Customer Reviews

Vampire Science (Dr. Who Series)

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

 

 

What if the Doctor Who television movie was picked up as an ongoing series? What would it have looked like? What would be the tone? These are clearly thoughts that went through Jonathan Blum's and Kate Orman's heads as they wrote VAMPIRE SCIENCE.

Blum and Orman manage to capture the slick feel of the telemovie so well it seems effortless; you can almost see Paul McGann and company flying down the streets of San Francisco (via Vancouver) as the vampire menace rears its ugly head.

Blum and Orman manage to capture the new Doctor's mannerisms and personality excellently, and their story manages to both take on the same tone as the telemovie, while at the same time expanding the scope and blowing the "budget" through the roof. VAMPIRE SCIENCE is one of the few early Eighth Doctor novels that really feels like an entity in its own right, not a "generic Doctor" story with the serial numbers filed off.

A clever plot, great characterization, and excellent prose; this is a wonderful addition to the Doctor Who mythos. Very well done.

This is the 2nd book in the new Dr. Who series by BBC books and only the third novel to feature the 8th Doctor. Finally, the books are on the right track with their portrayal of this new Doctor for the '90's. Authors Orman and Blum manage to not only capture the personality as presented by actor Paul McGann in the TV Movie, but expand on it in lots of clever ways. The Doctor's penchant for little magic tricks; whimsical changes of subject and driving a VW around San Fransisco are great extensions of the character. It's hard to believe that there are only 90 minutes of film on which to base this character as they have made him so 3-dimensional. Unfortunately, his new companion, Sam, dosen't fare as well. She comes off as a "clone" of Ace, a companion of the 7th Doctor's. The "one-off" compainion of Caroline works better in this story than Sam. The story itself is very successful in capturing the "Doctor Who for the '90's" spirit that the TV Movie exuded by setting the vampires in the "goth" nightclub scene that is rampant in most major cities these days. The vampires themselves are well rounded characters and fit into the mythos of Anne Rice quite nicely. There is also a lot of humor laced throughout. I loved the vampire snail story! An attempt is made to throw in the "traditional Dr. Who monster" near the climax, but it wasn't really needed as the story's strength comes from the fact that it bucks tradition. I'd like to see more in the sereies like this.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the new series. One of the Time Lord's oldest and greatest enemies resurfaces in San Francisco and Sam and the Eighth Doctor rush to stop a possibly disastrous confrontation between UNIT and a newly discovered Vampire cell. A lot of this book is spent giving you an impression of the Doctor's new personality, both through his statements and Sam's observations of him. Is he a pacifist that will do anything to find a peaceful solution, or is he simply trying to hold back a violent desire to destroy a threat to the universe. There are interesting characters in this book, but at times the story seemed forced around an attempt to flesh out the new Doctor's personality. Still a good read, but not as riveting as most others in the series.

An Ann-Rice-esque coven of vampires are found hiding on modern-era Earth, and Time Lords have a biological impulse to destroy them. Every character, from the Doctor, to the whining, pathetic C-cast humans, undergo reams of development. Also, intoxicating innuendo happens in a seedy poser bar.

This is a tightly-written story with no wasted words, and immense payoffs which constantly surprise you.

I expected to hate this book, especially because it's about vampires. Also, the premise is a distinct, and overused, Who-formula (vampires! they're really aliens! sexy hipster aliens! and vampirism is a scientific thing!) ...but this formula is neatly subverted, with expert storytelling, a few genre-savvy characters, and satisfying plot twists around every corner.

The character developments will either worry you, delight you, or both - and will pay off in grand ways. The exception will be character development that catches you off guard - with even bigger payoffs. All characters are amazingly consistent, through all their changes. The villains are breathtakingly deep.

You will squirm, shout, giggle, gasp, and tingle at this book. Contrast with Kursaal, an Eighth Doctor Adventure about werewolves, which burns well and absorbs spills.

