Customer Reviews

The Man in the Velvet Mask - 1996 publication.

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I've read quiet a few Doctor Who novels but this one has been the worst. I only finished the book out of loyalty to the series. The author takes the approach of little to no action, and goes way in depth at describing the characters feelings during different situations. This wouldn't of been that bad except for the fact I felt he got the characters all wrong. The way he described the characters is not how I remember them from watching the TV show. Again, not only was the book not accurate in portraying the characters, it was boring, and I literally had to force myself to finish reading it. One final warning for this book, it is by far the darkest and most adult Dr. Who book I have read to date. The ending is also not happy, in the fact that Dodo does something so insanely stupid & out of character that it kind of just ruins the story. In fact Dodo was nothing like she was in the TV series. But everyone has their own opinion, & mine happens to be a bit harsh because I didn't like the story.

This is the only Who book I've read that I hated. I just can't reconcile the tone with the First Doctor era. Having said that, I do plan on reading it again. It's just incredibly unpleasant. Dodo is not a great companion, to say the least. I will say that the writing itself is more than passable and effective. To me, it was like watching an episode that even though you hate it, you can't help but admit to yourself that it's well done. Just made me want to take a shower while I was reading it. Yuck. Before anyone says so, I suppose I shouldn't criticize until I've written a novel. True. This review is just from a fan.

Daniel O'Mahony never ceases to amaze. The premise of THE MAN IN THE VELVET MASK seemed almost absurd--plunging the 1st Doctor and Dodo Chaplet into the world of the Marquis de Sade. Jokes were made about it being time for scenes upon scenes of torturing Dodo, one of Doctor Who fandom's least popular supporting characters. Some were a little wary based on O'Mahony's first novel, FALLS THE SHADOW, which was alternately praised and condemned for its radically different style and tone. And in the end, the general consensus was that VELVET MASK was going to be a strange book. And of course, the general consensus is utterly wrong. VELVET MASK is, at the heart, a book following a single idea--the mask. Everything in this book is hidden behind a series of masks. The Marquis de Sade, the actors, the leader of this strange new Paris... and that includes this strange Paris, Dodo, and even the Doctor. Nothing is what it seems, but everything tries to convince you otherwise. It's about the masks that you choose to wear, the face you want to show the public. It's about trying to be something tut the masks that others force upon you, the roles that you're made to assume. Some put on the masks willingly, while others fight in a desperate attempt to be true to themselves. But as masks are pulled off to reveal new masks, identities are lost, until the question finally becomes one of identity. Have you become the mask? Or has the mask become you? THE MAN IN THE VELVET MASK will disturb some readers, but on a distinctly different level than FALLS THE SHADOW. While FALLS THE SHADOW had a distinct physical realm of torture, this book goes for the mental sadism. The characters are drawn through hell and back in a variety of different manners. It's not a pleasant experience for them, and at O'Mahony's best, it reaches through to the reader. It's a gut-wrenching ride through the inner psyche of a world that no longer knows what it is, was, or will be. And in the end, perhaps you know the characters better than before. Perhaps you have a new understanding for the Doctor and Dodo. Or perhaps... perhaps you've gotten to know just some of their faces. And you can decide which ones were the masks, and which ones were not. If any.

The unexpected follow up to his ground-breaking "Falls the Shadow", Daniel O'Mahony walks familiarly dismal ground with an intriguing, if disturbing tale focusing on the aging pangs of the ancient First Doctor. Together with Dodo Chaplet, the Time Lord stumbles into a bizarre version of early 19th century Paris governed by the sadistic, dwarf son of the Marquis de Sade. The Doctor is horrified to discover that history as he knows it is the product of a vast error in an alien machine