| Title | : | Doctor Who: The Feast of the Drowned |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0563486449 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780563486442 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2006 |
Doctor Who: The Feast of the Drowned Reviews
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I downloaded this audiobook from Audible.com to listen to on a road trip I never got to take, thanks to one of the aftershocks of Snowpocalypse '10. I was absolutely crushed over the cancelled trip -- mostly, I confess, because I had so many awesome audiobooks lined up -- so I started listening to this over my trip-less days off in an effort to cheer myself up.
It rather helped.
I love David Tennant, and his portrayal of the Doctor, rather unequivocally, and so getting to listen to the Doctor actually reading the story to me is pretty much as good as it gets -- at least for the Whovian for whom the Tenth Doctor is HER Doctor. I'm sure lots of the audiobooks in the New Series Adventure line are fun (in particular, I'm looking forward to listening to ones read by Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate) -- but having them read by Tennant himself adds an extra dimension of delight. Hearing the Doctor's lines actually delivered by _the Doctor himself_ makes this less of a tie-in novel and more an audio adventure of the actual show.
It's not just as the Doctor that Tennant is delightful, either. The man may have missed his calling as a voice actor; his changing voices are _phenomenal_. He does an outstanding job with the canon characters (just LISTEN to his spot-on voice for Mickey Smith!), while also giving unique voices to each of the original characters (I particularly enjoyed Vida and Crayshaw, the latter of whom doesn't even sound like Tennant, so different does he make his voice). The guy also _acts_ the parts -- he's not just reading, he's making the story come alive. It was like having my own professional storyteller along for the car ride.
(And he reads all the narrative bits in his native Scottish accent!! ... I could go back and make that sentence less squealing-fangirl, but I don't want to.)
The story itself is a good one, good enough that I'd like to buy the book in order to read the bits I missed (this is an abridged audio, alas; I do appreciate the Monk audios being unabridged). Shipwrecks are a favorite story concept of mine (surprise!), and the idea of aliens who use the power of love and relationships as a weapon is a fantastic, chilling devise. The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey were all spot-on, characterization-wise, and I quite enjoyed the new additions. And for some reason, the scene with the Doctor, alone, fighting off the waters ("I -- AM -- NOT -- *HUMAN*!!") was just _wonderful_.
Highly recommended to any Whovian! -
A naval ship is lost at sea with a loss of all aboard. But, the dead do not rest easily. Deceased crew members are being seen all over London.....all talking about the upcoming feast of the dead. Rose Tyler's friend, Keisha, lost her brother in the wreck. His spirit appears to his sister and to Rose, asking to be saved, for help so he can escape the upcoming feast. The Doctor and Rose must investigate the wreck -- who caused the ship to sink? What is this feast? And why are the dead appearing in London?
What an incredi-creepy and exciting Doctor Who adventure! I really enjoy these BBC audio adventures,especially when they are narrated by David Tennant! The production value is top notch and Tennant's performance is more acting than just merely reading. At just over 2 hours this story is an easy listen. I listened while doing household chores....makes the time go by so much faster! Great story by Stephen Cole.
I will definitely be listening to more of these audio adventures. It's a great way to get a Doctor Who fix until the new television season starts. -
(3.5 stars)
would have been 3 stars, but an extra half was because i was loving these vaguely-lovecraftian monsters that reminded me a lot of the Waters of Mars aliens, which was one of my favourite DW episodes of all time -
bbc better hire me to write a doctor who book because i could do better than this shit
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Actual rating is 3.5 stars.
This is a book based on the television series. It is set during the time of the Tenth Doctor and Rose as his companion. In this one, The Doctor and Rose return to London. A ship at sea has sunk and on this ship was someone that Rose knew. Rose ends up seeing this person in a "ghost" form and this sets off a series of events.
I thought this was a really enjoyable media tie-in novel. The first question to ask with a media tie-in novel is the characters portrayed correctly and overall that answer is yes for this book. Rose was fine but there were times when The Doctor was a little out of character. I always enjoy when we bring in minor characters back like Mickey and Rose's mother and they were perfect. As for the story the main plot fits in perfectly with this universe and one could imagine it being an episode on the television series. There was a secondary plot that I felt wasn't really needed and kind of cluttered up everything. The resolution to the plot and the use of The Doctor and Rose was your typical Doctor Who ending that fans will appreciate.
Character wise this was a strong book as they will bring back memories of watching this era of Doctor Who. The story fits and I did enjoy having one more adventure with the Tenth Doctor and Rose. -
don't think i'll ever swim in outdoor waters again.
