Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Winner Takes All

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

 

 

As long as I've been a "Doctor Who" fan -- coming up on 21 years -- I've actually been reading the original novels, under both the Virgin and BBC banners, for almost three-quarters of that time. I started reading the Target novelizations of the TV episodes when I was 11, and started reading the New Adventures at 18. Now, deep into my early thirties, I am being asked to start again, with what for the "Doctor Who" book world is an interesting hybrid experiment: Original novels based on the first season of Russell T. Davies' "Doctor Who" revival, written in the old Target novelization writing style.

If you loved the NAs, this book will seem like a major step back. If you thought the NAs were self-indulgent and corrosive, you will probably love "Winner Takes All".

Jac Rayner's first "Doctor Who" novel, "EarthWorld", and the only other book of her's that I've read, had its moments, most of them related to her characters and dialogue rather than her storytelling. "Winner Takes All" is the same way. Any dialogue written for the four TV characters (the Doctor, Rose, Jackie and Mickey) captures Russell T. Davies' truncated dialogue style, and the actors' respective voices, admirably. You won't find familiar characters behaving in weird ways, or getting lost in over-long internal monologues. If you read the books only for adherence to the TV show, and not for original insights, this book is definitely a success.

The original characters aren't quite as enjoyable, but Rayner manages to save each of them from being annoying. The alien Quevvils are pretty ridiculous, but then you can excuse the writer on that, because the TV aliens were pretty silly too (the Slitheen, the Gelth, et cetera). The book's human toadie, Darren Pye, isn't really on screen long enough to generate much contempt, but the way Rayner reflects loathing for him through Rose's thoughts works well. Finally, the kid who assists the Doctor in the book's second half is introduced with a lengthy Harry Potter-style dream sequence, and that's kind of cute.

"Winner Takes All" is a silly plot, and a harmless bit of fluff. You can tell it's not in the style of the New Adventures because it's missing "B" and "C" plots. This book is all about the Quevvils' video game and how it affects the residents of Rose's housing project. There are only three or four aliens in total, and even when the book takes us to another planet, all we see of that planet are a couple of rooms. However, it captures the style of Season 1 of the Russell T. Davies' "Doctor Who" pretty well, and since Christopher Eccleston only gave us the one season as the 9th Doctor, this book will stand well in padding out his tenure.

So far I've been pleased with most of the new Doctor Who books but not particularly amazed or anything, except by this book and "Stealer of Dreams."
This book was awesome, what every fan should be looking for. It has real emotions, cool fight scenes, wicked technology and the fighting against wrong. I especially liked the part with the Doctor being mad at having to use Rose, something we don't get to see in the series very often but something we can all relate too. This is a very good book, I do not understand the mixed or even bad reviews at all. If you Like The Doctor and Rose this is a absolute must read.

Of all the first three 9th Doctor novels this is by far the best. Not as slow and tedius as Clockwise Man or typical weirdness of 7th & 8th Doc novellas Monster Inside was. Winner Takes All is fast paced, down to Earth, and yet captures the same sort of otherwordly magic of the series.

That's not to say this book is perfect. Some of the Doctor's reactions seem a little left field, and the realistic life traumas of Rose's family leave you wondering how she can continue her high-flying adventuring while they toil in the muck.

But the interplay of modern Earth-life and alien-life is very well done.

If you've been enjoying the series, ignore the critics. These books are written for fans of the new TV series... not for fans of the cult novels.

Am I the only one whoes just does not like Rayner's writing? I feel like I was reading a bad Target novelisation, not a novel I paid 15 dollars for. Maybe she should attend an ADULT writer's workshop.
One of the many things I had issues with was the use of current pop references. Good Who novels are timeless. I can pick up Love and War and read it 12 years after it was written. This novel will seem painfully dated in a few months.
Also, going back and visitiing the family and stumbling into an adventure has gotten pretty stale.
For a second book, it read as fast as a Telos novella, but without the quirkiness. I hope the third is better. Save your money and order some classic Who novels.

This was an excellent book in the series. I especially liked the portrayal of Mickey ('cause you can just see this guy being a gamer!) and the Ninth Doctor ('cause you can just see the Doctor pwning Mickey in whatever video game he picks up >=D ). Rose was lovely and helpful as always. I'd have to say that, of the Ninth Doctor books out there, this one is my favourite, right up there with Jacqueline Rayner's other Who novel, The Stone Rose, another brilliant must buy.

I've always enjoyed novelizations of my favorite television shows. I think I've read all the Angel and Quantum Leap novelizations. So, when I came across Doctor Who novelizations at my library, I was excited.

The Winner Takes All features the Ninth Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston and Rose. Thinking her mother has won the lottery, Rose and the Doctor return to Earth and discover that a video game has captured everyone's attention.

The porcupine-like Quevvils are fighting the Mantodeans, and in order to win, they need soldiers. Enter The Last Starfighter plot here. The Quevvils create a video game which mimics their war and "test market" that game on earth and those who play it well suddenly win a "holiday" where they are transported to the Quevvil world. It's up to the Doctor, Rose and Mickey the Idiot to save the day. Along the way, they meet Robert, who has been transported to the Quevvil world, along with his over-protective mother.

Even for Doctor Who, the Quevvils are a silly, strange, monster. Robert's little Harry Potter-type fantasies were cute, but annoying. In fact, the whole novel was just annoying. I simply wanted it finished.

