Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The perils of Peri the guerrilla fighter., 18 May 2002
By A Customer
Terrance Dicks "Brain of Morbius" prequel has lots of action, some quest appearances by a range of former allies and enemies – mostly on the side of the Doctor– and an interesting fleshing out of the once irritating Perpugilliam Brown.
Peri's perils are the best part of this book as she narrowly avoids several "fates worse than death" and holds her own in the action sequences.
Peri's all too human weakness for a pretty face and a good chat up line make her a much more likeable and believable character in print than on the small screen.
This version of the fifth doctor has a few surprises too, as he reveals a hitherto unexplored side of his character _ the Doctor as military mastermind.
The action moves mostly between Peri and the Doctor with little fleshing out of the minor charcters – but it's a lot of fun and an enjoyable read.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Intergalactic war, uh-huh, what is it good for?, 29 April 2009
Back cover blurb:
`This is High Treason, and for this you deserve death. However, in view of your past service, the sentence is commuted to exile. You leave Gallifrey this day, never to return.'
A chain of events has been set in motion that will change the Doctor and Peri forever. A chain that involves old enemies as well as old friends.
How does Peri come to be the leader of a gang of rebel fighters on an outlying planet? Who is the mysterious `General' against whom they are rebelling so violently? Where does the so-called `Supremo', leader of the Alliance forces ranged against the General, come from, and why is he so interested in Peri?
The answers lie in the origins of a conflict that will affect the whole cosmos - a conflict that will find humans, Sontarans, Draconians and even Cybermen fighting together for the greater good and glory. For the Supremo.
It is a conflict that will test both the Doctor and Peri to the limit, and bring them face to face with the dark sides of their own personalities.
This Fifth Doctor and Peri novel works as both a sequel and a prequel to classic 70s Gothic horror story `The Brain of Morbius'. The story opens with a flashback to a young Cardinal Borusa (The Doctor's former mentor) on his home planet Gallifrey. Ever the rebel, Borusa helps to depose the presiding Time Lord President before the story returns to the present. However, in this present, the Doctor's whiney American Botanist travellign companion, Peri, has transformed into an embittered guerilla fighter on a one-dimensional planet of farmers and outdoor cafes. Things are going badly for the guerillas, but take a distinct turn for the worse when Peri is herself kidnapped an enigmatic warlord known only as `The Supremo'...
The novel then jumps back again, to explain how Peri came to be in this situation and to reveal what has been happening to The Doctor in the meantime. Former Doctor Who script editor Dicks exercises his right to include just about every former enemy of The Time Lord who appeared during his tenure on the show, and along with his uncomplicated prose style, makes this an engaging and accessible read. The problem is that Dicks just tries to cram too much in here, and the novel's plot and style are just too cartoonish and too daft by half. Not one of Dicks' - or the series' - best efforts, but a mildly diverting read nonetheless.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
too much of a good thing, 21 Jul 2006
I love doctor who.
I love continuity.
I love seeing old foes again.
I love Terrance Dicks' clear and uncomplicated prose style.
So this should be a really good book.
But it's not.
Mired in trying to tie too many things from TV stories together, it takes the doctor and peri into totally unfamiliar realms and they become unfamiliar characters as a result. And there's so much detail in here that terrance's usually excellent prose style deserts him, and it becomes a real chore to read.
One of the most disappointing books in the range. Don't waste your time
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