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Post by constonks on May 23, 2022 2:39:19 GMT
Love that Dan Starkey has become such a prominent narrator for Doctor Who audiobooks. He's great at capturing the essence of characters, and makes a good neutral-but-engaging narrator as well.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 19, 2022 8:24:29 GMT
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Post by shallacatop on Jul 21, 2022 14:56:52 GMT
I thought this was great! I didn't expect to get through it so quickly. I was going to do a part a day assuming it was split into 6, but in the end it's 3x2 hours, so still did a part a day rather than stopping partway through. Loved the story structure and Dan Starkey's reading is fantastic. He really makes those long passages of descriptive prose come to life and his Doctor and Bill are very good.
I felt it dragged a touch in the middle act, which I think is probably down to the Dalek involvement turning into something quite typical. There's some interesting stuff done, and I did like the drones that are on the cover, but it does get abandoned in favour of your standard Dalek outing. Having said that, the Daleks really aren't where the heart of the story is. That's with Bill and Jonathan Morris writes her perfectly (and multiple times over!), particularly her relationship with the Doctor, and the pair shine in this. My initial preference would've been a Twelve & Nardole story, or Nardole in Emancipation, but I think this works so well with just the Doctor, Bill and her alternate versions.
Great stuff all round and a lot of heart. Fingers crossed one day Peter Capaldi & Pearl Mackie join Big Finish and expand on their run, hopefully with Matt Lucas in tow for the odd adventure. They're such a good TARDIS team.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 21, 2022 15:53:56 GMT
I thought this was great! I didn't expect to get through it so quickly. I was going to do a part a day assuming it was split into 6, but in the end it's 3x2 hours, so still did a part a day rather than stopping partway through. Loved the story structure and Dan Starkey's reading is fantastic. He really makes those long passages of descriptive prose come to life and his Doctor and Bill are very good. I felt it dragged a touch in the middle act, which I think is probably down to the Dalek involvement turning into something quite typical. There's some interesting stuff done, and I did like the drones that are on the cover, but it does get abandoned in favour of your standard Dalek outing. Having said that, the Daleks really aren't where the heart of the story is. That's with Bill and Jonathan Morris writes her perfectly (and multiple times over!), particularly her relationship with the Doctor, and the pair shine in this. My initial preference would've been a Twelve & Nardole story, or Nardole in Emancipation, but I think this works so well with just the Doctor, Bill and her alternate versions. Great stuff all round and a lot of heart. Fingers crossed one day Peter Capaldi & Pearl Mackie join Big Finish and expand on their run, hopefully with Matt Lucas in tow for the odd adventure. They're such a good TARDIS team. The pacing has been my one big issue, honestly it feels like Morris has written a novel that’s been converted to the structure and it doesn’t feel like there are stopping points. It’s a little easier with the other two being six chapters so it breaks up a bit nicer
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Post by shallacatop on Jul 21, 2022 17:39:58 GMT
I thought this was great! I didn't expect to get through it so quickly. I was going to do a part a day assuming it was split into 6, but in the end it's 3x2 hours, so still did a part a day rather than stopping partway through. Loved the story structure and Dan Starkey's reading is fantastic. He really makes those long passages of descriptive prose come to life and his Doctor and Bill are very good. I felt it dragged a touch in the middle act, which I think is probably down to the Dalek involvement turning into something quite typical. There's some interesting stuff done, and I did like the drones that are on the cover, but it does get abandoned in favour of your standard Dalek outing. Having said that, the Daleks really aren't where the heart of the story is. That's with Bill and Jonathan Morris writes her perfectly (and multiple times over!), particularly her relationship with the Doctor, and the pair shine in this. My initial preference would've been a Twelve & Nardole story, or Nardole in Emancipation, but I think this works so well with just the Doctor, Bill and her alternate versions. Great stuff all round and a lot of heart. Fingers crossed one day Peter Capaldi & Pearl Mackie join Big Finish and expand on their run, hopefully with Matt Lucas in tow