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A review by ksd1441
Doctor Who: Eleven Doctors, Eleven Stories by Eoin Colfer, Charlie Higson, Richelle Mead, Alex Scarrow, Derek Landy, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Marcus Sedgwick, Neil Gaiman, Michael Scott, Malorie Blackman
4.0
Overall a 3.5 (rounded up). A fun collection of stories covering all the Doctors so far (excluding our upcoming Capaldi, though). The overall rating does not reflect every story, but I'll break those down in a minute. For someone who is new to the Whovian Universe, this may not be as exciting. I have not seen every episode that ever was, but I have seen a bit of each Doctor. And each author in this bunch does a different service to each of the Doctor's reincarnations. Some better than others.
1st Doctor (by Eoin Colfer) - 1 star. Meh. There were some interesting lines and the story itself had potential, but it really wasn't written like a Doctor Who story. It felt more like someone was given a summary and a small clip and they went from there.
2nd Doctor (by Michael Scott) - 2 stars. Scott was able to capture the attitude of the 2nd Doctor, but the story itself fell a little flat. Not a bad idea, just a little too much "getting there" and then the solution was one paragraph.
3rd Doctor (by Marcus Sedgwick) - 3 stars (there's a pattern setting up, huh?). 3rd Doctor may be my current least favorite version of the Time Lord, but this story was enjoyable. We get the right feel and an active companion and an interesting story. With the Doctor stranded on Earth during this life, there are still plenty of options for adventures. At least he didn't go too kung-fu.
4th Doctor (by Philip Reeve) - 4 stars (yup). For starters, I love Philip Reeve and Tom Baker is my favorite classic Doctor. The combination was great, and I thought the monster being a freakin' tree was creative, and only Reeve could pull that off. He got all the voices right and just the correct amount of action and "chatting. People are less likely to kill you if you stop and have a chat."
5th Doctor (by Patrick Ness) - 4 stars. Also really love Patrick Ness. I only recently found his Chaos Walking series, so I was excited to see his name on the list. 5th Doctor is okay. If you were to transfer this story to television, it would be a "Doctor Lite" episode. He's not in it for much, but we still get a wonderful story and something that would indeed transition well. Great.
6th Doctor (by Richelle Mead) - 3 stars. Richelle Mead in a Doctor Who collection? Really? Okay, um.. it was fine. It's the only story in this collection from the 1st person perspective of the companion (Peri). Even though we don't get a whole lot of Doctor in this story either, I do think she was able to capture 6's signature sass and dryness.
7th Doctor (by Malorie Blackman) - 3 stars. Fun story, and it has Ace! Ace is fun. This story had the more stubborn and darker side of the Doctor. 7 never seemed to have a distinct character like some of the others, so I can't say how accurate Blackman was, but it was a good story. It fit into the rhythm correctly, even if the solution was a tad confusing.
8th Doctor (by Alex Scarrow) - 4 stars. Never heard of Alex Scarrow, but 8 is one of my favorites despite his short tenure, and I think this story did him justice. We are companion-less, but with 8's in-your-face-fast-paced attitude, I can see him not having someone constantly like the others. Dark villain and not afraid to include death. Bit of an easy solution, but enjoyable. Yay 8.
9th Doctor (Charlie Higson) - 3 stars. My First Doctor, so this not being a 5-star quality story made me a bit sad, but it was good. This takes place in that "short" amount of time between the Doctor first leaving Rose and then coming back to add "Did I mention it travels in time?" There has been fan speculation online as to where he went then and how long he was indeed gone, and I think this is a great attempt at answering that. We see 9 getting into an adventure by mistake, as usual, and meeting an unusual one-time companion - who eventually convinces him to go back and ask Rose to join him again.
10th Doctor (by Derek Landy) - 5 STARS! This one was a smash. Landy was able to capture the essence of the show completely, and the voices of both 10 and Martha were absolutely perfect! I know some people may be going "Aww, Martha?" Shut UP. Martha is awesome. Anyway, great story and an interesting world to visit. Simply brilliant. Landy's Skullduggery Pleasant has been on my reading list for a while; thanks to this it has been bumped up.
