Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Eldrad must.. Have an ecological disaster. A perfectly enjoyable romp with some fun concepts that captures the character voices well. On the Audiobook, Dan Starkey does an excellent job too.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“A smile spread across the Doctor’s face. In the dark, she shone like diamonds.”
—
“It hadn’t taken Yaz long to notice that it was never completely quiet on the TARDIS. No, it was never that. Not even when nobody was dashing around being excited. Even at the quietest moments, there was always a faint hum reminding you the ship was alive, sort of. She certainly wouldn’t chance saying it wasn’t alive, and certainly not when the TARDIS could hear. And that at any moment, something wonderful and marvelous, and quite probably madly dangerous, might suddenly start happening. And Yaz loved it.”
—
“The doors to the lift opened, and they walked out of the cage into the gray light of an alien dawn. Ryan, stepping forwards, found himself looking out across a heathery landscape that whispered with small, but busy life. The wind blew through the trees and grasses that no human had ever seen, and which did not have, had never had, any name.”
Firstly, the plot is phenomenal. It’s a pretty typical “alien planet is in trouble so the Doctor comes to save it” plot, but Una McCormack utilizes the formula to its greatest degree! The side characters are fantastic, especially Basalt and Ash, and you really get invested in the weird planet and its troubles.
Speaking of, McCormack is really good at taking her audience to truly alien places. One of the best things about Caged was the weirdness of the aliens, and that energy is only amplified here. I also love the worldbuilding; the entire novel is set in this planet, so we really get to know it. I never thought I’d like rock people, but surprisingly I found them really compelling.
My only qualm with the plot is that it’s too short. McCormack uses the page count to her best advantage and none of it feels rushed, I just think more time for development would be beneficial. I liked the politics of the story, but it was really only surface-level, so developing that more could have been nice.
Now I’d like to talk about the main cast, specifically the Doctor. Thematically speaking, the 12th Doctor was the end of the Time War arc. He carried the burden of the trauma, and he found a way to let it go. He didn’t want to die because he thought he had lived a full and complete life, not just as a whole but with that incarnation. But instead he chose to live on, which would make the 13th Doctor a brand new person, free of the active trauma of the last 2,000 years. She would be wide-eyed, thankful for life, optimistic, and she would want to help people above all else. When she’s at her best, that’s who the 13th Doctor is. Jodie Whittaker portrays this well when she can, which is a true testament to her acting abilities given how terrible her scripts were.
This book portrays the 13th Doctor how I feel like she was always meant to be. Una McCormack does a fantastic job capturing her voice, characteristics, and general vibe so much better than Chibnall ever could. And unsurprisingly, she’s actually a fantastic Doctor when she’s written well!
This book is also a fantastic character study for Ryan. We see him continue the arc he began in the first episode, The Woman Who Fell to Earth. He’s still unsure about things, but he’s determined to open his mind and be courageous. We see him make the active choice to be brave, and we see that pay off as he sees the beautiful landscape of the alien world and becomes moved by it.
Overall, this novel was peak Doctor Who. It’s so nice to see the 13th Doctor in her element with a story that’s genuinely great. Definitely read this one.
—
“It hadn’t taken Yaz long to notice that it was never completely quiet on the TARDIS. No, it was never that. Not even when nobody was dashing around being excited. Even at the quietest moments, there was always a faint hum reminding you the ship was alive, sort of. She certainly wouldn’t chance saying it wasn’t alive, and certainly not when the TARDIS could hear. And that at any moment, something wonderful and marvelous, and quite probably madly dangerous, might suddenly start happening. And Yaz loved it.”
—
“The doors to the lift opened, and they walked out of the cage into the gray light of an alien dawn. Ryan, stepping forwards, found himself looking out across a heathery landscape that whispered with small, but busy life. The wind blew through the trees and grasses that no human had ever seen, and which did not have, had never had, any name.”
Firstly, the plot is phenomenal. It’s a pretty typical “alien planet is in trouble so the Doctor comes to save it” plot, but Una McCormack utilizes the formula to its greatest degree! The side characters are fantastic, especially Basalt and Ash, and you really get invested in the weird planet and its troubles.
Speaking of, McCormack is really good at taking her audience to truly alien places. One of the best things about Caged was the weirdness of the aliens, and that energy is only amplified here. I also love the worldbuilding; the entire novel is set in this planet, so we really get to know it. I never thought I’d like rock people, but surprisingly I found them really compelling.
My only qualm with the plot is that it’s too short. McCormack uses the page count to her best advantage and none of it feels rushed, I just think more time for development would be beneficial. I liked the politics of the story, but it was really only surface-level, so developing that more could have been nice.
Now I’d like to talk about the main cast, specifically the Doctor. Thematically speaking, the 12th Doctor was the end of the Time War arc. He carried the burden of the trauma, and he found a way to let it go. He didn’t want to die because he thought he had lived a full and complete life, not just as a whole but with that incarnation. But instead he chose to live on, which would make the 13th Doctor a brand new person, free of the active trauma of the last 2,000 years. She would be wide-eyed, thankful for life, optimistic, and she would want to help people above all else. When she’s at her best, that’s who the 13th Doctor is. Jodie Whittaker portrays this well when she can, which is a true testament to her acting abilities given how terrible her scripts were.
This book portrays the 13th Doctor how I feel like she was always meant to be. Una McCormack does a fantastic job capturing her voice, characteristics, and general vibe so much better than Chibnall ever could. And unsurprisingly, she’s actually a fantastic Doctor when she’s written well!
This book is also a fantastic character study for Ryan. We see him continue the arc he began in the first episode, The Woman Who Fell to Earth. He’s still unsure about things, but he’s determined to open his mind and be courageous. We see him make the active choice to be brave, and we see that pay off as he sees the beautiful landscape of the alien world and becomes moved by it.
Overall, this novel was peak Doctor Who. It’s so nice to see the 13th Doctor in her element with a story that’s genuinely great. Definitely read this one.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Excruciatingly boring and mercifully short, this novel reflects the many weaknesses of Doctor Who series 11 perfectly.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The CD had a great narrator
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No