Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Feast Of The Drowned

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I love David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and he's particularly likable when he is around Rose. This was a fun adventure in which both the Doctor and Rose make decisions on their own to problem solve. What is unique to this plot line is that Rose is having to deal with an old friend who for the life of her cannot understand how Rose could have left to travel with the Doctor. The friendship is tested against the backdrop of London going mad when The Ascendant, a naval ship disappears and grieving families are being called to throw themselves into the Thames to make contact with their missing loved ones. It's an alien ploy that preys upon mankind's need to be in relationship. The relationships of Rose, Keisha, Mickey, Jackie and new characters are tested. If you love the main Doctor who cast you will have no problem hearing their voices as you read. There are many obstacles but the end is so Doctor Who. Get the book and get your fix of the Tenth Doctor. I will be looking for more books by Stephen Cole.

I am a big fan of the new series of Doctor Who, and I was thrilled to discover the books based on the series. Doctor Who: Feast of the Drowned was excellent and exciting - it was easy to visualize the television actors in the story as I read. I encourage fans of the series and science fiction lovers to read this book.

Unfortunately, I selected this item in haste thinking it was a DVD episode. I am a big fan of Dr. Who and Rose. I found this a quick read with an interesting theme. However, I had difficulty, at times, being able to visualize the Dr and Rose in action.

This seems to be good enough to have been a show, but possibly too expensive. Good for quick reads on planes or such, and the author has a definite grasp of the main characters. The other characters were quite two dimensional, however.

This was a great read. It showed the quirky funny side of the Doctor. I loved it. Well worth the purchase!!!