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This was a wonderful Dr. Who story. The book was well written especially the language of Dr 10 as it truly sounds like him. The alien in this book is great as well. I hate to say anything about them since describing would take away apart of the mystery of the novel. Enjoy this one Dr. Who fans.
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It's at times like these that I really miss David Tenant and Billie Piper. Stephen Cole manages to capture the feel of one of the televised episodes of Doctor Who, even giving us excellent versions of Mickey and Jackie. What Stephen Cole also gives us is an adventure and a mystery worth solving along with a supporting cast of characters to help the Doctor and Rose figure out the threat they are facing and help dealing with that threat. Jay and Keisha, friends with Rose and Mickey help get the reader invested in the story, while Vida helps the Doctor figure out what's going wrong, and as the action unfolds it's going to take all of them to stop the alien threat loose in the Thames.
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After the mysterious sinking of a naval ship in the North Sea, Rose comforts her friend Keshia as her brother was one of the victims on board HMS Ascendant.
But when a soaked ghostly Jay warns the pair of a coming feast...
Another highly enjoyable NSA that sees the Tenth Doctor and Rose trying to solve this chilling mystery. -
The naval ship the HMS Ascendant has mysteriously sunk in the North Sea. The Doctor isn't inclined to investigate until Rose and her friend get a ghostly visitation from one the seamen who was aboard ship. Though it makes absolutely no sense, Keisha is determined to head to the Thames and throw herself in because she believes that somehow against all odds that she will find her brother and rescue him before the feast. It would be bad enough if the Doctor, Rose and Mickey only had to deal with one person who had lost touch with reality, but many of the inhabitants of London are determined to throw themselves in the Thames and the ones who do, never resurface for some reason. With more and more people disappearing each day, it's a race to find out what is going on and how to stop it.
The Feast of the Drowned very much reminded me of the Waters of Mars, largely because the Doctor is fighting an alien species which thrives in water and takes over human bodies. Part of the reason I pick up these Doctor Who books is to enjoy new adventures with characters I've grown to love and or miss terribly. In fairness to Cole, The Feast of the Drowned was actually released quite a few years before the Waters of Mars but because I have already seen the episode in question so many times, this book felt very repetitive to me. It did however make me wonder if this book was the inspiration behind The Waters of Mars?
The repetitiveness was not at all helped by Mickey, and Keisha's fixation on the fact that Rose had disappeared with the Doctor for a year. By this point, everyone should be over this. Keisha in particular seems very jealous of Rose and angry by the way that her friend has changed. Because of all that Rose has seen, she cannot simply go back to being content bar hopping on a Friday night and this has created a disconnect. She has moved so far past some people that the relationship will never be the same and Keisha seems determined to make her pay for it. I really just wanted to be done with the guilting of Rose.
In terms of characterization, I feel that Cole did a pretty good job with Jackie, Rose and of course our beloved 10th Doctor. One of the things I remember the most from Tenant's era is every alien being offered the chance to leave or end the damage they were causing before being annihilated by the Doctor. Tenant's Doctor was often brutal in his application of justice and we can see that coming into play in The Feast of the Drowned. When the aliens who have drowned humans in order to use them as incubators for their offspring refuse the Doctor's offer of relocation, the justice he exacts is swift and final. This time, there's no one to tell him to stop or to wait, no one to remind him of his own rules - the Doctor simply acts.
I love that Rose never gave up and did everything she could do to block the alien's plans for humanity. She didn't put up with any of the Doctor's lip nor fall for any of Mickey's attempt to get to play the waitress by making him coffee. Rose is always aware of what her strengths and weaknesses are and always plays to her strengths.
Jackie is very much like the Jackie Tyler that we have come to know. She is obsessed with the latest guy she comes across, not afraid to give the Doctor shit for endangering her daughter and has a willingness to risk herself for Rose at the drop of the hat. Jackie is also confident enough to listen to Rose when she is warned that she is being set up in a trap. All of these things were wonderful but for me, the best Jackie Tyler moment was her slapping the Doctor. I don't recall Jacking actually slapping the 10th doctor, (though she slapped nine) but I think the whoverse should always make room for a Jackie Tyler slap.
REad More -
Even though the Tenth Doctor isn’t really one of my favourite doctors, I decided to give this one a try. I’ve been meaning to read this one for a very long time and now that I have I found it to be rather ... average.
The characterisation for the main characters is pretty well done. The 10th Doctor is his usual bubbly know if all self. Rose feels like Rose. Mickey is in this book which is always a good thing and his characterisation is spot on.
The overall plot did interest me as I was intrigued by the whole premise when I first found out about this book back in 2006 when it came out. One of the main problems I think this story has is that the pacing can be a bit off at times. I’m not the fastest reader in the world so this felt like a bit of a drag if I’m honest.
