Customer Reviews

The Witch Hunters : A First Doctor Novel (Dr. Who Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was interested in some new 1st Doctor material, and in honor of Halloween, I started to read "The Witch Hunters." This is a wonderful book! The 1st Doctor, Barbara, Ian, and Susan land in Salem just before the witch trials, and of course, the four travellers get involved -- circumstantially as well as emotionally. In fact, the travelers involvement extend much more than just a casual participation in history. The high emotion of Salem village reaches the TARDIS crew in one form or another. But, to say anymore would be too much. Suffice it to say, this book pushes the time travelers emotions and skills at getting out of perilous situations to its full limit. We see all four characters, including the Doctor, with more raw, deeper, and exposed emotion. The fact that the weight of history is against them, makes this adventure all the more frightening, wondering if the travelers will escape. My only complaint about the book is the convenient use of the TARDIS Fast Return Switch. (...)The ending alone is worth it.

Steve Lyons' excellent Doctor Who historical is a "must-read" for all fans of the series.

The TARDIS arrives outside of Salem in 1692, although the travellers get the date wrong (they think it is a year earlier) and the Doctor asks his three travelling companions to stay in the village while he repairs the TARDIS. It should have been peaceful...

Inevitably, they get caught up in the beginnings of the witch trials, but manage to escape, arriving fortuitously in 1954 (9 years earlier than Ian and Barbara want, to be able to return home) and take in a performance of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". Seeing the fates of people she knew depicted on the stage, Susan uses the TARDIS' fast return switch to take them back to where they came from.

"The Witch Hunters" includes excellent characterisation of the three companions of the Doctor: Susan is young and brash and not quite human, and so forms a catalyst for the witch trials themselves; Ian is still eminently hopeful and heroic, and even believes it may be possible to save some of the victims of the trials; and Barbara is stoic and thoughtful, she has learned her lesson that history cannot change from "The Aztecs" and is now determined to save her fellow travellers above those they meet.

As the historical events inevitably unfold, it is the interaction of the four characters with each other and with the inhabitants of Salem that drive the book forward. Not particularly a fun read, but very strongly character-driven - much as the series was at the period in which the novel is supposed to fall.

I give "The Witch Hunters" a thumbs-up. It wasn't flawless, but it was definately a good read.

The main characters were well portrayed and accurate to the first season of "Doctor Who". Character traits established in "The Edge of Destruction" (aka "Inside the Spaceship"), "The Aztecs", and "The Sensorites" were nicely incorporated into this story. We also gained some insight into why the First Doctor urged his companions to not try to change history.

The Salem characters did not fare as well. Almost all of them felt like they had been cut from the same cloth. A character was either an accuser or an accused, but beyond that there didn't seem to be much difference between them.

The plot had several unexpected twists and turns. On the down side, the plot seemed to wander aimlessly for about fifty pages in the middle. But the beginning and the end were well paced, and the book made nice use of shifts in time that would have been more difficult to achieve had the show been televised.

My one major complaint: At one point, the TARDIS leaves Salem and arrives in Bristol on opening night of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", a play based on the Salem witch hunts. I found this bit of coincidence to be absurdly unnecessary. In my mind, the point of the scene was to let Susan find out what became of the people in Salem. It could have been accomplished by having the characters visit a modern-day (or future-day) library or take a trip to the movies. But no, we have to get "The Crucible" on opening night. Too much dramatc license for my tastes.

Overall, though, the book was very enjoyable. Not quite as good as "The Plotters" or "The Empire of Glass", but not nearly as dreadful as "Invasion of the Cat People".

A pox on those reviewers who reveal the best bits in this, a forum discussing buyability of product! Suffice to say, this is the best written, best plotted, best characterised, best smelling and cleanest Doctor Who novel yet. Bar none.

This was the first Doctor Who book I picked up after the New Adventures folded at Virgin and BBC Worldwide took over creative control. I wasn't too happy with the New Adventures and I wasn't sure if I'd be happy with this one either... I wasn't, but there was a marked improvement. The first being... these books are geared toward the television series in tone and form, a good thing (and also a bad thing). The story is ripe for exploration, but little or nothing is done with it. The Doctor and cast end up going around and around the same point in time and in plot to no real satisfaction. But not to bash, the best thing I can say about this book is that the first Doctor really shines, caught the mood, tone and glint in his eyes real well... the rest of the principals also seem very real. Susan, Barbara and Ian all react and act like their television counter parts, as well as work off script. A dash of reality helps here, but can't save the rather slow moving story about the witch trials. Not perfect, only for the completist...

I didn't manage to get my hands on a copy of The Witch Hunters until well after it had come out. While I had tried very much to avoid spoilers, I did start hearing that it was an excellent read. On the other hand, Steve Lyons was new to me, I had never read any of his previous Who outings.

The Witch Hunters is set between Reign of Terror and Planet of the Giants. No stretch there, a nice gap in which to set MA's. Season 1 has always been one of my favorites, and one which is not often visited in the MA's.

One of the main points of The Witch Hunters is the Doctor's belief that you must, "not change history. Not one line." as seen in The Aztechs. Only this time it is Susan who questions the idea, and after a brief visit to Salem in the 1690's, uses the Fast Return Switch (seen in The Edge of Destruction) to return to Salem to try to change the tragedy from occurring. Of course this just ends up getting the whole crew involved in the troubles and has Ian accused of being a Warlock.

