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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:28:20 GMT -5
Damaged Goods
The plot's rubbish and uninteresting but the characters are gloriously detailed and well worth investing time in reading about their lives. For me their lives are beautifully detailed and they achieve a level of 'aliveness' that most other books just simply cannot reach. That said there does seem to be a few of the stock NA archetypes but they have enough detail to put a new spin on them.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:28:36 GMT -5
So Vile A Sin
An interesting book but one that dances around the actual 'main and shocking event' (tm) of the book. Having built up the book so much it's a shame that it actually fails to deliver on such a build up and so it reduces the emotional impact of Roz's death tremendously. Having been with the Doctor some time we've found out a lot about her and who she was and then to just throw it all away is a terrible waste of potential imho.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:28:53 GMT -5
Ascension
Almost a coda to the PSI powers arc this short story attempts to do what SVAS didn't, it attempts to give Roz's life and death some real meaning, although her departure will continue to echo through the rest of the 7th Doctor's literay adventures.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:29:10 GMT -5
Bad Therapy
An interesting tale that brings back Peri and briefly explores the culture of Thoros Alpha. If they were really this powerful then how come they were nearly conquered and enslaved by the Mentors of Thoros Beta? The rest of the book is a mildly diverting examination of projectionism and subconcious desire.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:29:25 GMT -5
Eternity Weeps
Very well written and very daring for it's time, alas reading it nearly 4 years after the date it's set does heavily reduce the impact of the climatic near-destruction of the Earth and all it's inhabitants. The linking theme with the metaphorical story of Noah's Ark is very interesting, but romantics aside it's completley nonsence. The death of Liz Shaw comes across as needless brutality as she could have been anyone and with such little build up or involvement in the story being a former companion of the 3rd Doctor actually makes it less plausable rather than more. The seperation and divorce of Benny and Jason comes across as mean and meaningless and not at all in character with their other appearances. Never the less it's well worth reading.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:29:44 GMT -5
The Room With No Doors
A pause before the 7th Doctor's finale and a time to re-examine who he was, is and will be. Making the 7th Doctor aware of his impending regeneration comes across as needless fangurl romantisism, and the author's inclusion of herself as a one dimensional creature who's only function is to try and torture the Doctor for no reason other than she wants to is a nice touch. Trying to push Chris more to the fore also hints at Chris's coming necessary departure so as to fit in with the events of the 8th Doctor movie. Personally I'd have liked things just a little more open, a little more mysterious/ambiguous, and much more Shogun. However the events all feel relatively realistic, although the Victorian adventuress does seem a little too Jules Verne and not enough Kate Orman to feel like she belongs in the book.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:30:14 GMT -5
Lungbarrow
Well written, well paced, well researched, it left me cold and uninterested. This is not my Gallifrey and never will be. The simple plot, the Doctor returns home to be given a message, is padded out wonderfully with many sub plots and interesting characters. Alas none of them succeed in engaging me. Leela is written more like Xena, while Ace is somehow transformed into Sarah B'Stard and Romana seems to be channelling Kathy Janeway! Despite this however the Doctor and Chris are pretty much spot on and the new characters are at least somewhat differentiated in the way they all hate the Doctor. There's also a nice nod to Genesis of the Daleks (my least favourite TV story) so I guess all in all I am not the intended target reader of this book, but many others seem to be so that's nice. As the final 7th Doctor NA it doesn't quite seem to sum up the series in the same way that The Gallifrey Chronicles summoned up the 8DA's, but I suppose that wasn't the intention, rather the pedestrian revelation that the Doctor is somewhat more than just a Time Lord, something we already knew in Remembrance of the Daleks, so we're no further forward. Had he been Krusty the Clown it would have had more impact I think.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:30:51 GMT -5
The Dying Days
A fantastic rollercoaster of a novel packed full of fantastic cinematic imagery from a crashing helicopter to the UK sending people back to Mars and then a giant floating spaceship hovering over London and an Ice Warrior being made the king of the UK! This is all great stuff, I enjoyed each sentance of each page of each chapter, not once does the pace relent as betrayal upon betrayal causes events to remain fresh and interesting. The addition of the Brig is a nice touch too and it's great to get the feel of the UNIT days but in a modern context, like Battlefield but even better. Where Lungbarrow failed to be a satisfying finale ot the 7th Doctor era The Dying Days is an amazing farewell to the New Adventures series, but with the promise of new and interesting things to come for alcoholic/adventuress/scoundrel/unduplicatable Bernice Summerfield...
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:41:57 GMT -5
Oh No It Isn't!
Weird, bizarre, really weird & bizarre. The novel seems to pay homage to several different panto. From Dick Wittington to Cindarella to Aladdin to Sleeping Beauty it falls dangerously close to Disney at times and somehow Benny's self-awareness doesn't help things along, it could have been more interesting to really open things up and really dive right into things and even write sections of the book in script form. The Grel seem suitably interesting but for some reason I kept thinking of them as a bizarre cross between the Ood and Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:42:15 GMT -5
Dragons' Wrath
An interesting variation of the classic switch and bait archetype, I liked the return of Brax and the court scene at the end was very interesting.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:42:32 GMT -5
Beyond the Sun
Razor blades in the eyes is more fun than the first half of this book, but once it (eventually) settles itself down we get a half decent story and the predictable twist in the tale is actually welcome relief.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:42:53 GMT -5
Ship of Fools
A great twist on the traditional whodunnit, at one point i was totally convinced I'd worked it all out and I was delighted to find I was totally wrong
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:43:15 GMT -5
Down
A brilliant pastiche of the 70's fantasy film genre wrapped up in psychological horror and trauma. It's like being decapitated by a chainsaw loony while a naked adonnis tickles you to death, only better (sadly the book actually lacks naked adonnai, but makes up for it with plenty of references to Doug McLure and also there's a healthy tribute/damning attack to/on a former novel publisher. I'm just not sure which it is.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:43:37 GMT -5
Deadfall
This book has a plot, the only problem is that it's only one chapter long and it's spread out over the entire novel! The return of Chris is handled with as much subtlety and grace as Adric in a lingerie shop and pushing Benny to the back in her own series of books in favour of Jason ******* Kane is just an unforgivable crime. The few jokes in the story are reasonably funny but are lost in the endless pages of mind numbingly bad prose. It just doesn't stop. If i could change one thing about this book it would be it's publication. The events of the book deserve a much better book to happen in. Avoid.
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Post by kg redhead on Jan 27, 2007 5:43:57 GMT -5
Ghost Devices
The book that wouldn't end. It's all jolly good fun for the most part but there seems to be far too much of it and then suddenly there isn't anywhere near enough of an ending, it stops, I suppose that'll have to be enough. The bits with the sentient airduct was funny and the RoboCop 3 meets Terminator unstoppable droid of death was ok but the rushed finale was not. I shouls start the Campaign for Real Endings
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