The amount of actual science in Doctor Who has varied over the years, depending on the writer of the particular story and how much people are paying attention (watch the sixties serials to see how flexible the word "galaxy" can be) but there comes a point where you have to draw a line between science and fantasy. Vampires tend to be more on the "fantasy" side of said line, and yet the show has never really shied away from them, bringing them up late in Tom Baker's run (acutally the first episode I ever saw, and yes, it scared the heck out of me) and only occasionally pretending that science was at all involved. The Eighth Doctor runs into vampires in his second BBC adventure, but the authors take a different tactic than you might expect. After a rather bloody beginning where the Doctor and Sam hunt down a vampire in San Francisco, they come back twenty years later to find that vampires are still running around, an infestation that has caught UNIT's attention. Lines are drawn for a battle that could be quite messy indeed, but the Doctor has other ideas, perhaps a way that the vampires could still feed without killing everyone in sight. Orman was one of the better New Adventures authors and someone like her was needed to wash the bad taste that "The Eight Doctors" left in everyone's mouths, since people were looking for an actual story and not a string of anecdotes. I'm not sure what Blum adds to the mix but Orman's trademark attention to character detail and nicely crafted small scenes show up here in spades . . . the authors handle the cast deftly and keep things accessible, while making nods to continuity for the longtime fans (the UNIT representative keeps making references to the Seventh Doctor and his rather more manipulative ways, perhaps as a way to highlight how different this Doctor is). By focusing on characters they play more to the strengths of the current Doctor, who isn't as plot-happy as his previous incarnation and a little more adverse to blowing up planets to fulfill a grand scheme, his attempts to find a solution that doesn't involve people dying left and right seems proper for how the character is portrayed. The vampires themselves are depicted as more than bloodsucking killers, while some are only interested in being creatures of the night, others are taking a more active role in researching how they can stop hunting people down for food, a goal the Doctor is keen to help with. Indeed, the plot is fairly tense, as the two sides keep squaring off and come thisclose to wiping each other out, the authors play the internal vampire politics and the feuding views of the humans involved off each other well, and while this isn't the world's most densely plotted book, the conflicting motivations helps keep things moving. Sam, for one, comes across better in this story, her introduction in the last book was both boring and annoying at the same time, and while she isn't about to join the companion pantheon yet, she is both capable and a believable teenager, although sometimes the authors push the "she was raised by hippie parents!" too far at times. Meanwhile, the Doctor is finally given a story to stretch out in and he acts like you would think the Doctor should, straddling the line between "I have a brilliant plan" and "I'm making it up as I go along" as well as acting both more human and more moral than his previous incarnations, he's friendlier but you can still believe he's an alien. All in all, a decent and quick read, the BBC line was still finding itself at this point and it still feels like a really good TV episode as opposed to the envelope pushing and experimention of the New Adventures line, but it was early yet. You should skip "The Eight Doctors" and go right to this and not feel like you missed a thing.

Saddly, its the Mel-factor again. Remember how annoying it was when Mel (the sixth & seventh Doctor's companion)was just plunked into the TV serie's plot-line. Wasn't that annoying! Well, get ready because here we go again. After the fluff and non-introduction that the new companion got in Terrance Dick's infantile novel, I'm sure you're thinking that Sam will be introduced in the next novel. Surprise!!! Insted, we get treated to a introduction that sounds like this..."The Doctor and I have been traveling for sometime now". And speaking of the new Doctor that we are all so eager to get to know...don't get your hopes up. He is hardly the central character of this book. What is with all these "secondary" characters that eat up most of the plot? I use the term "plot" very loosely. It is infact a story that has the characters running from one location to the other (and back again)pointlessly. The first two outings in the new BBC line of Dr Who novels are five star yawns. Do yourself a favor and watch an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" because in the end that is what this book is more akin to. Sorry Kate.

I think "Vampire Science" was a good, entertaining story, well suited to the Doctor Who style. Even though there are parallels to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the attitudes and personalities of the vampires), I still greatly enjoyed the story and emotions involved. I felt the story was written well enough to let your imagination wander to think, "Man, what would I do if something like this happened?" I like Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum, I think they're both fine authors who obviously put as much thought into their work, and work as hard, as any other author.

