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A review by mschlat
Doctor Who: Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds
3.0
I love Doctor Who. I love Alastair Reynolds (especially the Revelation Space books). So I thought I would love this. Sadly, not so much.
One big issue is the choice of Doctor; I'm very partial to Tom Baker and David Tennant, but Reynolds is focusing on the third Doctor (Pertwee) and his relationship with the Master. I don't think I've ever seen a Pertwee episode, and --- when I've seen clips of the Master --- I always thought him the equivalent of the mustache-twirling villain of an old Western serial.
The other issue for me was one of pacing. There's a great start involving a fantastically old ship with super-powerful weapons being deciphered by an alien civilization (almost stereotypically Reynolds), but then the action turns to Earth and slows down. Honestly, I almost gave up a time or two.
There's a lot at the end about the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, and if you are a fan of that era of Doctor Who, you may get a lot out of it. However, it was not a good fit for me.
One big issue is the choice of Doctor; I'm very partial to Tom Baker and David Tennant, but Reynolds is focusing on the third Doctor (Pertwee) and his relationship with the Master. I don't think I've ever seen a Pertwee episode, and --- when I've seen clips of the Master --- I always thought him the equivalent of the mustache-twirling villain of an old Western serial.
The other issue for me was one of pacing. There's a great start involving a fantastically old ship with super-powerful weapons being deciphered by an alien civilization (almost stereotypically Reynolds), but then the action turns to Earth and slows down. Honestly, I almost gave up a time or two.
There's a lot at the end about the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, and if you are a fan of that era of Doctor Who, you may get a lot out of it. However, it was not a good fit for me.