Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: City at World's End

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Storyline of this novel is very compelling. Dr. Who lands in Arkhaven, a city which must evacuate its inhabitants because the moon orbiting around them is breaking up and will crash into their planet. Although, I really like the storyline, very little of the action involves Dr. Who. He is a minor character with very few scenes particularly in the first half of the book. This is my first Dr. Who book and I hope other novels feature Dr. Who, not others whom I don't particularly care about.

We've seen the story before, but despite covering old ground, this book in the continuing adventures of DOCTOR WHO is worth picking up. The story features the first Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan all of whom land in a city that is dominated by a large spacecraft and is not what it seems to be (shades of STATE OF DECAY). There's a mystery afoot, and to keep our hero's around to solve the problem the writer throws the book at them... the building the land on is blown out from under them, Barbara is trapped underneath, Susan is tossed into a coma, the Doctor and Ian worry, party and look for the TARDIS key which has once again been lost. All in all... a true blue Doctor Who adventure. The only real complaint I can level at this story is that the main characters are simply run through their paces... little or no advancement in their relationship is brought forward, and Barbara seems to be put through the worst of it... she is literally knocked out in this book, so much so I felt it bordered on attempted murder by the author. Despite the gaps, it is a fast and fine read and worth picking up.

The Doctor,Susan,Ian and Barbara land on a planet about to be destroyed by a moon orbiting the planet. The travellers get seperated and meet many people who live on this planet. There are many plot twists and turns!Nothing or nobody in this book is what they seem!The real villian even shocked me! The only problem I have is that none of the Tardis crew relationships are explored or expanded! Also in this book, Barbara get brainwashed and Susan gets to meet a clone of herself! If you like the first Doctor or any of his companions you'll might like this book! For book that is similar to this read the Tom Baker story"State of Decay" if you can find it! Overall I enjoyed this book ,just it takes me a long time to read them! Please bring back more missing adventures of the first Doctor ,Ian,Barbara and Susan! Just remember when you start reading this book everything to not what it seems!

Christopher Bulis, one of the most prolific authors of original "Doctor Who" novels, has produced another excellent story in "City at World's End." The book has a satisfyingly complex plot, with many plot strands deftly woven together. The reader is presented with several puzzling mysteries and it is a pleasure to try to guess their solutions before Bulis reveals them. The book also raises thought-provoking questions about the nature of our knowledge of the cities in which we live and of our fellow citizens, and, like all science-fiction stories concerning a planet or civilization facing imminent destruction, makes us wonder how we would behave in such a situation. The book features excellent characterizations of the Doctor and his three companions and makes us care deeply about the supporting characters. Perhaps the book's only flaw is that, toward the end, Bulis throws in a few too many of his trademark shocking plot twists (although most of them have been carefully set up earlier in the book) with the result that he must resort to a somewhat contrived plot device to provide resolution. Nonetheless, this book is highly recommended.

It's a mess. The plot is transparent, the subplots are a) obvious, b) go nowhere and c) hackneyed. The characterisation of Hartnell's Doctor is poor (it could be anyone, really) and the editing sub-par. It reeks of a book published in a hurry to meet a deadline, as the plot actually has some merit (bears resemblance to the Episode "Utopia" from season 3 of the new series). If you're after a good Doctor Who read, I'd suggest other titles.

It's amusing to me how many writers tend to write Past Doctor stories in the style of the stories that were broadcast during that Doctor's tenure, not really seeing fit to push the format or strain the characters just a little bit. Now, I don't know if that's because the audience really wants just the comfort of seeing old hands being put through their paces or because of editorial fiat, but it generally means you can guess where the story is going once you get too far into it.

Thus: the TARDIS crew lands on a planet that is about to undergo peril. Turns out that the moon is about to smash into the planet and kill everyone, so they are currently engaged in trying to build a giant spaceship that will take everyone out of there. Or almost everyone. Maybe.

Generally in most situations where people land in a magic teleporting box on a planet with a clear expiration date, the crew would be like, "Well, hey, guys, it's been nice visiting but we're out of here . . ." and leave. Except that the TARDIS gets immediately lost in a collapsing building and everyone gets separated. Oh, gee. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

To Bulis' credit, he's clearly thought the situation out. The place feels like wreckage even before meteors are going to start raining from the sky. Streets are empty, the people that aren't going feel oppressed, the different factions of the government are coming apart at the seams and are barely keeping from being at each other's throats. The Doctor, as usual, rises to the situation not by being an action hero but by being smarter than everyone else and, as is typical for this Doctor, commanding everyone in sight with his nonstop haughty demeanor. He gives the planet layers of mystery that at least give the plot a reason to unfold, even as you can see where this is all going to end up from quite some distance away.

