Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Night Of The Humans (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover))

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Gyre: an inhospitable wasteland and home to the human descendents of the crew of a ship that crashed there centuries ago. Home also to the deadly Sollogs: giant eight legged slug-like creatures. The humans' lives have taken a regressive course down the generations. They are illiterate, incapable of using technology and their belief systems (which involve a corporate logo and 20th century western movies such as `Gunfight at the OK Corral') have rendered them incapable of rational thought.

The Gyre lies in the path of a comet; collision is imminent. A detachment of troops, the Sittuun, from a nearby world has been sent to destroy the Gyre in such a way that the resultant explosion will be harmless to its neighboring planets. However, their ship has itself crashed. Into this maelstrom come the Doctor and Amy, having received the Sittuun's distress signal. Another newcomer has also entered the fray: the dashing and mysterious Dirk Slipstream.

The cover blurb is a little wide of the mark when it mentions that there's "an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and Humans." However, David Llewellyn's second `Doctor Who' novel (the first being Doctor Who: The Taking Of Chelsea 426) is an enthralling fast-paced race against time. The `Doctor Who' novels are primarily aimed at a younger readership, but that doesn't mean us older folk can't enjoy them as well. I think `Night of the Humans' is an excellent read with some thought-provoking themes woven into the narrative, notably religious intransigence and the role of myths and superstition in human and Sittuun culture.
This novel features the eleventh Doctor, but I have to confess that on reading the author's dialogue for him, I still had David Tennant's voice in my head. This is probably my fault, though. At the time of writing this review, we are only five episodes into Matt Smith's reign and his vocal characteristics have not been firmly imprinted on to my mind. I had no such problems with Amy's depiction in the novel; I think the author has her spot-on.

I received this book, the first of the three newly published Eleven & Amy adventures, on Friday, and finished it by Saturday afternoon. While the novels in general are mainly aimed at a YA audience, they are usually interesting enough to hold my attention and keep me turning the pages. Pretty much all of the new series Who novels are head and shoulders above the old Target novelizations, although not as complex as the series of novels published between the end of the old series and the 2005 reboot. For what they are, in general, I enjoy these as a "fix" when I'm hungry for new Doctor adventures between new episodes of the show.

Night of the Humans is a good start for the Eleventh Doctor. The TARDIS lands on a mysterious metal body that is where no planet is on record. The Doctor quickly discovers that he and Amy are on The Gyre--like those spots in the ocean where all the floating trash coalesce into a big patch, this is the equivalent in deep space, a spot where, due to gravitational forces of surrounding stars and planets, all sorts of space 'trash' has similarly piled up over millennia, to the point where the Gyre has its own gravity, atmosphere--and native inhabitants, who are all quite dangerous, including the humans.

Also on the Gyre is a spaceship filled with Sittun, another alien race who have their own mission to complete on the Gyre, and who are not fond of humans, from past experience as a people, as well as the hostility of the particular humans on the Gyre. There are some nice ideas developed over the course of the various interactions, including how a religion might evolve from a group's history over time, that to an adult reader are a bit cliched, but would definitely evoke that "hmmm..." sense of wonder from a young reader coming across such an idea for the first time.

The writing is good, the characters act in character (though I did have the same problem with Amy's voice being much clearer in my head than the new Doctor's, which I'm sure will change over time as Matt Smith spends longer in the role). I liked that there were cues that placed the story within the time sequence of Season 5 episodes and thoughts and reactions of the characters that connected to events of the series so far. I also like that, like the current season, a real effort has been made to welcome new viewers, so much of the complex history of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor remains unnecessary to know to enjoy this book.

A very enjoyable read, I would recommend it for any Who fan looking for a "fix" and especially as something that might encourage a younger Who viewer (I would say 8-9 and up, depending on reading ability)to branch out into reading science fiction as well as watching it, and maybe even begin exploring books beyond the Who tie-ins.

In the meantime, I will be not-so-patiently watching my mail for the other two of this first round of Eleventh Doctor novels.

Like others have said, I find the modern Doctor Who novels work best as a "fix" between new episodes of the show. "Night of the Humans" is set during the current season, as evidenced by several references to recent events (some of which aired only a month or so prior to the novel's release). If you are enjoying the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond on your t.v. screen, chances are you'll like the book.

But for anyone who's read or watched much science fiction, some of the ideas are hardly fresh (spoilers ahead). The idea of an alien civilization basing their culture on human movies--Westerns, in this case--dates back at least to the original Star Trek series. And the rogue adventurer Dirk Slipstream could have come from most any pulp sci-fi story. These are fairly minor plot points, but still struck this reader as highly unoriginal.