I wouldn’t say this book was boring by any means but in some places it did feel a little too drawn out. You wouldn’t think so as it’s only just under 250 pages long. Sometimes I think there is a slight bit of padding here and there but it’s only a mminor nit pick as I enjoyed the majority of the book.
The main supporting characters are Kiesher (who thinks her brother is dead and a lot of the book is dedicated to the mystery of his supposed death) and Vida (Who is one of the scientific members working on the Ascendent ship trying to find out how it got savaged). Both characters i thought worked really well in the story but Keisher isn’t featured an awful lot.
As for the villains of the story, I thought they were nicely written creatures that did give a sense of threat and sometimes created tension in some of the chapters. My only nit pick is that I felt as though the ending seemed a bit rushed.
Overall this book is okay. Not the best book I’ve ever read but I would recommend it if you love David Tennant’s Doctor!
3/5 -
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1097091.html?style=mine[return][return]I've enjoyed two other New Series novels by Stephen Cole (here and here), so I'm glad to report now that I like Feast of the Drowned even more, which makes it the best Ninth or Tenth Doctor book I've read. It's not that it has the literary depth that the best of the New / Missing / Past Doctor ranges have, but it's very faithful to the spirit of Season Two (ie 2006, not 1964-5), and in particular it would fit awfully well into continuity between "New Earth" and "Tooth and Claw"; I found it easy to imagine what a TV version of this would have looked like.[return][return]We have here a return to Rose's London; we have quite a lot of Mickey, and what he went through during the year that Rose had vanished - one of Mickey's best outings in the canon (if this is canon). We have the Doctor being very David Tennant-ish, confusing friends and confounding foes, especially the military. As with the two other Cole books I've read, we also have shape-shifting aliens which share the Zygons' aquatic habitat (but are otherwise original to him). Rose herself doesn't come across terribly well, and the science is as bogus as anything else in New Who, but it is a very enjoyable romp. -
I'm very tempted to just out and out give this five stars. It's David Tennant. As the Doctor. AND in full brogue. In other words, a little slice of heaven. He does voices quite well (though perhaps not so much Rose and Mickey, but … who cares?), does the creepy bits very creepily, and is all in all a joy to listen to. Unsurprisingly.
And it was a fun story, too, about something (*cough*aliens*cough*) snatching up the drowning and doing unspeakable things to them (and the "Feast" of the title isn't a fun let's-have-another-turkey-leg sort of thing, either). The writing did a nice job of achieving Whovianness – always a concern with fan-fiction at any level up to and including authorized published tie-ins. Though … both eyebrows went up, way up, when Cole referred to "the Doctor's sneakers". Uh. He used the correct "trainers" another time, though, so I'll give him that. There was a great deal of running, and reference to the fact that running is very common with the Doctor, and that's all to the good.
But, in the end, even DT wasn't enough to make this a five-star listen. He was; the story was not.
But – brogue. There is something about the way a Scottish man says "book" that … Ahem. Yes. Very nice. -
I read this book in print and really enjoyed it, but I especially want to get the audio version of it because David Tennant reads it! The story was a good one. I'm surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, since it took place almost entirely in London and usually those aren't as enjoyable. I thought for the most part the characters of the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey were very well done, just a couple of times I thought would he/she have really said that? The monsters/aliens were scary and new, which is always nice to get.
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4 stars
While I love Doctor Who, this is my first Doctor Who experience that wasn't on TV. I have to say it was a bit weird hearing the story instead of watching it, but once I got used to it I liked it. The story was interesting and typical of Doctor Who and I'm happy I read it. I'd recommend it for Doctor Who fans. :D
* note - I listened to the audio version of this book. David Tenant was the narrator and he did a great job. Since he was Doctor #10 in the TV show, his voice doing the narration was very fitting. -
This was a good story but couldn’t help thinking of The Water of Mars. My favorite line in perfect Ten voice," Now that Mickey the untrained civilian has a hand grenade, oh yes, everything is going to be fine.” I could just picture The Doctor saying it and the look on Mickey’s face as he did!
I love that David Tennant reads the narrative in his Scottish accent and the Doctor bits as the voice Whovians know so well and his voicing of Mickey is fantastic!
Of course it makes me want to go back and watch David’s episodes again and again.
4 Stars -
My nightly read after struggling with fibro pain and trying to sleep.
The Doctor and Rose return to London, when a navy ship has sunk and all aboard lost. The dead have started appearing across London. Since re-reading the story reminds me of the episode 'Waters of Mars' -the book could have been inspiration for the episode?
