Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Glamour Chase

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

 

 

Here is a chance to really get to know (and further like) Rory. You should know who I mean if you're at all familiar with Season Five of the new BBC adventures of the eleventh Doctor.

This book had the occasional British turn, like phrasings such as "was sat" and "was stood" where "sat" and "stood" would have done - sorry, I am a grammarian, but that is in no way a knock against its writing. This book was fluent and intelligently written without fear of vocabulary. It treats the reader as a smart being.

This novel had really novel ideas for alien life and philosophy. It was driven by a not-too-large case, which I always prefer. The reader is given the opportunity to care about all or most of the characters. It has a nifty tie in with an earlier doctor identity too.

I would highly recommend this book. It's a page-turner, and again, it does something many of us have wanted: it delves into Rory as a fully fleshed human being and not the "three's a crowd" role he generally plays elsewhere, like Mickey in earlier seasons.

The better of the New Who novels have certain things in common: pristine, if simple, prose; bang-ahead plots with shiny premises; pitch-perfect renditions of the characters we already love. They may be brain candy; they may be brain cotton candy. But they are usually good for making an hour or two disappear. The Glamour Chase doesn't deliver any of that.

The writing isn't exactly sloppy, but it is repetitive--especially in the opening scenes, where the Doctor actually uses the same line twice in a single conversation. Russell also tends to repeat his descriptive phrases. Add that to a facile reproduction of key catch-phrases from the show, and the result is a tad mechanical.

So much for the prose. The premise--two alien races locked in a millenia-long struggle for supremacy--has whiskers on it, and Russell doesn't bother to shave it for dinner. The Tahn, his villain race, have no motive at all for their hatred. They fulfill a plot role, nothing more. The good guys are a little better done; the Weave characters have individuality and charm, and the early scene aboard their ship is one of the best in the book. But then Russell reveals that the Weave are balls of something like wool that knit (yes, knit) themselves into any shape they like . . . including trees, the ship they travel on, and the humans they copy. Leaving alone the fact that knitting and weaving are fundamentally different actions, this is really, really hard to swallow. I mean, I'm all for silly in Doctor Who, but throw a lampshade on it. Give me a pretend evolutionary reason why they are balls of wool and not primordial goo or carbon fibers or something else that won't shrink in the wash.

If Amy, Rory, and the Doctor had been fully present here, I would probably have forgiven everything else. After all, that's why I bought it (well, that and complete desperation). To me, though, their dialogue and relationships felt forced. Amy was too rude and flippant; Rory too jealous and hectoring; the Doctor too careless and non-consequential. Not that these characteristics are off the mark, they're just overdone, and Russell doesn't pick up on any of the subtler undercurrents between the characters. As a result our heroes are caricatures of themselves. And like its predecessors, The Glamour Chase fails to realize any of the darker or more interesting possibilities left open by the show. Does the married dynamic change things aboard the TARDIS? Does Rory remember those 2,000 years? Wasn't he altered by them? Is the Doctor at all worried about having gotten both his companions killed, in Rory's case twice? You'd think the device of the Glamour itself--a kind of holodeck for the soul which dramatizes one's innermost desires--would have been good for some juicy character development here, but Russell stays well away from that possibility.

The one place Russell does succeed is the pace. The story rollicks along without stopping, and the whole thing has an airy goofiness that is sometimes charming. There are also plenty of funny moments. Still, it never succeeded in making me forget that this wasn't the real Doctor Who--let alone making me forget that I was stuck in an airport.

Anyone who says that this book is not as good, I wholeheartedly disagree. Yes, there were not as many scenes with them 'running' as I think there could have bee, but it shows you that Amy REALLY DEEPLY TRULY loves Rory, and vice versa. I am a big reader myself, and so in terms of the author's style, I think that it was very well written. It's not what you'd call "deep reading" like Oliver twist or a tale of two cities, but it's very fun and I liked to idea of shape weaving aliens a lot. I think that the author could have gone more into the background of the aliens, but that's just me. I love this book, but I haven't really read Doctor who books as much. I love how the author captures the Doctor, Amy, and Rory. There aren't really any big... explosions or tense dramatic scenes, but it is still a page turner. Again, that could just be because I love anything to do with Doctor Who. But I loved the book, and Really think it's worth the money to buy.

This book is great. I highly recommend getting and reading this book. I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in a day and a half. It was very well written. If you are a fan of the show then you will love this book.

Sometimes these BBC books do a better job at characterizing the people you'd find in the realm of Doctor Who, and sometimes the books do a horrid job. The Glamour Chase fits into the former category.

Rory Williams, as far as the television series goes, is your basic bumbling moron. And yet the man is supposedly a nurse with aspirations to go beyond that and become a full-fledged doctor. There have to be some brains in there somewhere, and that's where this book takes him. Rory figures out most of the mystery on his own and still retains much of the lovable goofball Arthur Darvill portrays on the telly.

Maybe Steven Moffat could take a few lessons from Gary Russell? Anyway, good job.

And good job all around. I very much enjoyed this book.

I have been a big fan of the Good Doctor since being introduced to the series on PBS through my dad in the mid-1980s. Yet, being a public librarian and science-fiction enthusiast, I never approached a Doctor Who book. When I ran across a relatively inexpensive set featuring Matt Smith's Doctor, I ordered one as a test to my library. One of the perks of ordering the item is getting to read it first, as long as a patron isn't waiting on it!

I was really worried that the quirkiness of the television series might be lost when translated into the print medium. Fortunately, Gary Russell was the editor of Doctor Who Magazine and works on the Doctor Who and Torchwood television series, so he knows the characters very well!

What was important to me was that the characters from the show shine through and that their personalities are expanded through the narrative. Rory, Amy and the Doctor are each featured and you gain insight into their perspective through their internal monologues and thought processes.

Per the BBC, this book is part of the Doctor Who quickreads series, but that shouldn't dissuade you from enjoying it by any means. It is geared towards a young adult reading level and will enchant fans of the series. the book series will also give you something to do while waiting for the shows to reach BBC America!

I love Doctor Who. And while I wasn't too sure at first, I love Matt Smith's Doctor. He owns the role now and it works. I love the show and I enjoy reading the tie-in novels.

Rory features prominently here and it was so nice to see him get some credit for being bright. I'm afraid that he will end up being the tin dog of the series and I like him too much for that to happen. Seeing him take more of a strong role here was refreshing.

This one sounded interesting and, for the most part, it was. The aliens who need rescuing are a fascinating breed and would make for interesting graphics were this a televised episode.

Sometimes the novels absolutely capture the Doctor's voice and sometimes they don't. This one tried too hard to capture Matt Smith's Doctor and it was easier for me to picture David Tennant's Doctor speaking the dialogue.

The story wasn't the easiest to follow and I found myself skimming some sections, but it was a light diversion while waiting for the Christmas special!

the glamour chase is an excellent sifi book with funniness, war, and just a tad of jelousy. plus a few twists help as well.....