for the odd adventure. They're such a good TARDIS team. The pacing has been my one big issue, honestly it feels like Morris has written a novel that’s been converted to the structure and it doesn’t feel like there are stopping points. It’s a little easier with the other two being six chapters so it breaks up a bit nicer Yeah, I see what you mean. I suppose that’s the downside of audiobooks, you can only go as fast as the reader and the way the production is broken down. I did notice a couple of points where it felt like a long time before we got round to the Doctor again. If this was a print book, there’d be at least a dozen chapters within each part and everything would feel breezier. It wasn’t a big issue for me, but I did feel similar to you with Watchers. That was so dense and poetic in its prose I’d have preferred to have read rather than listened. The dragging I got in part two of Emancipation I think I’d have felt in prose too.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Jul 24, 2022 12:55:24 GMT
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,666
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Post by shutupbanks on Jul 30, 2022 11:55:53 GMT
I really enjoyed this. I do feel that it did sag in the middle, but only in terms of story: the novel itself was perfectly serviceable and it really did need that break to build up the threat that Alt-Bill’s world represented. What I didn’t like was the structure: it was perfect for the tv show, but it felt a little forced for a novel. However, I can’t think of an alternative structure that gives as much information, so I guess I can’t really criticise that.
Dan Starkey was a terrific narrator and the soundscape was excellent as well. I also liked the odd feeling of having sympathy for the Daleks. All in all, this was a fun listen.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,811
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Post by lidar2 on Aug 4, 2022 21:43:45 GMT
This is a real corker - really enjoyed it.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Sept 28, 2022 20:33:15 GMT
A review from my hometown. Representing Adelaide.
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 1, 2022 20:04:59 GMT
Just started on this. Well, I already LOVED Dan Starkey reading the other BBC audiobooks as the 12th Doctor. His 12th Doctor is great, and he is also amazing in showing off all the other character's voices. Listening to him is like listening to a full cast story. Plus, this is an enhanced reading, with added music and sound effects, so I forgot quite quickly that this was not full cast.
First impression (after 45 minutes): This is amazing. The performance alone is fantastic.
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 2, 2022 13:36:45 GMT
I just had a laugh. So the symbol and coat of arms of the glorious Supreme Leader is the Warhammer Chaos Star? As a Chaos player myself, I heartily approve. We do have the best costumes. This continues to be a great story, good pacing, fantastic reading and edge-of the seat listening. Even if it features Daleks. Again. However, they at least tried to do something different and this story comes close to "Jubilee".
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Post by ollychops on Feb 26, 2023 12:07:17 GMT
Finished this last night. Thought it was fantastic, was especially impressed by the world-building, especially the flashback to Alt Bill’s childhood at the start of Episode 2; it had me enthralled. As someone who has Dalek fatigue, I really enjoyed this and the way that it was almost a reverse of a typical Dalek story by having the humans enslaving them and appropriating their technology.
Starkey is a great reader and really impressed with his take on Twelve; I’d heard good things before but people weren’t wrong about his impression!
Highly recommended.
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Post by BHTvsTFC on Mar 1, 2023 17:14:29 GMT
I really enjoyed this. I'm coming to the conclusion that Dalek fiction is sometimes a bit like Zombie fiction; it's all about the people doing the battling and surviving. If they are interesting then it follows the story will be. It was my first exposure to Bill in the expanded universe and she just leapt of the page and what a journey ahead for XXXXXXXX who was left behind.
I agree that Starkey is a great reader but I have begun to think that Twelve is really hard to grasp when other readers try to have a go at him; both Starkey and Dudman make him sound like a comedy caricature to a degree, almost like he's separate to everything going off around him and spending most of the time quipping, regardless of the intent of the lines. As someone who found Capaldi quite mannered and forced in the role I can see why this translates badly.
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