Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Dr. Who: Festival of Death by Jonathan Morris with a giveaway (Entries now *CLOSED*)




Festival of Death by Jonathan Morris 
Copyright 2013 (reprint)
BBC Books - SciFi/Fan Fiction - Dr. Who
306 pp.

Source:  From the publisher for TLC Tours

What's it about?

The Fourth Doctor (played in the series by Tom Baker) and his companion Romana arrive by chance in the midst of a place called the G-Lock, a gridlock in a wormhole where a large number of spaceships were trapped 200 years in the past and all the passengers from the cruise ship at the head of the pile-up mysteriously disappeared. Now the G-Lock has been turned into a tourist destination.

As the Doctor and Romana arrive, a disaster has occurred during a thrill-ride called The Beautiful Death, a "tour of the afterlife" in which participants die and are brought back to life.  When the Doctor and Romana are recognized and the Doctor is thanked for saving lives, they have no choice but to go back in time to figure out what they've already done and how the Doctor became a hero.

Then the Doctor discovers that he saved the day by sacrificing his own life.  

What I liked about Festival of Death:

Festival of Death is an absolute delight to read.  In this particular Dr. Who novel, the Fourth Doctor is the protagonist.  Tom Baker is by far my favorite of the Doctor Who actors and the author did an exceptional job of portraying him.  It was incredibly easy to visualize the Doctor's every gesture, his tone of voice and his expressions.  And, the story is just complex enough to make the reading ridiculously fun.  There are, in fact, so many different time streams that I lost track of how many Doctors could be running around at any moment.  

As Kiddo says, "It's all wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey."  Well, yes, but in a bigger way than average, I replied.  It really is quite a twisty-turny story.  We both loved that.  

There is also an excellent balance of humor (not just the Doctor's cheerful blustering but some terrific secondary characters), scary and gross bits (not too much, but enough to nicely creep you out), adventure and mystery.  Kiddo and I both loved this wacky, time-twisty adventure.

What I disliked about Festival of Death:

There's not much I disliked about Festival of Death.  The gross bits are certainly icky but not so horrifying that I would advise anyone to resist reading the book and there was so much I liked about it that I was practically propelled through it by the desire to see how things would turn out.  Whoosh went the pages!  The only complaints I can come up with are spectacularly mild.  Romana occasionally didn't sound entirely "in character" to me.  But, I haven't seen an old episode with Romana in it for ages, so you can take that possible criticism with a grain of salt.  There is also a computer called ERIC who is annoyingly suicidal.  But, there's a reason for his human-like distress and as you get farther into the book and ERIC's past becomes clear, the annoyance becomes an eyebrow-raiser, instead.  Oh! Poor Eric! How awful! you will think.  Odd siding with a computer but he really was put-upon.

So, what does that leave?  Oh, I suppose no criticism at all.  I don't like gross bits but as I said, there was a very decent balance that kept the icky from becoming overwhelming.  And, K-9 is in this one!  Squeee!  I was heartbroken when K-9 left the series.

Kiddo's review:

Festival of Death is a tale of the Doctor constantly crossing time streams with himself, making for more than one outrageous incident.  Great story.  I would read it again.

[Kiddo is succinct in a way I can only dream of someday becoming.]

The Bottom Line:

Highly Recommended - Excellent characterization, a nice twisty plot, plenty of humor, with some scary and yucky bits (but not too much).  A vastly entertaining adventure with a perfectly-described Fourth Doctor.  Festival of Death is definitely worth buying for multiple rereads if you're a Dr. Who fan.  Even knowing the ending won't ruin it for future readings because it's such fun.  Kiddo and I both loved it and Huzzybuns is glad we're done reading it so he can have a turn.  

Giveaway - now CLOSED

I gave up doing giveaways, quite some time ago, but I'm going to come out of the anti-giveaway woodwork because I loved this book enough that I think it's worth spreading the joy around.  