But again, if you're looking for another WHO adventure, it's a quick read that still has enough clever moments to keep you interested. The author does an admirable job of capturing Amy Pond on the page, while the Doctor comes across a bit more generic (but still authenic, especially in terms of the modern series). If you're a fan, it's worth checking out.

I'm always a little nervous buying a Doctor Who novel. Either the story is overly complicated, overly dark, or tries to add things to the Doctor's history that I think disagree with the way the character's been established on TV.

This novel forgoes all that and just gives us a fun Doctor Who adventure, something they could film for the series today & you'd enjoy watching. Nothing to contradict canon, nothing too depressing or convoluted -- I was very pleasantly surprised. Now I just have to look to see if this author has any other Who novels to check out!

I will admit that after my disappointment with Apollo 23, I opened Night of the Humans with a little bit of a prejudice. I half expected it to be lame but was pleasantly surprised that it was so entertaining. I'll do my review in the usual pros and cons method:

Pros:

--Exciting from start to finish. Tons of action. Does not lag.
--Characters are believable and likable....for the most part. All except one. I'll elaborate in the cons.
--Plot isn't the most original ever but still had its own clever twist on it.
--The Doctor and Amy stay in character for 99.9% of the book. Again, I'll elaborate in the cons.
--The author's depiction of the alien world was rather effective. I could actually envision the setting. Everything was described in detail to get the point across but not so much that it was overkill.
--Dialogue was witty and entertaining.
--Emotions were believable.


Cons:

--The Doctor says "Crikey" at one point. What is he, Steve Irwin now? That was the only time I felt he was not...him.
--The character of Dirk Slipstream was predictable and over the top. How much can a person say "chap"?? Geez. I also felt he was rather unbelievable. ***SPOILER ALERT*** The author tried to depict him as a ruthless, murdering thief but made him such a weakling in the end. Not that I WANTED him to win, but if he was as bad as the author made him, he would have been a lot more trouble for the Doctor. And he probably would have just killed everyone anyway. ***END SPOILER***
--The plight of the Humans was a little unbelievable. They had lived there for hundreds of thousands of years, long enough to forget their roots and develop a new "god" but apparently not long enough for western films and spaceships to disintegrate.



**Semi Spoiler**

I really enjoyed that the Doctor wasn't so Gary Stu in this book. Things happened that were completely out of his control and more things happened that didn't go according to his plan. It's nice to see that you can still be excited, concerned, and drawn to a character that you can't assume has all the answers. To me, if the Doctor is always portrayed as all-knowing, always having a plan before things even happen, then the peril isn't exciting. In this book, he truly just wings it. But not in a way that's completely out of character. It makes him relatable, but still highly kick-ass.

All in all, a good read. I highly recommend it.

The humans on the Gyre, a "planet" made up of space garbage, have regressed to a primitive, illiterate, fanatical people whose religion is based on the remains of the ship that crashed centuries ago. Also living on the "planet" are the Sittuun, a group of aliens who have been sent to destroy the planet in a safe way, so that it will not hit the nearby planets upon its destruction.

When the Doctor and Amy arrive on the Gyre, they find themselves on a world made of space trash where a battle for survival has begun between the Humans and the Sittuun. To make matters worse, a comet is headed straight towards them and its collision will kill everyone on the trash planet.

The best thing the book captures about the show is its mystery and excitement. From the moment Amy and the Doctor land, it is nonstop action and adventure. The running and hurried thinking is all there in book form, something to read while waiting for the show to return.

And it isn't only the Doctor who gets to have all the fun. We get to see Amy's braveness and quick-thinking. The book shows why Amy makes a good companion for the Doctor--no matter how much trouble she might get herself in, she is not only capable of helping herself, but of helping the doctor as well.

The book stayed in line with the series and is greatly enjoyable. I definitely recommend it for anyone missing the show right now.

This is one of the best Doctor Who novels I have read, which is hard to say since all are good. The characters are great and it is fast paced. It is darker than the other books and the descriptions are great. It felt like I was watching an episode. This is definitely one of the best books to start off with.

Doctor Who: Night Of The Humans

I really love this book I enjoyed every word of it! Great Read during summer! Highly recommend to anyone who loves the Sci-Fi Genre or Dr. Who in General.

I for one enjoyed the book with extreme excitement. I am a twelve year old boy and I read the book for my 2010 Summer reading for Seventh grade. The way the author made the charactors have the exact same personality as in the hit TV Series.

My first impression was that it would not be the same as the TV Series, and that is personally my favorite show on National Television. I thought this because it was my first Doctor Who book that i've ever read.

Overall I think it was a well written story that kept you hanging most every chapter. I hope you will take my advise and enjoy the book!

No wasted words. Adheres well to the characterizations created by the writers and actors in the fifth series. Vivid and imaginative landscapes, culturally relevant themes, and a real sense of tension and reader concern. Highly recommended. Very well done.