A classic early Who setup, but the novel form allows everything to have a darker twist. It is set after the bloodiest Who setting to date (The Reign of Terror), the crew thinks they have seen the worst, only to get hit with something nastier. Susan and Ian are torn from the Doctor, and the Doctor and Barbara are forced to leave in the TARDIS. Ian is imprisoned and Susan is taken in by a Priest.

Susan is setup for one of the first times since An Unearthly Child as being truly alien. Her mental powers are emerging and they amplify the troubles for her.

Ian comes across once again as the heroic protector of the group and his portrayal is right on par with the rest of the first season. (As an intersting side note, this is one of 2 adventures Ian refers to in the newly released Crusade linking material). His caring for Barbara also comes across very well.

Barbara also is right on. It is interesting as she is in a different position than she was in The Aztechs arguing for change. She still thinks they should change history a bit, but is careful to consult the history books after the adventure picks up pace.

The Doctor truly shines through. The charecterization is good, but more than that, his hidden thoughts are partially revealed, piercing the hard exterior. The book leaves us in some doubt if perhaps the Doctor did change history, but just one line. The afterward with Rebecca Nurse is absolutely priceless.

Bottom Line: Amazing stuff. I may have read better in the BBC line, but not much. Certainly the best of the PDA's.

This story is more chilling than the classic series ever managed to be. The monsters here are humans. Much like the recent episode "Midnight" our protagonists here are face reactions spawned from hyteria. I couldn't wait for the TARDIS crew to escape! The Witch Hunters is a well rounded thrill ride. Highly recommened!

Barbara tried in The Aztecs, the rest of the crew tries in this novel. However try as they might, history just can't be altered. Or can it?

The TARDIS lands in the woods next to a peaceful village. The Doctor decides its time to make a few repairs to the TARDIS. However to their surprise, they landed in Salam. After bonding with the community, they decided it was better to leave before the hysteria starts. But Susan just can't let go... she must try to help her friends. Its a lesson she must learn for herself.

What makes this novel so great is not only the complexity of the characters, but the reality of the story. There are many great lessons to be learned, not only from our own history, but also ones we can carry on into the future, regarding the future. Overall, a very well done novel by Steve Lyons & the ending made all the more. There was no "happy ever-after" ending, & certainly no solace for those for those who dared to fight against the sands of time. But in the end, even the Doctor finds some peace... peace in doing what he could, & what was right... though in the end, he is still on his own. The curse of the Timelord.

Five stars for this one. Simply the best I've read so far.

The historical tales probably suited the First Doctor the best of all, at least on television, as back then the series wasn't really as "science-fiction" so much about a bunch of people that travelled in time and got dumped in random places, with wacky adventures ensuing. As the series became more defined as SF, the historicals dropped away, only returning when they could be coupled with some SF concept, aliens or whatnot. And whether that's true or not, it can be said that the better historical stories have come by using Hartnell's Doctor as the lead. Virgin's "The Plotters" was an entertaining romp, but this one is something else entirely, a sometimes unsettling descent into is just as alien as the one with the big-headed telepathic people, and maybe even more so. The original TARDIS crew (Ian, Barbara, and Susan) wind up in Salem and decide to spend a bit of time there while the Doctor repairs the ship yet again. However, as soon as they realize that people are preparing the hanging trees, they high-tail it out. This doesn't set well with Susan, who has made some friends and doesn't want to see the witch-trial horrors come down. So she activates the Fast-Return Switch, drags them back. And all heck breaks loose. What makes this novel work is how eveything just keeps spiralling out of control and all anybody does is just makes things worse. Susan's latent psychic powers are causing everyone's underlying paranoia to feedback and grow, Ian and Barbara have no idea how to act in a world where witches are considered real and everywhere, and the Doctor just wants to not break history. Lyons does an excellent job detailing Puritan life and giving us a sense that while the people were superstitious and a tad narrow-minded, it wasn't all their fault and that once the finger-pointing started, it got a momentum of its own. You went along because you didn't want to look out of place, because people who were out of place were clearly witches. The crew gets puts through the emotional wringer and even the Doctor doesn't escape unscathed, although he does well for himself (the scene where he scatters the mob gathering at the inn is pure Hartnell). Even Susan, who is most episodes was a whimpering child, becomes the emotional focal point and does carry the day. Even if she does fall and bust her ankle, for old time's sake. One of the more intense Who novels, and brutal for it, capturing the horror of the witch-trials without shying away from the fact that while it wasn't the fault of one person, it was the fault of everyone and it needed everyone to agree to stop it. And that didn't happen.

This book was very good, but not excellent. There were times I felt the book was going around in circles aimlessly. At times, it seemed to go along at a very good pace, which made the read go quickly. I thought each character, and the Doctor in particular were outlined very close to the tv series. His manerisms and speech were like what I had seen of the tv series. The history period seemed very close to what history has written for us, with the 4 main characters just thrown in for the ride, trying to change history, but realizing that perhaps they cannot change history, except ever so slightly, and one small person at a time....I liked this book a lot, it got drug down at times by the silliness of the entire excursion, which is why I only gave it 4 stars.