There's two problems here. The first is that everyone just falls into their standard roles without expanding or exploring them in any way. Susan screams, the Doctor investigates, Ian becomes Science Action Hero, and Barbara . . . well, Barbara gets brainwashed for no good reason. They do pretty much what you expect them to do in the situation and while the author gets points for consistency they aren't really challenged either, nor does it make for a very exciting situation.

The other problem is that large sections of the plot aren't quite developed as fully as they need to be as the story just barrels along. Barbara's brainwashing (and the role of the people who did it) merely serves as a catalyst for an action later without having any other effect and is forgotten almost right away. Susan's clone is introduced in a way that makes you think you skipped a large part of the story (or that someone got names wrong) but becomes obvious shortly later what happened, and again only serves to spark a left-field plot twist later.

This means that the early parts of the story, where doom feels imminent, largely dissipates later on in a hodgepodge of various plots and factions and events, all of which inevitably leads to stuff that you know how to happen so that when it does happen you either have to be delighted for guessing correctly, forget what you guess so you are surprised, or just resolutely sigh and chalk up one for consistency. Guess which one I did?

With this is mind, for those looking for a by the numbers First Doctor adventure won't go wrong. Bulis gets the bare bones right and keeps the story moving, even when some parts clearly could use a little more expansion. I managed to finish this on the backend of a plane flight across the country, so it kept my attention for the duration (I could have spent the time just staring out the window) but if you're looking for something more than a quick Who fix, there's other places to encounter.

It had been a little while since I'd read a first doctor PDA, and within the first 3 chapters I was vowing to make sure I have all the others in my collection. Bulis does a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of the era, and each of the TARDIS crew members comes across as dead on. Barbara and Susan are put through the ringer, and you can easily picture the mussed hair, and smudged cheek shots typical of the beleaguered heroins. Ian reactive and stoic at the same time, and the Doctor alternately useless and key to the resolution It was a magical time.
I liked the story a lot - mainly an illustration of the religious and powerful fighting over cosmetic aspects of the culture while the scientists and engineers do the only work that matters to the survival of the people (while ignoring, to their detriment, some of the potential outcomes of their growing technological advances).
It isn't an easy book to describe/review without giving away plot surprises - suffice it to say, there are a lot of twists (maybe one or two too many, as some seem to either come from, or go into, blind alleys). Delightfully - a reason for the dimensional instability resulting in the adventure that follows (Planet of the Giants) is given, as well as a 'promise' to revisit the scene in the afterward.
An 'episodic feel' is chosen rather than the most well constructed story with a distinctive beginning, middle and end. I liked this about it, for the way it reflects the stories of the first TARDIS crew.
It may not be "The Witch Hunters", but it is a very good read that I recommend to anyone who is a fan of this period of the series.

A little adventure never hurts, does it? Well, if the Doctor listened to Ian & Barbara's protests every time, there simply wouldn't be any stories to tell. In this futuristic world, nothing is as it seems. Its a world of social class clashes, giant snakes, and scientific wonders gone wrong. Christopher Bulis does a great job at keeping a surprise waiting on every page, but the surprises in this story just ended up being a bit far-fetched. Even for a time traveling sci-fi lover like myself. Overall while it was a interesting and enjoyable read, it simply was one I could put down for a few days & come back to finish it later. This book might not be the first one I'd point out to a new fan of Dr. Who, but at the same time, its certainly not one Dr. Who regular would want to miss out on.

This book started out like any novel, that being average. The story then followed a some what easy to guess Dr Who pattern, where the characters get separated and have to find one another. Then, about 1/2 way through the book, the plot took me by surprise. It started going places I hadn't guessd at. This book ended up going totally away from where it was leading to for 1/2 of the book. For that, I congratulate the author. That was an excellent job. The supporting characters were enjoyable. I believe that the ending wasn't a complete new story in the realm of sci-fi, but the journey to that end is what I thought was brilliantly done by the author. Also, as in most Dr Who novels, there are 2-3 good subplots evolving around that one main plot. This book did not disappoint any in that area. Again, if your looking for a good read, or are a Dr Who fan, this book is very pleasing to read. I gave it 5 stars, and I rarely give books that good a rating.

This book is another one of those Who books that you set down saying, "It was almost really good". Good premise, good writing, great depiction of the first doctor, a book not set on earth, it had all the elements I enjoy in Who. The book was building slowly and then the last 80 pages all heck breaks loose, so that was way cool and unexpected. The problem with this (as most Who books have) is the last 5 pages are used to wrap up everything quickly. It leaves the reader confused and let down. Who authors need to take more time and wrap things up more completly. I really enjoyed a little thing thrown in on page 277 that helps to explain the next Who story, the horrible "Planet of Giants". A good read, but not great Who.