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Ivan's Reviews > Doctor Who: Festival of Death
Doctor Who: Festival of Death
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Doctor Who can be a tricky series to write for. The series frequently ignores its own continuity (and some of it changes anyway; such is the nature of time travel), and it has a vast history of characters to choose from.
Jonathan Morris tackles Doctor Who with such amazing ease that this book, Festival of Death, feels like it could have come directly from the TV series. Tom Baker's Doctor is well-represented here, acting and speaking exactly the way we would expect him to, and his companions Romana (Lalla Ward's Romana, specifically) and K9 also perfectly echo their TV incarnations.
The story is, at its core, an examination of an infinite time loop in which something has gone disastrously wrong with a special attraction called "The Beautiful Death", which allows its guests to actually briefly experience what it is like to be dead. When the TARDIS arrives on the ship that hosts the attraction, the Doctor is treated as a hero, only to discover that he died rescuing the ship. In traveling further back, the Doctor means to save the ship again -- and himself.
This is a somewhat dark story, with some unsettling visuals well-described by Morris. It's clear he was paying very close attention to how all of the events happened, as he leaves no holes in the plot or inconsistencies to derail the story. And the puzzle is by no means an easy one for the Doctor to solve, and he evidently spends quite a bit of time inside the loop...
Fortunately, this book is still available. Fans of Doctor Who (especially Tom Baker's Doctor), will find a very enjoyable read here.
Jonathan Morris tackles Doctor Who with such amazing ease that this book, Festival of Death, feels like it could have come directly from the TV series. Tom Baker's Doctor is well-represented here, acting and speaking exactly the way we would expect him to, and his companions Romana (Lalla Ward's Romana, specifically) and K9 also perfectly echo their TV incarnations.
The story is, at its core, an examination of an infinite time loop in which something has gone disastrously wrong with a special attraction called "The Beautiful Death", which allows its guests to actually briefly experience what it is like to be dead. When the TARDIS arrives on the ship that hosts the attraction, the Doctor is treated as a hero, only to discover that he died rescuing the ship. In traveling further back, the Doctor means to save the ship again -- and himself.
This is a somewhat dark story, with some unsettling visuals well-described by Morris. It's clear he was paying very close attention to how all of the events happened, as he leaves no holes in the plot or inconsistencies to derail the story. And the puzzle is by no means an easy one for the Doctor to solve, and he evidently spends quite a bit of time inside the loop...
Fortunately, this book is still available. Fans of Doctor Who (especially Tom Baker's Doctor), will find a very enjoyable read here.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
October 22, 2007
– Shelved
March 29, 2009
– Shelved as:
doctor-who
April 6, 2012
– Shelved as:
all-time-favorites
Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)
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Alejandro wrote: "Great review! I am fan of 4th Doctor Who so it was good to know that this is a good option to read an original novel with him.Seems that you know a lot about Doctor Who, can I ask you, in your opi..."
Thank you! Festival of Death I would highly recommend to any fan of the Fourth Doctor, or any fan of Doctor Who in general. I'd place it as number one on a top ten list. As for others...
2. Spiral Scratch - I like this one not only because it's an engaging, well-written story, but it provides a much, much better reason for the Sixth Doctor regenerating into the Seventh than the TV series ever did. The tension just gets crazy towards the end; I seriously couldn't put this one down until I'd gotten all the way through it.
3. Matrix - Easily the best Seventh Doctor novel. Very dark, very deep... and if you've ever seen the four-episode story Survival, you're in for a nice continuity nod that plays very well into the plot. The Doctor is WAY in over his head in this one, and Ace has no choice but to try and make it without him. Even if you're not big on the Seventh Doctor, this book is an excellent choice because it's just that good.
4. The Final Sanction - My two favorite Doctors are the Fourth and the Second, and this book is a good story for my favorite team on the series: the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. Like Festival of Death, this one reads a lot like an episode of the show, but it is able to do more than 1960s Doctor Who could have, since there's no budget restriction. It's technically a follow-up to another novel, but you don't have to read the other novel to understand this one at all. Jamie and Zoe get a lot to do in this one, and the struggle against not one but TWO armies seriously puts the Doctor's skills to the test.
5. The Colony of Lies - Another Second Doctor/Jamie/Zoe adventure, with a couple of appearances from the Seventh Doctor as well. This one even divides the story into "episodes" like the TV series, which is a fun idea and actually adds to the experience of reading the book. The writing is a little iffy in places, and there are some pacing problems, but it's a story with a good, solid plot and the Doctor himself is handled very well.
6. The Indestructible Man - Another good Second Doctor/Jamie/Zoe story. Much darker than the other two, and so intense at times that I actually had to put it down for a bit. It isn't perfect as there are some painfully dull sections to trudge through, but when it gets going, it GETS GOING. Jamie and Zoe again have strong roles to play, and Zoe especially gets to do quite a lot. I would have liked to have seen this one done as an episode. It would have been interesting to see.
I can't give you a full top ten, since Doctor Who has more than its fair share of duds, and I haven't been able to read enough of the Eighth Doctor's books to give a balanced opinion on his adventures (except to say don't waste your time on Wolfsbane; that one wasn't so good). But the ones I've given you are a good place to start, I think, and I myself plan to read more when I manage to get my hands on some.
Thank you so much for taking the time to not only make that great list of books, but also explain why do you consider them so good. Priceless info. It doesn't matter that it's not a top10, they are more than enough. It's truly great to get the inside view of Doctor Who novel readers. Since one can find lists about the best TV eps, but nobody speaks about the novels and since they are so many, it's really great to know where to start with solid foot.
Thank you so much for the recommendation! I enjoyed a lot the book!
Alejandro wrote: "Thank you so much for the recommendation! I enjoyed a lot the book!"You're welcome!
Seems that you know a lot about Doctor Who, can I ask you, in your opinion, which ones could the best novels about Doctor Who, not being a novelization of a tv episode, that one can read? Like a Top10? If you can refer even more options it would priceless!