Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Sting Of The Zygons (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As science fiction novels based on a TV series go, "Sting of the Zygons" is an enjoyable adventure story. The mood and pace of the show in its third series (Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series) is translated into narrative prose skillfully enough and the characters of the Doctor and Martha are captured convincingly well even if the tensions in their relationship go unspoken here. Lots of memorable if uncomplicated supporting characters populate the tale and impel it forwards, and the Zygons and their cybernetic leviathans make for interesting antagonists. In that regard, it's nice to see a reasonably well known but not overhyped race of aliens from the heyday of the Fourth Doctor back in 1975 show up again here with the Tenth, and their portrayal is true to their original appearance without overly relying upon it and merely rehashing "Terror of the Zygons" (Doctor Who - Terror of the Zygons) in pumped-up 21st-century form. The plot has some nice twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing quite well at the beginning, though the author resorts to the shape-shifting abilities of the Zygons for shock value a few too many times so that it ceases to be much of a surprise. Besides Zygon metamorphosis, though, what you see is what you get, a straightforward sci-fi adventure with no real subtexts or thought-provoking themes. In terms of writing level and sophistication, then, "Sting" seems to be geared especially for older children and young adults, though a few clever touches make it accessible for older adults in a frivolous frame of mind--especially, as I can personally attest, if they're whiling away the creeping hours in airports or passing the time quietly while nursing a cold.

Now, I've reviewed four of the new adventures with Martha and 10th Doctor, and this is my favourite so far by a long way. It feels very much like an old series adventure, and very in tune with the original Tom Baker one as well. Stephen Cole used the length of the story (2h 20min on audio) to good effect, and there is surprisingly little padding.

The supporting characters were good (some not so good, some better), and the villains were actually quite good in this one. Although the shape changing is overused a bit, it helps distinguish this race from other monsters.

The Doctor and Martha actually gets quite a lot to do, and there's very few Deus Ex Machina plot points in this story. Even the resolution was good, and I think that the historical setting is a good way to ground the story's background so the author can concentrate on other things.

Overall, a good story, the best of the new adventures I've encountered so far.

The Tenth Doctor and companion Martha battle Zygons in England's Lake District in 1909.

If my basic plot summary sounds ho-hum, it's not meant to. It is not easy to resurrect old monsters (the Zygons first appeared in the 1975 Tom Baker adventure "Terror the Zygons"), much less keep them true to form while still making them fresh and interesting. Stephen Cole has done a good job; he's crafted a tale that, while firmly rooted in the "new" Doctor Who style, evokes fond memories of the "classic" era.

This is one of the better books in this series of tie-in novels--well paced with interesting characters. This Doctor Who fan thought it was great fun!

The Doctor and Martha have landed in the early part of the 20th century to visit London instead they find themselves on the moor's far from London. After walking for hours they come across a party of people heading to a nearby lake. There the Doctor and Martha find out that a strange creature has died near the lakeside. The local lords are offering a reward to see if others of its kind are here as well. What the Doctor discovers shocks him he's seeing the carcass of a Scarasen half organic half robotic creature used as a food source and weapon by the aliens known as Zygons. But the Doctor knows he destroys them in 1970 with Harry, Sarah and UNIT. What the Doctor has to find out is how many of these beasts are here and how many Zygons are on Earth. For if he doesn't figure this mystery soon his former self may not be able to stop them in the future and change the course of history of Earth forever. So check out The Sting of the Zygons.

The book was very good and enjoyment to read. I would suggest it to anyone who is a Doctor Who fan.

A fast read. It's relatively well plotted and the author obviously did a bit of research on the orginal Zygon episode aired so many years ago in the Tom Baker era. It's got a little humor and little nail-biting suspense. I rather liked the refernces to how "new" the automobile was to the time period.

I've never written a review for Amazon before, but I really enjoyed this book. The author really captured the personality of the Doctor (Ten). One of the best new Who books I've read. Highly recommended.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loved the TV story "Terror of the Zygons" and/or the 8th Dr novel "The Bodysnatchers". The story keeps in continuity with what we know of the Zygons from those two stories, while expanding on it at the same time. Doctor Who: Sting Of The Zygons (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover))

Just for the record, I've been a big fan for years and have read a multitude of Dr Who books, and still will. So it kind of bugs me that this book is so bad.
The plot is basically a rehash of the Tom Baker episode, but takes place a few decades before this. So you'd think that the Zygons wouldn't have tried the same strategy that had failed before, in this book, by the time, on the time line, that they meet up with the fourth doctor.
Plus the portrayal of this doctor within the book is just over done exclamations of "brilliant" and such things, and everything the doctor says can be traced to an on air episode. No originality what so ever. So by doing this, the writer did not capture the personality or character of the Doctor or Martha at all, besides repeating lines from a random script.
I'd suggest don't waste your money. There are much better Who books out there

GOOD: Plot is ok, Zygons are pretty cool, Doctor and Martha are good (but not great). Other char. are allright.

BAD: In some parts it's a bit slow and some parts seems "repeated".

SUGGESTED: Yes, if you are a Doctor Who fan, but not as first book of the series.