Customer Reviews

"Doctor Who", the Resurrection Casket

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I haven't been a "Whovian" for a long time - I enjoyed Dr. Who every so often back in college (starting with Doctor 4, Tom Baker), but when it went off PBS, I didn't really miss it. But I just went nuts over Doctor 10, David Tennant, and his joyous approach to playing the long-lived, two-tender-hearted, eager, often childlike Doctor. After enjoying the second season, Tennant's first, I decided to try out the first three novels. Of the three, Resurrection Casket is my favorite.

Author Justin Richards captures not only the voices and presence of the actors who created the (current) roles, but like the television episode writers do, he's created a supporting cast of likeable, interesting backdrop characters for Rose and the Doctor to play against. His Doctor is hyper, caring, and brilliant, as he should be, and his Rose is as tender as she is tough, and she's always quick on the uptake. He handles the science of the fantastic world of Dr. Who deftly, mixing the fantasy elements just well enough to allow the Doctor his world of hard science. Richards' story is well-crafted and compelling, with a few nifty twists and turns, and a very polite scary monster named Kevin.

What more could you want?

The Resurrection Casket is a 10th-Doctor tie-in novel, an original story by Justin Richards featuring David Tennant's Doctor with Rose Tyler. In this story, the TARDIS is drawn into a sort of mechanical dead-spot in space, where something called a zek drains the power of all electronic technology, leaving an area of floating hulks of abandoned ships, also haunted by krarks, sort of space-borne giant sharks that feed on the oxygen inside the ships and any living being they can get their fangs on. The few people who live on the planets of the area get by on steam power, even in their spacefaring vessels. The result is a Treasure-Island-inspired tale featuring pirates, evil robots, lost treasure, madman and a monster named Kevin that apologizes politely to his victims before dispatching them.

The plot has far-fetched moments (steam powered spaceships??) but the author is enthusiastic enough in embracing the setting and assumptions and energetic enough in plotting and pacing that I was carried along through the story and quite enjoyed it.


I haven't seen any of the 10th Doctor episodes so I can't speak to the characterization of the Doctor as compared to the TV presentation of Tennant, but the character certainly had the feel of a generic Doctor--full of wonder and enthusiasm, naturally brilliant, and quick to call out the bad guys on their evil ways. It's not high literature by any means, but as a way to fill a Doctor Who craving when new episodes of the show aren't available, it will certainly fill the bill.

I also listened to the audio version of the book downloaded from [...]. I listened to it before reading the book and found it a frustrating experience. The problem is the abridgement--great chunks of description, exposition and even whole characters are lopped out in the interest of time. It leaves a story that is skeletal, with poorly realized characters and motivations and great leaps in the story where the characters suddenly move from point A to point B with no explanation of how they got there.

The one bright spot of the audio version is that David Tennant himself reads it and has a delightful voice, particularly (naturally) when reading the Doctor's own dialogue, and made me look even more forward to seeing his episodes.

However, reading the book made me realize that while still fluffy, the full version with more description, characterization and the complete plot, is a worthwhile experience. I would recommend the audio version only if you are dying to hear David Tennant's voice and have already read the full version; otherwise take a pass and stick with the printed page.

This was my very first Doctor Who novel. I was delighted with how much fun I had reading this book! I believe the characterizations were shot on, the story was fresh, and it was another brilliant adventure with the Doctor and Rose Tyler! I look forward to catching more of the Who novels. :)

If you enjoy the Doctor Who television show, start reading the books based on the new series immediately! Well written and enjoyable, they are a welcome addition to the Doctor Who family. Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket is fast-paced and could easily be an episode itself. The author stays true to the television characters while breathing new
life into the story. I highly recommend this book!

Purchased this book as a gift and the recipient was extremely happy to receive the gift and then thoroughly enjoyed reading the "Doctor Who: Ressurection Casket" book.

Pros:
-Entertaining. Great story, very funny and the characterization is spot-on.
-David Tennant. (Need I say more?)
-The audiobook is convenient for car trips if you're too busy to sit down and read. (It made my ride to school each morning just a bit better.)

Cons:
-Short. Only lasts about a week of short car trips. I wouldn't pay full price.
-Obviously abridged, even to one who has never read the book. It kind of jumped from one major plot point to another, so it seemed rushed. (But not confusing.)

If, like me, you're more interested in David reading than in the story itself, I recommend getting the audiobook first (try and get it cheap). I was satisfied enough with the story that I'm planning to buy the book to fill in the holes in the plot.

Product arrived on time and is wonderful, because really, how could a book about the tenth doctor be bad? :)

Pirates, appologetic monsters, lost treasure, etc. What more could you ask for? Justin Richards did an exelent (or should I say brillant?) job. I absolutely love the idea of a monster who appologizes before he tears you to threads! The book`s got some light humour in it as well. For all those who miss Rose, I would highly recomend it. I usually perfer books that aren`t childish and poorly written (I`m thirteen). So when I found out that they made books after the shows, my prayers have been answered!!!!! I love these books!! They are intelligent and funny while at the same time, dark, scary, and confusing. I HIGHLY RECOMEND!!!! One os the best sci fi book series out there.

This was a funny and engaging story. I think I like the space stories in these books most of all, and this delivers amply. The characters are fully fleshed and sympathetic, the machine intelligences are authentic seeming and legitimately intriguing. This whole thing is solid steam punk, too.

This was very hard to put down and surprising all the way through. Enjoy!

One of the best Who books I have read in a while. Mystery, Pirates, robots, aliens and immortality. Well written. Pretty cool.