Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good start to the Ninth Doctor Adventures, September 6, 2005
This review is from: Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man (Hardcover)
When I learned that BBC Books was going to release a range of novels to tie in with the new serial of Doctor Who (a smash hit in the UK, yet to be seen on my side of the pond, in the United States) I was extremely dubious.
I've been a Doctor Who fan for most of my adolescent/adult life, and in all that time I've purchased only a handful of books that have to do with the series, most of those being either non-fiction (Jon Pertwee's biography, Blacklight, etc) or they were Missing Adventures. I've owned two books in the range of New Adventures - Nightshade (which I enjoyed) and Happy Endings (which I still have yet to wade through.) This is mostly due to the fact that, by the time I realized there was a line of books, I was so far behind that I didn't understand anything that was going on.
Thankfully, the first novel in the Ninth Doctor Adventures, The Clockwise Man, is set within the confines of the new series (between World War III and Dalek) and does not rely upon the past doctor novels to keep afloat. This is a good thing, because relying on past events is what halted my reading both Happy Endings and The Ancestor Cell.
The story behind the Clockwise Man is fairly simple - the Doctor and Rose arrive in 1924, their plan to visit the British Empire Exhibition. However, as soon as they exit the TARDIS they are sucked into an event that will lead them through a series of mini-mysteries, in search of a mysterious killer and those who would pilfer a police box and leather jacket.
My feeling had always been that the range should have opened perhaps with a preface - a novel to set up how the Doctor went from his Eighth incarnation to his Ninth. Upon further consideration, I'm glad they didn't do this (and as of writing this, am still unsure of whether or not the Eighth Doctor Adventures have approached a regeneration) because it would have been taking a step back, and if Russell T Davis has tried to do anything with the new franchise, it's not take steps back.
So this adventure is, as stated above, set between World War III and Dalek. I quite like the idea of getting to know the characters a little bit better, to see their relationship fleshed out in a way that a 13 episode series probably can't accomplish without a whole lot of boring tip-toeing. Having said that, I come to my one problem with the novel - the lack of deeper character insight.
We get a few nice tidbits in the novel where we're allowed to know what the Doctor or Rose are thinking, thoughts left unspoken on screen. The downside is that there are precious few of these, and in the end the novel feels very light-weight due to this.
At the same time, I don't see how this novel would be marketed toward children or even young teenagers. It is quite slow in the beginning and the underlying political issues don't seem like the type of thing that would snag an eight year old's interest. Despite this, I think that Justin Richards has written a novel that, at least, captured my attention and gave me an enjoyable jaunt to the past with my two favorite time traveling companions. I don't share a lot of the same problems I've noticed in other reviews/comments online, and I find the overall story plenty fulfilling, especially since I was expecting mindless fluff (thanks to the Children's Book label that I keep seeing for the new series of novels.)
The characters in the book are fairly likeable and entertaining. Repple and Aske are entertaining, Wyse is a lovely chap (for the most part...) Freddie is adorable and vulnerable and probably my favorite supporting character in the novel.
While I found most of the character's actions predictable, there were one or two surprises I was unprepared for. Most of this transpires in the last quarter of the novel, a lot of which takes place in Big Ben. The finale felt very slightly padded, with a whole lot of running back and forth in circles, but over all the whole thing came together nicely. The little mysteries and whatnot added a bit of needed depth to the story, and they all finished up nice and tidy.
The presentation of the book is beautiful. I love the small hardback with the rounded off spine, and wish more books were published like this. It fits nicely on my shelf and looks as though it is made to last in a collector's inventory. I also like the detail of having the number of the novel on the spine in Gallifreyan. Very nice touch.
Over all, I really enjoyed the Clockwise Man and was pleasantly surprised by the writing and story. It was a good opening to the Ninth Doctor Adventures, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next two novels (and the up-coming second wave when they're released in the United States.)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
ENGLISH WITHOUT ACCENT, August 29, 2005
This review is from: Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man (Hardcover)
A better title for this, the first 9th DOCTOR adventure, would be LIKE CLOCKWORK. It may be a new Doctor (and actually, now a PAST DOCTOR as Christopher Eccleston has left the series - paving the way for the new 10th Doctor series and books), a new companion (Rose), but everything else is pretty much the same. For a first book launching a new series and a new Doctor there's next to nothing here we haven't seen a hundred times before.
