Tag: Review

Book Review – Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: The Knight, The Fool, And The Dead

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‘So,’ she said, ‘the trick is to spend our days trying to live instead of trying not to die?’

The Knight, The Fool, And The Dead, page 126

There is a lot to like in this short Doctor Who novel. The tenth doctor has traveled to the Dark Times shortly after declaring himself the Time Lord Victorious, a being who has the discretion to write the rules of time as he sees fit. He is also struggling and running away from his own impending demise after being told a prophecy of his impending death/regeneration. During his adventure to this time period, the Doctor quickly runs into the Kotturuh, a species who judges all creatures by their potential contribution to the universe by imposing life spans on them. This removes the immortality all species had at creation, and, in effect, begins the occurrence of ‘natural death.’ The tenth Doctor, along with an Ood assassin, a survivor of the Kotturuh, and a scientist, struggle to determine how to stop the Kotturuh from passing judgement on more planets before death sweeps across the entire universe.

I enjoyed the fast pace of the book, and it was an easy read. I was able to finish it in a couple hours. However, I do think the shortness of the novel detracted from its ability to tell an excellent story rather than just a good one. I loved learning more about the Kotturuh, and they truly are an interesting foe for the Doctor, especially at the stage of his life during this story. The physical description of them was eery and learning more about how they set lifespans was interesting, if not totally understandable or believable. I also really enjoyed the comedy of Brian, the assassin Ood, and was happy with his appearance in this book since I enjoyed him in previous outings as well. There were hints of depth and greatness sprinkled throughout the book, such as in my favorite quote shown above, but I would have liked more existential musings (especially from the Doctor) given the entire book is about death. The ending, however, sets the Doctor in an interesting place and role, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it in future installments of this multimedia project.

Overall, the book is a good and enjoyable read that is somewhat constrained by its length, lack of depth in approaching a topic such as death, and confusing/unbelievable scientific explanations for the Kotturuh’s abilities. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review – Solaris Seethes

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Goodreads Synopsis

A perfect blend of the epic space adventure made famous by Star Wars, to the fun and wit of Star Trek, and the gritty emotions of Battlestar Galactica. It’s also a perfect cure for those who are tired of sparkling vampires and “My inner goddess.” Every myth has a beginning.

After escaping the destruction of her home planet, Lanyr, with the help of the mysterious Solaris, Rynah must put her faith in an ancient legend. Never one to believe in stories and legends, she is forced to follow the ancient tales of her people: tales that also seem to predict her current situation.

Forced to unite with four unlikely heroes from an unknown planet (the philosopher, the warrior, the lover, the inventor) in order to save the Lanyran people, Rynah and Solaris embark on an adventure that will shatter everything Rynah once believed.

My Review

Solaris Seethes by Janet McNulty follows the adventure of Rynah as she flees the destruction of her world. During her escape, Rynah discovers Solaris, an old spaceship with artificial intelligence crafted by her grandfather. With the help of Solaris, Rynah recruits a crew of individuals from throughout Earth’s history who can help fulfill an ancient prophecy to keep other worlds from the destruction her home has experienced. In a race against a villain hell-bent on the destruction and subjugation of every sector of space, the crew must overcome a myriad of obstacles to find six ancient crystals before they can be brought together to create a superweapon of unimaginable destruction.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The story is interesting and intriguing, but the execution is pretty poor. The first half of the book is full of writing plagued by parenthetical explanations (random parentheses filled with descriptions or facts about the worlds or characters…like this). It was distracting and took me out of the story. A more organic approach to world-building would have been preferred. The writing did improve in the second half of the book if you are able to stick with it for that long. The plot was very repetitive, as well, with the characters constantly running from place to place. Many of the main accomplishments of the characters also fell flat for me because they seemed to come a bit too easy.

The best thing about the book was the character moments that happened in the few lulls in the action. I enjoyed the growth of Brie the most and think her arc was fun to read. Solaris was a star of the book, as well, with her witty and sarcastic personality. I also liked the overall set up of the story and the use of prophecy and mystery throughout the book. However, I don’t think there was enough payoff for the book’s mysteries before it’s end. It felt like this was the first of many books without a story of its own to tell. I prefer each book to have at least some sort of discrete story even if it is part of larger over-arching series plot.

Overall, this story was fun, fast-paced, and intriguing. However, it was plagued by an annoying writing style, repetitive plot, unearned accomplishments for the characters, and an inability to stand on its own. Therefore, I rate it 2 out of 5 stars. Unfortunately, I will not be reading the rest of this series, but I really did want to like it and found the premise interesting.

Comic Book Review – Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: Monstrous Beauty

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Monstrous Beauty is a three-part comic that was published in the Doctor Who Magazine as part of the Time Lord Victorious multimedia project. In this comic, we find the 9th doctor and Rose after they accidentally venture into the dark times at the very beginning of creation. Throughout this adventure they face multiple obstacles and encounter new, but ancient, species that seem to have a taste for blood.

I don’t hate this story, but I don’t love it either. The premise is interesting, and we get to see a little more of the dark times and some of the monsters that are supposed to make it so scary. It also did a great job of portraying the 9th doctor and Rose. The dialogue really made me feel like I was watching an episode with the two of them in it. The story also provided a glimpse into what the Gallifreyans were up to at this point in history, which was interesting but also confusingly contradictory to the current canon as outlined in the Timeless Children. For example, the Gallifreyan people we see in this comic clearly have mastered space travel, but their genetics are different from that of the doctor, which I assume means they cannot regenerate yet. However, one the most recent episodes of the show indicated that the first space traveler, Tecteun, was also the person who granted the Time Lords regeneration abilities. So, how can they have advanced space travel but not regeneration? Maybe I just missed some detail that explains this, but I still find it very confusing. Most importantly, the ending of this story was rushed and did not make sense to me at all. I think the story would have been better if it had more issues to flesh out the conflicts and resolutions.

Overall, I came away from this comic feeling underwhelmed and somewhat confused. While certain aspects of it were fun to see (it truly was a delight to see nine and Rose back together), this was clearly a forgettable, filler story to explain how the ninth doctor shows up in other parts of the Time Lord Victorious story. Therefore, I rate it 2 out of 5 stars.