The Clockwise Man

I did quite enjoy . . . some of this one. I think I enjoyed the last perhaps third more than most of the rest.

Nine feels a bit lacking - not really himself - and Rose goes through flashes of being herself and being a sort of blank slate. I did love - and felt like her! - Rose talking to the maid, Rose being affectionate and conspiratorial (and then fiercely protective) of Freddie. I liked Freddie a lot, in fact!

There were a bit too many moving parts (heh) in this one, and spaced not always well - bit of stretches with nothing much happening, then five reveals and heel-face/face-heel turns in only a few minutes.

I didn't like Melissa Heart, and then I didn't like her as an antagonist, and then I mostly didn't like her as a reluctant show more helper. The face reveal was interesting and I kiiind of wish there had been more description; I'm all for 'leave the horror to the imagination, it'll be more that way' but I think it was a little too left to imagination.

Wyse made an interesting cheerful secondary character, and then a pretty decent antagonist. Beyond the confusion and kerfuffle of mistaken identities and disguises and- (As said: a bit too much in my opinion.)

The poor clockwork cats, even if they were . . . just clockwork? I'm glad one of them was still functioning at the end and I hope the cat and Repple keep one another company for a long time. (Actually I'd like to see Repple look Rose up, 80 years later.)

On that note, it feels like an older historical than it is, mostly; it doesn't feel 1920s-ish to me in the main.

I truly thought Freddie might die in the end, just for a bit there; well done (and also HEY) for that ending leaving it so easy to assume even post-climax when talking to his stepfather. Brave little hero. I wish Rose at least had been able to go say goodbye to him properly. (Aaand I understand generally but I was a bit cringing at the Doctor asking him to wiggle through the window - and not putting anything, like his jacket, say, over the broken metal and glass??? It would have been different if the kid had volunteered - still, gods, not a great place for a kid, but the entirety of London as well as Rose is at stake, like, reasonable - but blatantly asking him even if followed by 'I can't make you I can only ask' yeah because he's going to say no to that?) show less

I am going to be upfront and just admit that I am a massive fan of Doctor Who. Anything even remotely related to Doctor Who immediately catches my attention. It's still a little while to go until the next series and finding myself going through a serious case of withdrawal, I have decided to give the books based on the series a shot.

The Clockwise Man is the first book in the New Who series. New Who began when the series was brought back to life after a sixteen year hiatus. Christopher Eccleston played the role of the 9th doctor and had the immense responsibility of introducing the Doctor to an entire new generation of fans. Naturally, the rebirth of the series spawned a new series of books, allowing the fans to have even more adventures show more with the Doctor and his companions.

The Clockwise Man takes the Doctor and Rose backwards in time to 1924 London and takes place between the episodes "The Long Game" and "Father's Day" of series one. The Doctor and Rose decide to see The British Empire Exhibition and naturally even a sight seeing trip with The Doctor leads to a mystery which must be solved. It's not long before not only the Tardis (the doctor's time machine disguised as a police box), his leather jacket and precious sonic screwdriver go missing. It seems that the painted lady has determined that The Doctor is the vicious butcher that she has been looking for.

The Clockwise Man felt quite a bit like steampunk because of the mechanicals in the story. It did however contain little references to the series for the sake of continuity. For instance, Rose changes completely into to period clothing while the Doctor runs around in his leather jacket with no one batting an eye. There's even a mention of "Bad Wolf," which fans of the series will immediately recognize as a warning to the Doctor that trouble is coming.

Even with all of the little references, The Doctor really felt off to me. First off, no true Doctor would ever struggle to find a word. Not only is he fluent in English, he often thinks so quickly that few can keep up with him. I found myself wondering repeatedly where the Doctor's arrogance, sarcasm and confidence went? Then, there is the issue that in many ways, The Clockwise Man turns the Doctor into an action hero. Yes, I said action hero. Instead of outsmarting the bad guy, the Doctor actually gets into a physical altercation and allows someone else to try and save the world using their mind and abilities to shut down some tech. An action doctor is not unheard of (see the 6th doctor and the 3rd doctor); however, that certainly wasn't a part of the 9th doctor's personality. He didn't even say, "Fantastic" which fans of the series will recognize as the 9th Doctor's catchphrase. Who is this man? The answer is, not the Doctor or at the very least, not a proper representation of The Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston.

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I'm a pretty big Doctor Who fan, although only of the 2005 reboot (I was too young for the original series and have no idea how to get into that one). Next to the series on the BBC and a lot of other merchandise, there is also a series of (children's) books. For me, these books are episodes on its own. They are pretty quick reads, but as much fun as the show (with the same Doctor and companions) and great to read when waiting between episodes or seasons.
In this book the Doctor (9th) and Rose travel to London in 1924 to see the British Empire Exhibition but instead stumble upon a strange plot of attempted murder, displaced royals from unknown countries, a woman who never shows her face and weird cats. It reads like a true Doctor Who show more adventure, including references to the TV show, and is a lot of fun. Four out of five stars. show less

Pure entertainment. The main characters felt a bit off, but the story made up for it with some very exciting, and Whovian, plot elements. Best bits include... a cat with emerald eyes, the real Anastasia, clockwork machines, a revolutionary, missing things, and a sad Doctor.

Don't mistake this for high-quality, literary-fiction. This is a fun romp through 1920s London, and that is all it should be expected of delivering.

The first of the tie-in novels issued for New Who, and as such featuring Nine (Chris Eccleston) and Rose, who have landed in 1920s London and promptly get tangled up with not one but two deposed heirs to a throne. One is a young boy with haemophilia; the other appears to be the prince of some small east European country. And there are assassins on the loose -- assassins who are accompanied by the sound of clockwork. Add in a woman who always goes masked and who recognises the sonic screwdriver as inappropriate technology, and the Doctor and Rose have quite a task on their hands in sorting out friend from foe.

It would be unfair to criticise this novel for giving me a slight sense of deja vu, because it was published during the first show more series of the Who revival, long before the tv episodes which revisit some of the same ground. (I can think of at least three at the time of writing this review, though naming them would be too spoilerish.) This is a competently written tie-in with some interesting themes and a nice sf mystery, and while I don't get a solid sense of a specific regeneration's personality, this is clearly the Doctor and his world. An enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. show less

This was interesting. I enjoyed reading about the adventures that we didn't see. I had always imagined there were dozens of trips in between the television versions. I had read that some people were let down by the Doctor Who books, but I don't see why. This was as good as any of the sticky situations they found themselves in on TV only a bit more in-depth. If that's even possible; they seem to fit quite a bit into a single episode. All-in-all the book and story were good. I plan to continue reading the "New Adventures Series".

I don't normally read books based on TV series' or films, but seeing as this (along with nine others) was on offer I decided to buy it. It's not going to win any prizes for writing style, but I found the story exciting and engaging and it kept me reading more than any book has since the last Harry Potter. Like a good Whodunnit it kept me guessing at who the bad guy might be and what really was going on, slowly giving me snippet by snippet of information so that I would realise something shortly before Rose or the Doctor did. The pace was excellent and that's what matters in a book like this. I was going to read a completely different book next but this has entertained me so much I've now picked up the next one!