Review: The Clockwise Man (Public)
Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards. HC, 253 pages, BBC Books, 2005.
Ninth Doctor and Rose go to 1920s London for a look at the Exhibition, stumble across an attempted murder, and well, things just go downhill from there. Once again things are not as they seem, and something keeps ticking in a room with no clocks...
*Warning: SPOILERS* I read this after seeing The Girl in the Fireplace, which probably lessened the impact of the mechanicals somewhat (although it did give me a clearer reference picture for what they could look like). I think many of the ideas from this novel got reworked for that episode, and honestly the episode was better. Granted, I read this after Rayner's Winner Takes All, which was a tough act to follow. But Richards' bio says he's director for the series of books, so I was hoping for more.
Many of the books in this line seem to take slightly different slants, and this one has more of a mystery angle, with a historical setting and the usual alien involvement. There were some very good bits, like Rose and Freddie meeting. The problem was that the mystery was a bit too mysterious. Half the time I didn't know what what was going on, and the rest of the time things were a bit too obvious. The first problem was likely caused by the fact that the characters were introduced in great whallops instead of a few at a time, and it took me half the book to straighten out which characters were which.
There was at least one point where Rose was incredibly stupid, to the point where she said how stupid she was being, and it seemed that this was just a device to rachet up the tension before the big finale. I've not watched season one in a while, so perhaps I'm just forgetting that Rose had a tendency to be completely oblivious to the most obvious facts back then. I also found the resolution of the Doctor's coat subplot odd. There were some things that I liked: the 1920s setting, the misdirects over who a certain person really was, the subplot involving Freddie's heritage, the characterization of the Doctor. After I read this I kept picturing the Ninth Doctor in his Victorian costume, although I know he was wearing his regular costume for the book.
Overall I think this is a good enough introduction to the new book series, and I'm probably unfairly biased by what came after. Those of you who like Nine, Rose, mysteries, and a little dash of steampunk will probably like it.
Ninth Doctor and Rose go to 1920s London for a look at the Exhibition, stumble across an attempted murder, and well, things just go downhill from there. Once again things are not as they seem, and something keeps ticking in a room with no clocks...
*Warning: SPOILERS* I read this after seeing The Girl in the Fireplace, which probably lessened the impact of the mechanicals somewhat (although it did give me a clearer reference picture for what they could look like). I think many of the ideas from this novel got reworked for that episode, and honestly the episode was better. Granted, I read this after Rayner's Winner Takes All, which was a tough act to follow. But Richards' bio says he's director for the series of books, so I was hoping for more.
Many of the books in this line seem to take slightly different slants, and this one has more of a mystery angle, with a historical setting and the usual alien involvement. There were some very good bits, like Rose and Freddie meeting. The problem was that the mystery was a bit too mysterious. Half the time I didn't know what what was going on, and the rest of the time things were a bit too obvious. The first problem was likely caused by the fact that the characters were introduced in great whallops instead of a few at a time, and it took me half the book to straighten out which characters were which.
There was at least one point where Rose was incredibly stupid, to the point where she said how stupid she was being, and it seemed that this was just a device to rachet up the tension before the big finale. I've not watched season one in a while, so perhaps I'm just forgetting that Rose had a tendency to be completely oblivious to the most obvious facts back then. I also found the resolution of the Doctor's coat subplot odd. There were some things that I liked: the 1920s setting, the misdirects over who a certain person really was, the subplot involving Freddie's heritage, the characterization of the Doctor. After I read this I kept picturing the Ninth Doctor in his Victorian costume, although I know he was wearing his regular costume for the book.
Overall I think this is a good enough introduction to the new book series, and I'm probably unfairly biased by what came after. Those of you who like Nine, Rose, mysteries, and a little dash of steampunk will probably like it.