The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) [Paperback]

Christopher Bulis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Pub; an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd edition (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0426204476
• ISBN-13: 978-0426204473
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,865,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Doctor Who in a fantasy novel setting, October 10, 2000

By 

"grrreg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)

I'm sure the original creators of Doctor Who would have been rather wary of this story, had it been presented to them as a proposed television production. It is envisaged to occur very early in the first season of the series, where the story lines essentially alternat between historical and science fiction. How a story featuring magic, elves and dragons would have gone over is a good question.

I found the story quite enjoyable. The setting is an excellent change of pace for Doctor Who, and Christopher Bulis populates the story with a variety of memorable characters. The crew of the TARDIS are thrust into a world that shouldn't exist, and cannot re-enter the TARDIS due to some automatic defence mechanism which has activated for no apparent reason. (There is a reason, of course - but it is so integrally tied up with the conclusion of the story that I won't say any more about it!)

Needing to re-enter the TARDIS to leave, the Doctor is obliged to study magic in order to learn the way in which this world works. Kidnapped by Marton Dhal, Susan too gains some magical skills. However, as you'd expect, there's more to all this magic than meets the eye as the travellers and the inhabitants of Elbyon discover at the climax of the book.

Mr Bulis has a good descriptive turn of prose which makes it easy to envisage what this story might have looked like, but not if made with the technology used when this stories supposed contemporaries were made. I'm sure it would have been a visual treat.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Fun!, April 11, 2008

By 

D. Cassell (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)

What do fairies, dragons, elves & anything else you'd see in the Lord of the Rings have to do with Dr. Who & science? Nothing at all & everything! This book is brilliant fun from start to finish. Every page is a new surprise of fact and fantasy entangled in a bizarre & fantastical world.

It all starts when they land the TARDIS in a place that looks remotely like Earth. However much to their dismay & the Doctor's horror they meet a dragon. Even worse they can't get back into the TARDIS, it has locked them out. From there they go on to meet wizards, Kings, and much more. Naturally like all fantasy stories there is a good wizard and an evil wizard... people are kidnapped & the Doctor is sent off on a quest to find Merlin's Helm so that the people can be rescued. Which you'll have to read the rest for yourself, but again overall the book is brilliant fun. I'm not much of a magical fantasy lover myself, but its interlaced with science in a way that makes it all so very interesting. So enjoy. Oh, & did I forget to mention there are also witches? :)

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent fantasy quest, August 18, 2000

By 

Larry Bridges "thebachelor" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)

It seems like Christopher Bulis never fails to produce a winner when he sits down to write a "Doctor Who" book. By the time of this book, his third "Who" novel, his style of plotting is firmly established: the Doctor and his companions encounter a number of seemingly inexplicable mysteries which they and the reader must try to figure out. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sees the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara, fresh from their encounter with Marco Polo, land on a planet where, it seems, magic really works and magical creatures such as dwarves and fairies actually exist. However, a party of space marines and military scientists from Earth's crumbling Empire also lands on the planet, for they believe it holds a weapon of such power that it could be used to bring the Empire to greatness again. Thus fantasy and science fiction are fused into a fascinating story that poses and ultimately resolves the question: How can magic exist in the usually rational "Doctor Who" universe? As always, Bulis' characterizations of the Doctor and his companions are excellent and one truly cares about the supporting characters as well. The book also displays Bulis' fondness for satisfyingly astonishing plot twists. This book is so enjoyable that I finished it far more rapidly than I do most "Doctor Who" books, and I recommend it highly.