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chicafrom3Two more PDAs!
The Seventh Doctor and Ace in World War Two, with Cybermen.
Of the two, I liked this one a little better, but it never entirely clicked with me. The Doctor and Ace's voices are very good and the supporting cast -- while a bit cliche -- are quite likeable, but the plot drags and never quite catches where it should. Ace's moments of danger should up the stakes but somehow don't.
The best moments are the ones that tie the current stakes back to Ace's established issues with racism and classism:
It doesn't happen often enough.
Ultimately largely forgettable.
The Second Doctor, Jamie, Ben, and Polly, in the English Civil War.
Utterly disposable, tbh. I didn't find any of the character voices to click and all of the secondary characters were broad stereotypes aiming for 'comedic' and landing on 'cringy'. Ben's Adventure With Pirates is awful and only notable for the fact that he finally gets back to a ship and has a miserable time. Polly has a half-romance with a Roundhead who ends up turning traitor because, IDK, she's pretty? The Doctor kicks off a subplot by realizing he doesn't actually know very much about the current time period and deciding to go back to the TARDIS for a history book, which he then carries around with him until he loses it and it ends up in Richard Cromwell's hands. Multiple people point out how out of character this is. Pointing it out doesn't make it less out of character.
There is this rather sweet moment between Two and Jamie:
Overall, though, not a book I'll be revisiting.
The Seventh Doctor and Ace in World War Two, with Cybermen.
Of the two, I liked this one a little better, but it never entirely clicked with me. The Doctor and Ace's voices are very good and the supporting cast -- while a bit cliche -- are quite likeable, but the plot drags and never quite catches where it should. Ace's moments of danger should up the stakes but somehow don't.
The best moments are the ones that tie the current stakes back to Ace's established issues with racism and classism:
Her eyes drank in the familiar city. Her city. The city that had dumped on her and those she cared about for as long as she could remember. She thought of the posh kids, the pigs, the bloody skins. Her city, but dying. Being cleansed. The thought of chattering government ministers, the law, the schools. What could they say to this? Did they think this could be contained? Authority had broken down there. Anarchy was at the reins.
And she loved it.
It doesn't happen often enough.
Ultimately largely forgettable.
The Second Doctor, Jamie, Ben, and Polly, in the English Civil War.
Utterly disposable, tbh. I didn't find any of the character voices to click and all of the secondary characters were broad stereotypes aiming for 'comedic' and landing on 'cringy'. Ben's Adventure With Pirates is awful and only notable for the fact that he finally gets back to a ship and has a miserable time. Polly has a half-romance with a Roundhead who ends up turning traitor because, IDK, she's pretty? The Doctor kicks off a subplot by realizing he doesn't actually know very much about the current time period and deciding to go back to the TARDIS for a history book, which he then carries around with him until he loses it and it ends up in Richard Cromwell's hands. Multiple people point out how out of character this is. Pointing it out doesn't make it less out of character.
There is this rather sweet moment between Two and Jamie:
Jamie shrugged. ‘Aye. It’s not that though, really. It’s just that sometimes Ben and Polly make me feel a bit daft. Like they’ve been at it for ages.’
The Doctor smiled. ‘Oh, so that’s it. I thought as much. That’s why I suggested we all split up. Sometimes people’s little jokes can cut very deep, can’t they?’
Jamie nodded silently.
The Doctor looked up thoughtfully. ‘Mm, Well, they have been “at it” a little longer than you, Jamie. But not much. And things were very different when they first travelled with me, I can tell you.’
Jamie seemed cheered by this. ‘Really?’
The Doctor chuckled. ‘Oh, yes. Polly was just as unsure as you are. And Ben was such a headstrong fellow. Insisted I take him back to his ship because he’d be late. I kept telling him he was two hundred years early!’
Jamie laughed, his dark eyes twinkling.
‘And it was all new to me once, you know,’ said the Doctor, looking out over the fog-shrouded Thames. ‘But that was a very, very long time ago.’
Overall, though, not a book I'll be revisiting.
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