Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A story rich in themes but straightforward in narrative., June 26, 1998
By A Customer
Thoroughly enjoyable Dr. Who. The Ultimate Treasure is a good, fun read. It perfectly portrays many of the themes of the television show in a novel form--such as good and evil, greed and ambition vs. compassion and fellowship, etc. The many support characters are strong and well drawn, the main plot engaging and entertaining as the reader quests alongside this varied group of personalities in search of the "Ultimate Treasure." In the grand tradition of a true treasure hunt, obstacles both external and internal often bar the way. Of course, characterization of the Doctor is always of paramount importance in these books, and the author does a good, if not great job. All the Doctor's actions are always in keeping with the best of Peter Davison's portrayal, but his dialogue doesn't always ring true as Davison might have delivered it. However, the author succeeds with companion Peri very nicely. In this book she is a curious young woman very open to new experiences, a refreshing characterization which is well in keeping with how actress Nicola Bryant portrayed Peri early on in her run of episodes. The ending seems at first to disappoint, but after due consideration, the real impact of the ending sinks in, leaving a light, satisfied feeling to walk away from this book with. I recommend this title over many of the other books in the various Dr. Who series.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The quest is to safely reach the end, June 3, 2007
Bulis was never my favorite of the stable of writers when he was doing the Missing Adventures back for Virgin, his work was readable and showed some sparks of imagination but it also came across as oddly flat and joyless, professional without being exciting. Thus I wasn't exactly expecting great miracles and wonders from this novel, and in all honesty I basically got what I expected. The Fifth Doctor and Peri get caught up in a search for a mythical treasure that was hidden on a planet thousands of years before and is supposed to be massively impressive. But it's not just them involved, you have an entire cast of characters broken up into teams all hunting for the same proported treasure. How they get to it and what they endure and how it ends up is what the book is about. And it's interesting but not terribly exciting, it's more workmanlike than anything else and more than once it seemed like Bulis was just going through the Doctor Who motions to get to the ending, without bothering to put any kind of spark into it. The Doctor and Peri come off well enough, I guess, the latter a sort of generic cheery curious companion, while the Doctor gets the broad stroke of the Quiet Doctor, without really bringing across the manic energy he would unexpectedly bring to the role, especially when he realized he was onto something. For the most part he just sort of hangs out and lets the plot go by. Thus the focus of the book is more on the other treasure seekers, none of whom are really that fascinating on their own. You have the gents with ulterior motives who get more and more obsessed as time goes on, the seeker who isn't so keen on getting the treasure by the end because the real treasure can only be found in the heart, the greedy criminals who eventually get what's coming to them and so on and so forth. Oh, and an inspector, just to keep things interesting. But with so many characters the nuances are just sort of glossed over, even with long stretches devoted to showing how they get through the traps and stuff. The traps themselves are not that amazing and the solutions woefully easy (they have to be, as the criminal portion of the search isn't exactly a brain trust, although they do have the Doctor along for part of it). The final revelation of the treasure is kind of what you'd expect is that the actual treasure is warm and fuzzy and something we all share in this great world. Even the supposed big side mystery, who the heck is the guy pretending to be Falstaff gets an explanation that boils down to "He wasn't hugged enough as a child". So while the novel isn't necessarily bad, it's not especially good either, it will kill a few hours of your time but won't really excite or engage you in any meaningful way. You'll just keep turning pages until it's done and never think of it again.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
You don't want to know..., January 26, 2001
The Doctor and new companion Peri, having left the desolate planet of Sarn, arrive in Astroville and witness the murder of a shopkeeper. As he dies in the arms of the travellers, he gives them the coordinates to the lost treasure of Rovan. So off on a treasure hunt go the travellers, but find they are not the only ones and that they must compete in a number of challenges to win through...I think the worst Doctor Who book in the BBC range, 'The Ultimate Treasure' is a shocker! Characterisations of the Doctor and Peri are off, the whole treasure hunt competition makes no great degree of sense, the puzzles and challenges aren't that challenging, and... Well, I could go on and on. I'm not giving this 1 star because, despite my dislike of it, Christopher Bulis is sufficiently professional that it hangs together fine. Not pretty, but fine. For Doctor Who completists only, and don't say I didn't warn you!
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by Keith Topping
DVD ~ William Hartnell
DVD ~ Colin Baker
by Steve Lyons
by Keith Topping