I enjoyed the story apart from the characteristics of some characters especially Mickey. -
I always like these books. Another fun paranormal, Sci-Fi mixed with the mystery of the sea. I don't watch this series but I certainly enjoy reading these shorts. Good for YA but not strictly just for YA.
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Enjoyable couple hours of fluffy Doctor Who goodness.
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I did find Jacqueline Dauber’s writing more engaging, but I enjoyed this one. My main quibble is that there were multiple comments about how strange it was that they could hear underwater. Um…duh. Sound waves require matter to travel, and generally speaking the denser the matter the better the sound waves travel. So generally liquids and solids conduct sound BETTER than air. Besides, did the author never yell underwater in the pool as a kid to see if he could hear? I know for a fact I’m not the only person who did that.
That aside, it was a fun read, very typical of Doctor Who. Less timey-wimey than The Stone Rose, but plenty of confusing alien activity. Reminded me a bit both of Christmas Invasion and Waters of Mars. I mean, the Doctor literally got attacked by water. And aliens were using water as part of how they were controlling people.
Anyway, fun story, like an extra episode. -
3.5 stars!!
This was completely worth it JUST for the absolutely adorable TenxRose moments 🥰
The monsters in this also have a vague recollection of the monsters from Waters of Mars which is one of my favorite episodes so I enjoyed that element.
Seeing as I’m reading these after having been caught up on the current tv series this adventure reminds me a lot of the Twelve/Clara episodes “Under the Lake” & “Before the Flood”. -
actual rating: 3.5
Definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than The Stone Rose - better characterization and also a coherent timeline! Huzzah! But still not quite as good as the Ten & Donna adventures I've read before. I do love the other companions but Donna is just next level and David and Catherine are so good at doing each other's voices that it just takes it to the next level. This was still a really fun listen though, very much what I would consider a 'classic' Doctor Who adventure and David's narration is awesome as always. -
3.5 stars
A Naval ship goes missing in the middle of the ocean, all onboard dead. Until they mysteriously turn up at home.
The author kind of got 10's, Rose's and Mickey's characters. This is my first Doctor Who book, so it was a little weird. -
Sadly, the only reason this book has three stars is because it’s Doctor Who. The story seems to fit the usual brand of sci-fi mystery adventure. The premise is interesting and the prose is fitting, but it was not among my favorite Doctor Who stories.
The biggest problem I had with this book was the pacing. The story had my attention for a good amount of time, but nearly halfway through the book I found myself waiting for the resolution. Yet the book continued on...and on.
In short, this book showed great classic sci-fi promise, but lost momentum toward an anti-climactic end. -
to me, the story was very confusing and jumping around too much. maybe i just too long to read the whole thing.
but my biggest annoyance was the way the doctor was written. at least in the first half. this is the tenth doctor second book, but until page 150, all i could think of when he said something, was nine. he was sassy and northern, like eccleston. just gave me wrong vibes overall. it got a lot better in the second half.
overall: okay 🧍♀️ -
10 tenroses out of 10
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Tennant is my favourite Doctor, so I was looking forward to this one. His personality came through in places, but it was still quite generic in others. I found the plot and the conclusion just a bit too hard to swallow. This title will not make it to my top ten.
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J'ai mis un temps fou à rentrer dans l'histoire. Il m'a fallu un bon tiers de livre pour me sentir un minimum impliquée dans l'affaire. La suite se laisse lire pourtant; sans être révolutionnaire ce roman est tout à fait divertissant. Mais alors, il lui faut le temps de chauffer avant de démarrer.
Divertissant, c'est un mot qui va bien à Stephen Cole). Mais il fait ça bien, quand même: la prose n'est pas forcément très adroite, les dialogues ne creusent pas trop loin, mais on ne lui enlèvera pas que c'est fun. Et s'il se limite à la surface de ses personnages principaux, ça a l'avantage certain de lui éviter de faire un Ten et une Rose qui ne ressemblent pas aux nôtres.
L'histoire se passe chez nous (enfin, chez Rose), ce qui permet de nous ramener Jackie et Mickey et de nous en montrer un peu plus sur l'univers de Rose Tyler.
On passe aussi une bonne partie de l'histoire sous la Tamise (because there's something in the water. Again), détour assez sympatique, finalement: on n'a pas tant l'habitude de visiter l'endroit!