The author definitely captured Eccleston's voice, I could hear it in my head, which was great. I could not, however, translate this story to the screen. It just didn't work. It was silly and disjointed and hard to follow.

Winner Takes All is only my second Doctor Who read, and my first to feature the adventures of the ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper). Rose convinces the Doctor to make a quick trip back to present-day Earth to visit her mother, Jackie, who's just won a holiday in a sweepstakes competition. The Doctor, who has little patience for Rose's family and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Mickey, soon suspects that this trip to Earth may not be wasted time after all. The newest videogame craze, Death to Mantodeans, is taking Rose's neighborhood by storm, and when people start disappearing - including Jackie - the game turns out to be a very real, very alien threat to humans. Since Christopher Eccleston only brought his unique and unforgettable spin to the Doctor's character for only one season, it's nice to have additional adventures available that help flesh out his time and relationship with Rose. This story itself started off a tad slowly for me, and it took a couple of chapters for me to really get "hooked." Once Rose and the Doctor reach the Mantodean stronghold for the final showdown, Rayner had my attention - particularly in the superb way she revealed just how much Rose's friendship has grown to mean to the Doctor over the course of their time together. Rayner does a fantastic job with all of the series' character voices - the Doctor, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey are all true to character and fit seamlessly within the context of how they are portrayed on the show. The new characters - especially Robbie, with his Harry Potter-esque fantasy life - fit well within the context of the story and interact well with the canon characters. While porcupine-like aliens are a trifle silly, even by Who standards IMO, this novel works immensely well as a ninth Doctor adventure and I - somewhat surprisingly - thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought this book was outstanding. I loved the humor and jokes it contained and the deepness of how the doctor felt when he had to control Rose and how Rose was feeling, so helpless! It was wonderfully written. The story was a fascinating one, the whole idea truly interesting. Makes you think twice next time you play a FPS game! I wish this one was made into an Ep!

If you like the Ninth Doctor, you will enjoy this book. I especially recommend it if you like science fiction and video games which makes it a very interesting combination. It is exciting and funny. It is never boring and makes you want to keep on reading.

Doctor Who: Winner Takes All
(Series One Novel)

Have you ever played a video game and thought to yourself `I wonder what this would be like if this was real?' Many of us just content ourselves with pushing this thought to the side and continue to slay aliens, or race towards the checkered flag. It's all a part of the suspension of disbelief, where you know that when playing a game or watching a video, things might not always what they seem. A cartoon mouse does have a clever brain and will use it to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting cat by creating master diabolical plans! This is all a part of how we as humans separate fiction from fantasy. Yet, in the book Doctor Who: Winner Takes All, Jacqueline Rayner puts that simple question to the test. What happen if that video game you where playing was real?

The story begins with Rose and the Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) travels back to London to visit with Rose's mother Jackie. Upon their arrival the duo is faced with a rather strange situation, a marketing group (or so they say) have been testing a contest where you buy something from a local shop and you are awarded with a scratch card. If you win, you get one of two prizes, first a new video game console (apparently with the game Death to the Mantodeans) or an all expense paid holiday to an exotic resort.

As the novel continues an alien conspiracy is uncovered and we soon discover that the marketing Mascot is in actuality an alien and they are using the video games to control the vacationers into doing their dirty work. What is their dirty work you might ask? Waging a war on their home planet against the praying mantis people known as the (you guessed it) the Mantodeans! The human's role is of the foot soldiers (or more of cannon fodder if you prefer).

The book itself was a pretty good read, clear descriptions, great new characters such as the introduction as Darren Pye as the bully. It was quite refreshing to have a person who showed that there are jerks in the world who are just jerks, wanting to make people's lives horrible just because they can. This character was great, mainly because it was the type of guy that every time he came into play, I hated it, thinking to myself, "just kill him off, he's a total jerk!" Kind of like Synjaya from American Idol, which made the character great. You are supposed to hate characters like that.

When it came down to the story itself I noticed quite a few things that I believed needed some improving, or more clarification. Being a manager of a video game retailer there is nothing that gamers really don't know about the industry. It is huge and when a new game come's out it is well known before time. One of the points that I felt a little distracting was the fact that this new machine was being given away, and could only play one game. Was it a "plug and play", or a full console? Clairification is needed at this point.

The aliens who are performing this big master plot are described as a large Porcupine. I can understand some of the plot points that came into play with the use of this type of character, i.e. quill weapons, being appealing to the public, and their addiction to salt (great scene in the book). Yet, when I was imagining them, I couldn't push away that they were all just living breathing Sonic the Hedgehogs! I believe that the addition of a different type of animal needed to be used here.

Finally I really didn't know why the Quevvils (the giant porcupines) where waging this war against the Mantodeans? It did add some sense of drama not knowing for awhile, making it feel as if these creatures where just waging war just for the sake of it. Yet war goes deeper than that, and each war has a catalyst, what was it, or if it was waging for so long have a discussion about where it might of began.

Overall I enjoyed this book and being my first read in the Doctor Who book series I was pleasantly surprised. Knowing both the Doctor and Rose from the Television Series I felt that the author was brilliant at capturing the essence of all of the characters I was familiar with. Also the pace of the story and the action kept me turning the pages. Yet I feel that the areas that were not covered (the reason for the war) or did not have a clear direction did get in the way. To me Doctor Who is a mythology that has its roots in our world and when things don't make sense when comparing them in our world then the suspension of disbelief can be strained.

I give this book 2 out of 5.