Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Nuclear Time

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

 

 

I really loved this book, but be warned. It has more than the usual share of head-scratching time travel complications. The plot comes together well in the end, but those who have little patience for confusing effect-and-cause plotlines might find it slow going. Also, because of the time spent on the plot, there wasn't as much character stuff as in many DW novels. However, the character interaction that is there is good, particularly between Rory and Amy. The book does a good job of showing why those two are together in the first place, while still being true to the TV show.

This story is certainly unusual, what with a backwards time plot and all. But the primary story is about Man and his Creations. Most of the story is dedicated to android life, why we might create it, what flaws it might contain, and whether or not it will/would appreciate our effort.

Contrary to the one low review here, I felt that the characters were well drawn and the situations were full of suspense. One of the things I always look for is tight action surrounding a reasonable number of characters with whom the reader has been well acquainted. This delivered.

I thought this book did justice to Amy and Rory, as presented in the TV series; and the Doctor is compassionate and witty, if slightly less intelligent than we'd expect - he never quite grasps the necessity of speaking backwards - a feat I would expect him to assimilate and perform rather instantaneously.

All in all, though, it is a wonderful addendum to the fifth series books, all but one I've now read. Enjoy!

This was my third Doctor Who book, and despite the bad reviews, I gave it a shot. I guess when you're expecting a book to be awful, it exceeds your expectations a little bit when you discover some delightful elements. I'm not going to say this is the best Who book ever or that it even classifies as "good" but it was still....ok.

I found the Doctor's mannerisms to be spot on. However, as mentioned by others, he abandons Amy and Rory fairly early in the story. And while the remainder of the book focuses on him preventing a nuclear bomb explosion long enough for his friends to escape the idealic "Appletown" (amongst other plot points), I felt that the way he went about doing it was sort of amateurish. It didn't take him long to realize he was travelling backwards through time, but it seemed to take him forever to get the hang of it. And when you're a Time Lord, I expect it to be second nature.

The pacing of the story is a bit of a rollercoaster. I went from being completely enamored one chapter to yawning at the next. It alternates between Amy and Rory's "forward time" to the Doctor's "backwards time" to the past where you discover how the whole mess started in the first place. I feel that the author could have gotten to the point a lot faster. Some chapter's lagged.

There is a lot of "timey wimey" stuff in this book and it's quite good. I enjoyed reading the "effect before cause" elements and it was pretty clever. I didn't find myself scratching my head in confusion. You just sort of have to go with the flow and have a bit of imagination.

Amy and Rory were probably the low parts of the novel. They were useless and a bit out of character. They were gone for almost half of the book and when the author went back to them, it was just to show you that they're alive, really. Other than that, it was just them running. Hiding. Running.

The ending was a bit predictable.

All in all, a fun read but nothing groundbreaking or even original.

And can I just complain about one thing that hasn't do with anything else? They need to really get someone else to design these book covers. It's like they took stills of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory making the most ridiculous facial expressions ever and super imposed them over a cheap "space" background. Nuclear Time had more of a "Stepford Wives" look to it but still. The book covers are SO ridiculous. My librarian thought they were Power Rangers books when I checked them out. Humiliating. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but it's hard when they look like a first year Draft student's MS Paint project made in his mother's basement. They are lame.

I really wanted to like this one. Oli Smith did a great job with a direct-to-audio romp in The Runaway Train. He also writes what is probably the best Eleventh Doctor characterization in the spin-off media. But by the time I was finished with Nuclear Time, I was by turns bored and offended.

First, the good stuff. Again, Smith's (Oli's) portrayal of Smith's (Matt's) Doctor is spot-on. His mannerisms and dialogue are perfect. Amy and Rory are also fairly on target. The plot has some fascinating timey-wimey elements to keep things fresh, and without that twist, this novel would have been relentlessly pedestrian. It also has a tone more adult than I would have expected from this line of spin-offs.

The hook, or plot-twist was totally original, and kudos to Smith for thinking of it, and for thinking it through and explaining it well. No other Who story has tried anything like this. But one genius concept cannot alone carry the day. Similar effort needs to be put into the other bits of the story, and I just wasn't feeling it.

It plodded. I got bored. There are a few exciting scenes, yet they are sparse. The bulk of the novel is a combination of exposition that takes far too long, and scenes that are frankly boring. I know the point was to keep the reader intrigued, but after reading sixteen versions of the same plot point, it ceased to intrigue me. And then Smith commits the difficult-to-pardon crime of shunting the companions off for most of the book -- without having them actually DO anything that moves the plot forward. Amy and Rory fall into the boring loop of being menaced for wide swaths of the story, to little point or effect. They only break out of their jeopardy-friendly feedback loop when the Doctor rescues them. I expected them to accomplish more than merely staying alive long enough to be rescued. That was disappointing, and they were dragged into the realm of Out of Character because of it.