11th Doctor (by Neil Gaiman) - 4 stars. Neil Gaiman! What's not to like! He could have botched it and I would have given it 4. But, of course, he didn't. Imaginative plot and villain, I got to have Amy again (no Rory :( sad face). The writing was terrific and a clever conclusion. Neil Gaiman pretty much is the 11th Doctor.
1st Doctor (by Eoin Colfer) - 1 star. Meh. There were some interesting lines and the story itself had potential, but it really wasn't written like a Doctor Who story. It felt more like someone was given a summary and a small clip and they went from there.
2nd Doctor (by Michael Scott) - 2 stars. Scott was able to capture the attitude of the 2nd Doctor, but the story itself fell a little flat. Not a bad idea, just a little too much "getting there" and then the solution was one paragraph.
3rd Doctor (by Marcus Sedgwick) - 3 stars (there's a pattern setting up, huh?). 3rd Doctor may be my current least favorite version of the Time Lord, but this story was enjoyable. We get the right feel and an active companion and an interesting story. With the Doctor stranded on Earth during this life, there are still plenty of options for adventures. At least he didn't go too kung-fu.
4th Doctor (by Philip Reeve) - 4 stars (yup). For starters, I love Philip Reeve and Tom Baker is my favorite classic Doctor. The combination was great, and I thought the monster being a freakin' tree was creative, and only Reeve could pull that off. He got all the voices right and just the correct amount of action and "chatting. People are less likely to kill you if you stop and have a chat."
5th Doctor (by Patrick Ness) - 4 stars. Also really love Patrick Ness. I only recently found his Chaos Walking series, so I was excited to see his name on the list. 5th Doctor is okay. If you were to transfer this story to television, it would be a "Doctor Lite" episode. He's not in it for much, but we still get a wonderful story and something that would indeed transition well. Great.
6th Doctor (by Richelle Mead) - 3 stars. Richelle Mead in a Doctor Who collection? Really? Okay, um.. it was fine. It's the only story in this collection from the 1st person perspective of the companion (Peri). Even though we don't get a whole lot of Doctor in this story either, I do think she was able to capture 6's signature sass and dryness.
7th Doctor (by Malorie Blackman) - 3 stars. Fun story, and it has Ace! Ace is fun. This story had the more stubborn and darker side of the Doctor. 7 never seemed to have a distinct character like some of the others, so I can't say how accurate Blackman was, but it was a good story. It fit into the rhythm correctly, even if the solution was a tad confusing.
8th Doctor (by Alex Scarrow) - 4 stars. Never heard of Alex Scarrow, but 8 is one of my favorites despite his short tenure, and I think this story did him justice. We are companion-less, but with 8's in-your-face-fast-paced attitude, I can see him not having someone constantly like the others. Dark villain and not afraid to include death. Bit of an easy solution, but enjoyable. Yay 8.
9th Doctor (Charlie Higson) - 3 stars. My First Doctor, so this not being a 5-star quality story made me a bit sad, but it was good. This takes place in that "short" amount of time between the Doctor first leaving Rose and then coming back to add "Did I mention it travels in time?" There has been fan speculation online as to where he went then and how long he was indeed gone, and I think this is a great attempt at answering that. We see 9 getting into an adventure by mistake, as usual, and meeting an unusual one-time companion - who eventually convinces him to go back and ask Rose to join him again.
10th Doctor (by Derek Landy) - 5 STARS! This one was a smash. Landy was able to capture the essence of the show completely, and the voices of both 10 and Martha were absolutely perfect! I know some people may be going "Aww, Martha?" Shut UP. Martha is awesome. Anyway, great story and an interesting world to visit. Simply brilliant. Landy's Skullduggery Pleasant has been on my reading list for a while; thanks to this it has been bumped up.
11th Doctor (by Neil Gaiman) - 4 stars. Neil Gaiman! What's not to like! He could have botched it and I would have given it 4. But, of course, he didn't. Imaginative plot and villain, I got to have Amy again (no Rory :( sad face). The writing was terrific and a clever conclusion. Neil Gaiman pretty much is the 11th Doctor.