Le "plot" tournant autour de la flotte essaye de nous faire croire qu'il est compliqué avant d'avouer que non, en fait, il est simple, ce qui va bien puisque pour le coup dès que ça part dans le "compliqué", l'auteur devient pas bien clair et on est à deux doigts de ne rien comprendre: les descriptions pêchent un peu, on a souvent du mal à se situer dans l'espace et j'ai été clairement paumée sur certaines manœuvres (remarquez que j'avais déjà eu un peu ce problème sur
Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside où Cole m'avait perdue au milieu de 200 slitheen. C'est donc un problème récurrent chez lui).
Cela-dit, le concept des monstres de la semaine est particulièrement flippant. Je dirais bien qu'ils mériteraient d'être exploités dans un épisode mais vu qu'entre temps on a eu droit à des cousins pas trop éloignés dans The Waters of Mars...
Quant à la partie soap de l'histoire, elle nous permet de rencontrer Keisha, une amie à Rose dont le frère vient de disparaître en mer (mais dont le fantôme est très insistant). La demoiselle est assez insupportable mais via son regard et celui de Mickey on a quelques aperçus de ce qu'ont vécus ceux que Rose a laissé derrière elle en embarquant dans le TARDIS et en disparaissant un an. Et ça oblige Rose �� faire face au bazar qu'elle a fichu. Pas que ça la fasse plus culpabiliser que ça non plus hein, c'est de Rose saison 2 qu'on parle: au centre de l'univers de Rose, il y a Rose. On ouvre aussi une petite lucarne sur ce qu'elle était avant (et vu les copines qu'elle avait, ça devait pas être jouasse) .
Et on se rend compte à quel point Jackie et Mickey aiment Rose. Malgré tout. Au centre de l'univers de Jackie et Mickey, il y a Rose.
Enfin, maintenant que j'ai lu la première portée de romans Ten/Rose, je confirme définitivement que Rose fonctionne quand même nettement moins bien avec Ten qu'avec Nine. Ce qui était valable à l'écran l'est aussi à l'écrit. -
This novel follows closely to the television formula: The Doctor and companion are drawn into a mystery set in modern day London, discover an alien invasion plot, and they (well, HE, really) foil it after a few twists and turns. I don’t consider that bit a spoiler, as any licensed material must necessarily deliver all the characters and settings back unaltered by the conclusion- series authors don’t own, they rent. I’ll agree with other reviewers in pointing out the similarities in the story’s villains with those in the television episode “Waters of Mars”. However, I must defend Cole in saying he wrote three years in advance of that episode’s airing. The areas to truly judge a DW story by, I feel, are the peripheral one-off characters that one wouldn’t expect to see return in any other story. These are the few with which the author can take liberties with and write freely; the portion of the whole which is owned and not rented. Most of those appearing in 'Feast of the Drowned' were unremarkable for me, and none experienced any transformative hero’s journey in this story with the possible exception of the scientist Vida. Her transition from opposition figure to team member by story’s end is not spectacularly different from any other such character conversion from the series. Nor are Crayshaw and the other villains all that dissimilar from other would-be alien invaders of Earth who had the poor luck to attempt their plans on the day that The Doctor happened to be passing through the neighborhood. Like the rest of the crowd, he is prone to monologuing his plan to The Doctor in a moment of perceived victory with raspy voice. I was also underwhelmed with the silver-bullet trope of the conclusion, and expect I’m not the only reader who foresaw it in the early pages of the story. None of the complaints should dissuade series fans from reading the book- it’s very familiarities that make it a weaker story in the wider pool of SF literature are the aspects of it that will make it enjoyable to its established audience of Doctor Who fans.
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Look, I know that the God Tier of Doctor/Rose canon is The Stone Rose but why is nobody talking about this gem????
So, the Feast of the Drowned starts with Rose and the Doctor returning to her Estate to visit her friend Keisha who’s just lost her brother in a ship accident where no one survived. They discover that the ghosts of the people in the ship are calling their loved ones to the Thames to drown and now they have to figure out what’s happening before everybody ends up drowning there.
First things first, the audiobook is narrated by David Tennant and isn’t that just amazing????
The plot is just what you expect but the personalities of the characters really shine in the novel. You also get more of the relationship the Doctor and Rose have. The Doctor being all smitten with Rose. The dynamic between them is just as sweet and fun as the New Earth and Tooth and Claw chapters.
Jackie and Mickey make an appearance in this book too. Jackie being a BAMF when faced with a situation she’s not used to, and even when she’s scared she may never see Rose again, she trusts the Doctor with bringing her back and she trusts Rose with doing everything in her power to help and save the day. This novel also tells us that after Boom Town, Mickey and Rose were truly broken up and how he’s trying to deal with the fact that Rose was spirited away by the Doctor.
It really is just as fun as The Stone Rose, and the audiobook is also just as great! You’ll definitely love it if you’ve read TSR.