And now to the offending part. The portrayal of the US in Who media is more often disappointing than not, so I wasn't expecting anything wonderful here. I just wanted to be entertained. But as the story plodded on, I began to wonder. Granted, the American government can be a bit sinister under certain circumstances. It can be secretive, and scary, and kind of dumb. Yet I couldn't fathom how it could be so colossally stupid as to perpetrate the idiocy portrayed in Nuclear Time. Why create the ultimate weapon -- and not include an off switch! The whole story I kept wondering -- why isn't there an off switch? Reset button? Failsafe? Gritty realism is not expected from a Who novel, but when pivotal plot points defy all logic, the suspension of disbelief is shattered.

Other government actions -- including summary executions and inexplicable nuke-dropping combined with ridiculous costcutting measures -- were so far out of line that they felt like some political statement. An unnecessary and irritating one. Here's a hint to British Who writers: if you can't imagine the contemporary British government doing something, that probably means the Americans wouldn't, either.

The version I read was the unabridged audio read by Nicolas Briggs. The disadvantage of the audio was that I couldn't skim through the (many) boring and repetitive bits. The advantage was Brigg's excellent reading. He does decent American accents (including a pretty good Clint Eastwood impression), and Amy, Rory, and the Doctor are well-represented. Brigg's Rory, in particular, is notable for his perfect rendition of Arthur Darvill's speech pattern. His deadpan delivery was a lot of fun.

Ultimately, I wanted to like this, and I didn't want to write a predominately negative review. But do yourself a favor and go read or listen to The Glamour Chase or The Forgotten Army instead. Or even pop in the CD for The Runaway Train. You'll be glad you did.

The Doctor, Rory, and Amy find themselves in the idyllic Appletown. The trio notice fairly that things are not quite right in this place--for one thing it is a town in the middle of nowhere, the plumbing and electricity are not hooked up, and there is something strange about the people. The Doctor gets separate from his companions and finds himself stuck living backwards through time while Amy and Rory are running for their lives. Can they reunite in time to avoid the coming disaster?

More than any of the other Doctor Who books, this one deals with the "wibbly wobbly timey whimey" that is the way time works. And as the doctor says, "Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head." In some ways, the Doctor explains more concepts of the way time works than ever before but odds are you will find yourself half-interested and half-confused.

Unlike most Doctor Who stories, there are no mysterious aliens secretly manipulating things behind the scenes. Instead, we get more of an up-close look at humankind from the Doctor's perspective.

I found Rory a bit braver than usual and Amy slightly more inept--more often than not he was pulling her to safety instead of the other way around and it is more his quick-thinking than hers that kept them alive. It was sweet to see him take charge for once and really protect his wife, but it also rang a little false for her to need as much taking care of as she did. That being said, their actual dynamic was believable and true to form. It was easy to see how much they care for each other and even nice to see a Rory and Amy versus the Doctor moment for once (I don't mean they were literally at odds but there were small moments, as you will see).

A fun read though not my favorite of the Doctor Who books out there.

I don't mind jumping around in time, but had a lot of trouble with this book. The changes were very abrupt and confusing. The concept of the Doctor going backward in time was a great concept but poorly executed. I really had to struggle, I actually wound up putting this book down for a while, went off and read several others before finally coming back to finish this one.

I liked the whole "catch the nuclear bomb with the TARDIS" trick, but was immediately reminded of when Capt Jack did that in the the 9th Doctor two part episode The Doctor Dances.

Amy's character was a bit hollow in portrayal, it was kind of like the real Amy made a few cameos and the rest of the time her stunt double was filling in. Rory though I liked, he was brave and did what any natural husband would do and defended his lady.

I'm not saying don't read it, but definitely don't put it at the top of your buy list.

When I pick up a Doctor Who novel I don't wonder if it will be bad, I wonder just how good it will be. This one was good, not as great as some, but an interesting read nonetheless. The story lacks the interaction between the Doctor and his companions that I love, but the characters do seem like their selves. The action is scarce and the story is confusing at times but it is still an enjoyable experience.

Didn't really do anything for me. The plot device of the Doctor living backwards in time was done confusingly and nothing really was done character-wise. Amy & Rory were hardly there and we get no insights into them or the 11th Doctor. You could have changed the names of the companions & used a different Doctor and no one would be the wiser. Just can't recommend (sorry, author!).

It was very confusing in a fun way. I loved all of it except for the part where the Doctor left Amy and Rory behind, which I thought was a little unlike him.