The Doctor and Rose arrives on Earth in 1924 to take in The British Empire Exhibition, but instead fall into trouble (although, unlike most Doctor Who adventures, both the Doctor and Rose do actually do end up going to the Exhibition - so, a plus there). Conspiracies, double deals, bloodlines, revolutions, dictators, machine men, black cats and a boy make up this adventure - and despite the mix, and the promise one, if not all these parts holds for a crackerjack adventure it all falls apart too fast. You see the twists and surprises well before they arrive since Justin Richards has borrowed heavily from not only DOCTOR WHO history, but from popular movies as well (the entire ending seems to be a silly putty mix of Harold Lloyd meets BACK TO THE FUTURE). So, instead of crafting a new tale for a new Doctor for a new age - we're pretty much forced to march once again into battle wearing only one boot, leaving the experience lopsided and highly uneven.
The new Doctor is still very new here - and it can be forgiven that he hasn't found his own personality yet, but, that doesn't mean he should read as a "blank" - which he does for most of the book. It's very odd, on the one hand there's the "blank" and then out of the blue he goes all Guy Ritchie with sudden, but useful, outbursts of action and violence (there's one very clever and cruel moment late in the book that almost makes up for the snore festival the first part of the book has been). Uneven, but could get better... we shall see.
Rose might be a modern girl, but she quickly slips into the mold set by the series in the past. She there to ask the right questions, notice the things, and both succeed and fail to tell the Doctor important clues or facts (it's a toss up - if the story needs to be padded, then Rose becomes too distracted to remember to tell the Doctor, but if the story needs to move quickly Rose comes up with one after the other in rapid succession). Having not seen the new series, I'm not sure how she comes across there (although I have been told and read that she's far more versatile, helping to pick up the slack for a Doctor still unsteady on his feet), but on paper she's just another cog in the machine. It could be anyone with the Doctor now, so lacking in personality the character Rose is - hopefully this will change.
Again, for the launch of a new (and profitable) series they have gone out of there way to make the books look fantastic (and to even add a puzzle or two - I'm not sure what, if anything, the geometic DNA patterns that adorn the spines of the books, and the chapter headings mean - but it's cool). The new logo works and the feel of the book is great... so it comes as a surprise to find the book riddled with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors throughout. I'm sure the book was proofed, but it seems it could have used one more look before being published. Sloppy.
Overall the book looks great, feels great, has the right weight - while the story is lightweight and dull. Read once, then bag and save for eBay one day in the future.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Earthly Child, March 13, 2006
This review is from: Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man (Hardcover)
-Justin Richards could write a book with his eyes closed.
-Justin Richards could write a book without using a typewriter, word processor, or dictaphone.
-Justin Richards could write a book even had he lived in the caves at Lascaux and could only use pictograms.
That's how easy Justin Richards makes it seem. "The Clockwise Man" is an intricate puzzle-box of a novel, and yet still gives off the sense that the author wrote it in a couple of weeks in his spare time while doing other, more elaborate things.
This was the first novel in the 9th Doctor series. Representing a change for "Doctor Who" original fiction after 15 years of edgy cheaply-made paperbacks aimed at the narrowest niche of fandom, the new series is made of shorter novels that don't quite capture the intensity of the first season of "Doctor Who", Russell T. Davies style. Well, at least the cover illustrations aren't embarrassingly bad.
Justin Richards, who's been writing interesting "Who" books for a decade, fires the opening gun in the 9th Doctor range -- set, as "Doctor Who" always did best, in a gaslit early 20th century, in parlors and dark alleys and museums. The novel opens with a knowing tug at the first "Doctor Who" TV episode, as the TARDIS lands in a London junkyard. One of the story's mysteries revolves around a young boy who is not quite who he appears to be.
The rest of the plot, in essence, is similar to a forgotten Richards' epic called "Dreams of Empire". A deposed alien dictator is kept prisoner on Earth. The problem is, he is hidden so well (to the characters, if not to the readers) that neither the Doctor, or a futuristic female assassin and her two mechanical helpers, can figure out who he is until it's almost too late. Along the way, Richards lays out a series of puzzles that the characters must solve in order to progress to the next chapter. There's a lot of double dealing, hidden identities, decoy villains, word games, and chess games.
For all the intrigue, "Clockwise Man" never takes any risks or thinks outside the box. When the climax begins in a tower that rises 300 feet above central London, you instantly know how the villain will be dispatched. And although Richards cheats badly by writing a moving death scene for a character who's later revealed to have lived, there are very few surprises in terms of who makes it and who doesn't. Secondary characters check out when you expect them to, in the way that you expected.
"Clockwise Man" is an extremely competent novel, but in the end it's a bit bloodless. As a print debut for the 9th Doctor, the story lacks the gleeful schizophrenia of "Rose", the TV debut. Not a bad read, but in the end Richards' storytelling is just a shade too narrow and too shallow for the small screen.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