I look forward to all the upcoming Doctor Who novels, and am sure I will enjoy them equally.

The primary characters in Vampire Science are very well developed. The Doctor is a caring individual but is willing to defend the innocent at any cost. These two qualities are shown by his trying to reconcile the differences between James and Carolyn and confronting the vampire, eve, back in 1976 when the Doctor and Sam first met Carolyn. Sam's character shines through in this novel as opposed to her first appearance in Eight Doctors. She is shown to be inquisitive, intelligent, and not afraid to take risks when necessary. General Kramer is shown to be very distrustful of the Doctor at first since she mentions to Carolyn in the beginning of the novel how the Doctor had a previous companion whom he had under his "control" What made Kramer interesting was that the man she distrusted was the one she needed to stop the Vampire killings. General Kramer could have used a little more personal history to flesh her character out more. It would not have been a bad idea for Orman and Blum to have Kramer tell Carolyn her first encounter with the Doctor in detail. UNIT itself was rarely seen in the novel except towards the middle and the end. Orman and Blum, if they decide to use UNIT again, should make them more proactive even if there is not a dangerous situation they must combat. Joanna Harris was a very weak character in that she didn't seem to be very smart nor very cunning. Her character is so dull that the reader may find it hard to remember that she is the leader of a vampire clan. Slake was a very interesting character and his arguments with Harris made for interesting dialogue. Also, his dialogue with Shackle bordered somewhat on dark humor. Slake's description of vampire life in the middle of the novel was very descriptive and crisp. Carolyn and James were not very interesting characters. Their characterizations were mediocre and they appeared to be too emotional throughout the novel. The balance between narration and dialogue was perfect. Sam's dialogue showed much bravado and the Doctor's was offbeat. Slake's dialogue was also fresh and insightful. The only dialogue the reader may find boring is from Kramer, Carolyn, Harris, and James. The structure of Vampire Science worked to the story's benefit. Starting the story in 1976 with Sam in a coffee bar was unique. The action scenes did compliment each other except when UNIT and Kramer raided The Other Place nightclub. UNIT and Kramer playing peacekeepers was not very realistic. Detail also benefited the structure as well. For example, the Doctor's car, the TARDIS library, description of The Other Place, and the description of the theatre the vampires lived in. The tension in Vampire Science did keep the story moving. Several events in the story that kept it moving are when the Doctor subdues and accidentally kills Eve the vampire in 1976, Sam gets bitten by a vampire, the Doctor and Harris bloodfast, Harris and Sam trying to escape Weird Harold, and the Doctor near death after being bitten by Slake and his followers. The setting in Vampire Science could have been improved. The reader will find that going from the theatre back to Carolyn's house in the beginning does get repetitive. When the novel flashed back and forth to different scenes such as the TARDIS and The Other Place nightclub, that was when the setting did not make the reader lose interest. There is no theme in Vampire Science but the novel does prove that the vampires, the Time Lords' enemies, are not beyond hope since Harris was turned back to a human when the Doctor snuck her the vamp-away formula The style and tone of Vampire Science benefit most of the book. The poor characterization of James and Carolyn are the reason why the both of them are excessively sentimental which ruins some of the novel.James is mawkish and too uncertain of himself and everything in the story. Carolyn was portrayed more as a love sick teen than a cancer doctor. Her fascination about traveling with the Doctor in his TARDIS watered down the decent narration in some chapters of the novel.

This one is THE first novel of the BBC series for many who've read it. "Eight Doctors" simply didn't have anywhere NEAR the 'oomph' that Kate Orman and her hubby Blum's tale does. The Eigth Doctor's personality is explored quite thoroughly, none of the cardboard vestigial tripe that Dicks presented in his novel. The new companion Sam actually seems more interesting here, not like the vapid Ace clone Dicks introduced. Don't be fooled by the later reviews Whovians; "Vampire Science" is a rip-snortin' read from cover to cover!

A great book that'll make you think a lot. Both sides of the story are very interesting. You'll like this book if you like vampires. It has a very shocking ending and a great preview to what Sam is like from now until her future with Doctor Who.