Doctor Who: Feast Of The Drowned [Hardcover]

Stephen Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2006

When a naval cruiser sinks in mysterious circumstances in the North Sea, all aboard are lost. Rose is saddened to learn that the brother of her friend, Keisha, was among the dead. And yet he appears to them as a ghostly apparition, begging to be saved from the coming feast... the feast of the drowned. As the dead crew haunts loved ones all over London, the Doctor and Rose are drawn into a chilling mystery. What sank the ship, and why? When the cruiser's wreckage was towed up the Thames, what sinister force came with it? The river's dark waters are hiding an even darker secret, as preparations for the feast near their conclusion...

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (June 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0563486449
• ISBN-13: 978-0563486442
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A feast indeed, December 29, 2007

By 

Anne K. Simmons "doodlemum" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: Feast Of The Drowned (Hardcover)

Having read more Doctor Who novels than I care to admit, I'd say that this one is the best new series novel to date (winter 2007). Many of the books rank as "Just OK," but this one kept me engaged from start to end. No plot dead zones. No passages I wanted to skip. Plenty of sharp dialog, creepy aliens, and even a nifty crash between a tug and a barge. Ooh, what fun!

Like other new series novels, it's a quick read, with a fairly straight-forward plot. Unlike many of the new series novels, it avoids being silly or overly light. Stephen Cole keeps the story tightly paced, from the cliffhanger opening of a sailor caught on a sinking ship to the final scene. Some of the authors don't know how to handle the tenth Doctor--either focusing too much on Tenant's manic energy or going completely flat--but Cole strikes a balance. There are the funny Doctor moments (including a weird and poorly-timed outburst about a ship Jack Dusty), but he also is fiercely intelligent, rude, caring, a bit frightening, and alien, a quality often missing from the new series books.

If you enjoy the new series, there's much to enjoy here. The story captures the feel and characterizations of the show, focusing as much on personal stories as the science fiction. While our heroes are trying to stop the eponymous Feast of the Drowned, Rose has to deal with the repercussions of events that happened during her "lost" year away from home. This emotional side story feeds a clever device at the heart of the narrative: love becomes a trap in an alien plot. Feast is stuck in current-day London (the Doctor seems to have trouble getting off Earth these days), but we're taken on a lively tour that starts at the Powell Estate and wanders through laboratories, a dry dock, tunnels under the city, and even the Thames. As the characters split up and go on their individual adventures, they are always connected by the central plot device.

It's the promise of the occasional gem like the Feast of the Drowned that keeps me coming back to the new series books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative landscapes/concepts - some iffy Doctor moments, December 30, 2010

By 

D. OBrien "BSDetector" (Meriden, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: The Feast of the Drowned (Kindle Edition)

My title really captures the whole thing. The book was generally enjoyable with a plot that does a great job of opening up the pre-Doctor storylines for Rose and Mickey, adding believable friends and relationships to their world.

There are a few iffy Doctor moments, in which he is just strange, rather than Doctor-like.

There is also what I found to be a glaring plot hole, which I won't address for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say that there is only so much the human body can take before it shuts down. Some characters here exhibit super-human endurance for the sake of keeping the plot moving.

Overall, I did enjoy it. The characters were rich and the settings were really well imagined and integrated. Real suspense and catharsis.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok for a quick read., August 3, 2010

By 

Mary Martin "Romanadora" (Arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: Feast Of The Drowned (Hardcover)

I ordered the book a few months ago while I was ordering textbooks for college courses. I realize the novels are meant for a younger reading audience, but I recently got into the show and just thought I'd give it a shot. Of the several Doctor Who novels I've either read or listened to on audio, Feast of the Drowned is OK- it's not the worst, but it's not the best wither. For me, the book was just kind of there, it really was nothing special. For me, the plot doesn't really seem to pick up until about halfway to two thirds into the book. The portrayal of Rose was pretty accurate, but I have to say, at I just didn't feel like I was reading about the tenth doctor sometimes, something was just sort of, off.

As a quick read, it's generally ok. I finished it while I was on vacation. It's not boring prefab, but it's not always on the edge of your seat either.