To enter:

  • Tell me what you think the Doctor's real name is.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, where have you been?  Kidding, kidding.  Just make something up.
  • Don't forget to leave your email so I can contact you if you win!  If you don't leave an email address, you'll be automatically disqualified because I don't like having to try to track people down through their profiles. 
  • This will be a fairly quick drawing. Entries will close at 5:00 PM U.S. Central time on June 30 (or whenever I get to it).  
This is an international giveaway, so no problem if you live in Timbuktu or Constantinople or on Easter Island.  Oklahoma's OK, too.  [inside joke]  Good luck!

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

21 comments:

  1. I say he is "The Doctor," unless you want to call him "John Smith." Otherwise, I'd call him "John Doe," the name given to unknown men. On the other hand, he is not actually unknown, so "Doctor Who?" will suffice.

    Confused? Good. You may reach me at
    emerging DOT paradigm AT yahoo DOT com

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    1. I was going to go with Bob. Yeah, I agree. He should just be "The Doctor". But, I needed a fun question. :)

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    2. It was, indeed, a fun question. Thank you.

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  2. His name doesn't translate well to English, and sadly Gallifreyan fonts won't work in this comment format. ;) It has always seemed kind of like heresy to speculate on his name though. He'll always just be "The Doctor."

    akreese at hotmail dot com

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  3. I tried to get K to give me a name but she argued that nobody knows and there are no clues. Ugh. So I'm saying Christopher David Matthew, just cuz I can. lol You know my email addy--jjmmccann at aol dot com.

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    1. Ha! Sounds great to me, since I have one of each of those two last names in the family. ;) Yes, I could have found you but rules are vewy impowtant.

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  4. The Doctor's real name is Doctor of course! :p I've been so curious about these books!! And I'm in LOVE with that cover! Yep…definitely one I'd like to read! Glad you enjoyed it!

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    1. I knew someone would say that. ;) You forgot to leave your email address, silly boy. Good thing I know exactly where to find you 'cause you're one of my besties or I'd have no choice but to shout, "DISQUALIFIED" and clang the gong. Except, we don't have a gong. But, I'm sure you get the point.

      Delete
  5. Don't enter me because I own and read this one. Wasn't it such a fun read? I thoroughly enjoyed it. Growing up watching Doctor Who with my dad, Tom Baker WAS the Doctor. And K9! Yay!! I love that you asked about the Doctor's name. Hmm..maybe his initials are D.R. - Doctor. Hmmm.

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    1. Yes, it was a terrific read, loads of fun. That is exactly how I feel. Tom Baker is the real Doctor to me. Husband and I used to watch reruns of Tom Baker episodes in his dorm room on Saturday nights. Love him (and K-9 and Romana and Leila).

      Haha. That's clever. D. R. for Doctor.

      Delete
  6. Laura R.9:17 PM

    I believe your real name is the one you give, even if it's not the one given to you. I knew of a guy that went by Goat and that's his name as far as I'm concerned. So, The Doctor is just The Doctor.

    reverethenerdgirl at gmail dot com

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    1. Well, that seems reasonable. :)

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  7. The name would be The Doctor. Would enjoy this fabulous book. Many thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  8. Your review captivated my interest. The Doctor. Thanks for this great giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  9. No criticism at all?! Sounds like this one is going on my TBR list!

    Thanks for being a part of the tour.

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    1. Nothing major. It's loads of fun, Heather, definitely a book worth buying and saving for a reread.

      Thanks for letting me join in!

      Delete
  10. I don't think anyone knows.. If I had to go with one name I would say John lol. He'll always be just The Doctor for me.
    Thank you for the giveaway!

    milkristia(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. Haha. If there's every a question, I just think of every man as "Bob". There are so many Bobs around, it's an easy one. Maybe not a typical name in the UK, though.

      Delete
  11. Maybe Rudolph?! No, I'm going with Doctor. Thanks for the Giveaway.
    pjames330 at aol dot com

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    1. He does have a bit of a red nose on that cover, doesn't he?

      Delete

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