really felt a sense of DANGER with these two. like they treated the whole situation like a "oh dear, ANOTHER situation where genocide might be a thing? oh you silly alien races, tee hee".
There's never a moment where i worried they were in REAL danger and just kind of went along for the ride, which, after the previous books in the "missing sam" arc, can be a little refreshing.
There ARE a few weird things about this book though. So the doctor is going to the wedding of two of his old companions, stacy and ssard. they're apparently 2 people who traveled with 8 for a bit after he lost sam. we didn't SEE this though as this was during some comics.
You'd think with the return of these two companions, they'd be...you know, useful in the story, but
once they get married, they literally disappear from the story
that's so weird. like, why make them named characters you've met before only to have that happen when the story's JUST picking up. Wasted potential.
The next issue with this books is there's SO many side characters it gets exhausting. They keep adding new characters nearly every chapter in which a good 1/2 of them just show up for a few pages, get their entire backstory told and then die horribly. It got to the point that whenever a new char showed up i kind of just read what their job was and then was like "Welp, no point getting invested. they'll be dead soon."
A good section of this book is devoted to Sam's struggle with religion which, to me at least, was an odd choice. Like, not sure why they thought Sam's agnosticism was worth more pages than the doctor doing stuff but...i guess they were riding the "high" of "Sam's deep character" from the previous book?
I'm not entirely certain why these authors are feeling i need to have a "Deep dive" of Sam. like, they think i actually CARE about her childhood when she was forced to visit church, or her current feelings on religion. which, (i know this is shocking) i don't. I signed up for doctor shenanigans. Can i see more of him? Thankfully, there was LESS sam than Seeing I, but then again, it would be nearly impossible for them to have had MORE and have the doctor in the book at all.
The villains were pretty stock, generic twirling mustache "assimilate a planet" plans (despite them being a callback to a tom baker arc) and Sam was in full "i'm older now and therefore my ego is now bigger" mode which gave me Clara from capaldi flashbacks.
It was fine for what it was, but it 100% is not going to light the world on fire. What i DID like about it though, was i did like how it felt happier and more light spirited than the previous book. Even with all the death, to the two main characters, it was just another wacky adventure, and there were enough comedic moments to make it all right.
Not great, not bad, straight in the middle generic. Which, all in all, compared to Seeing I, it's a blessing. Solid 3 out of 5.
rebelbelle13's review
3.0
Gotta hand it to Gary Russell- he had some great ideas here. Not only did he bring back a 4th Doctor villain in the Wirrn, but he also acknowledged and made canon Ssard and Stacy, companions from the comics who traveled with 8 while Sam was missing. Watching The Ark in Space arc with Baker's Doctor isn't necessary before reading this, but it might help with the background of the Wirrn, what they look like, and how they function and take over other bodies.
Now, for a book about the Wirrn and the Olympics, I was surprised at how little they were actually in the novel. The Wirrn really don't show their faces (antennae?) until about 2/3 of the way through the book. Up until then it's just things going wrong, people being killed or going missing, political intrigue, drugs being passed around, warring between Foamasi lodges and of course, the wedding. It sounds interesting, but there is honestly so much going on that just isn't interesting at all, with characters that are not important or who will die shortly anyways, so why bother to remember their names? There's also a random theology argument in here- pages and pages of atheist versus belief in god that's just not necessary, and grinds the story to a halt. It felt like it was just there to pad the page count.
The Doctor and Sam seem like they're just coasting through this story. Like they never really consider themselves in active, life-threatening danger, and they sort of act like it.
It's a fine, if forgettable installment of the EDAs. Some great ideas, some fan service, but in the end, fairly middling.
Now, for a book about the Wirrn and the Olympics, I was surprised at how little they were actually in the novel. The Wirrn really don't show their faces (antennae?) until about 2/3 of the way through the book. Up until then it's just things going wrong, people being killed or going missing, political intrigue, drugs being passed around, warring between Foamasi lodges and of course, the wedding. It sounds interesting, but there is honestly so much going on that just isn't interesting at all, with characters that are not important or who will die shortly anyways, so why bother to remember their names? There's also a random theology argument in here- pages and pages of atheist versus belief in god that's just not necessary, and grinds the story to a halt. It felt like it was just there to pad the page count.
The Doctor and Sam seem like they're just coasting through this story. Like they never really consider themselves in active, life-threatening danger, and they sort of act like it.
It's a fine, if forgettable installment of the EDAs. Some great ideas, some fan service, but in the end, fairly middling.
eightfitz's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
whosname's review
4.0
Ya sabemos de donde vienen los bichos de plástico de embalar de The Ark in Space.
nwhyte's review
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1583791.html
Another Eighth Doctor novel, with the Foamasi and Wirrrn (Russell adopts the Ian Marter spelling) competing for attention in subverting a future interplanetary Olympic Games. Russell's depiction of the Foamasi is competent and his Wirrrn are memorably awful and nearly invincible. But the book is somewhat spoiled by a half-hearted enquiry into the nature of religious belief, which is territory usually left unexplored in the Whoniverse, and I think wisely so
Another Eighth Doctor novel, with the Foamasi and Wirrrn (Russell adopts the Ian Marter spelling) competing for attention in subverting a future interplanetary Olympic Games. Russell's depiction of the Foamasi is competent and his Wirrrn are memorably awful and nearly invincible. But the book is somewhat spoiled by a half-hearted enquiry into the nature of religious belief, which is territory usually left unexplored in the Whoniverse, and I think wisely so
julis's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
1.0
This is…a bad book. Gary Russell has script editing ability, but I’m not sure who turned him loose on writing. There are too many plots and too much happens a) off screen b) to characters I was never made to care about or c) in the last quarter of the book. There was nothing memorable about it.
coffee_deer's review
2.0
It wasn't that it was bad - just sort of... chaotic, with too many POVs here and too long dialogues there (and I do love dialogues as a general rule). All and all, this book seems a bit undercooked.
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