City at World's End

It had been a little while since I'd read a first doctor PDA, and within the first 3 chapters I was vowing to make sure I have all the others in my collection. Bulis does a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of the era, and each of the TARDIS crew members comes across as dead on. Barbara and Susan are put through the ringer, and you can easily picture the mussed hair, and smudged cheek shots typical of the beleaguered heroins. Ian reactive and stoic at the same time, and the Doctor alternately useless and key to the resolution It was a magical time.
I liked the story a lot - mainly an illustration of the religious and powerful fighting over cosmetic aspects of the culture while the scientists and engineers do the only work that show more matters to the survival of the people (while ignoring, to their detriment, some of the potential outcomes of their growing technological advances).
It isn't an easy book to describe/review without giving away plot surprises - suffice it to say, there are a lot of twists (maybe one or two too many, as some seem to either come from, or go into, blind alleys). Delightfully - a reason for the dimensional instability resulting in the adventure that follows (Planet of the Giants) is given, as well as a 'promise' to revisit the scene in the afterward.
An 'episodic feel' is chosen rather than the most well constructed story with a distinctive beginning, middle and end. I liked this about it, for the way it reflects the stories of the first TARDIS crew.
It may not be "The Witch Hunters", but it is a very good read that I recommend to anyone who is a fan of this period of the series. show less

http://nhw.livejournal.com/900116.html

I thought Bulis had done very well in portraying the setting, a rain-drenched planet which is doomed to destruction in the near future, and the populace hoping to escape rather as in Utopia. But the various human (and AI) factions were rather confusingly portrayed as to their means and motivation. There's a nice nod to Planet of Giants at the end (the novel is set before that and immediately after The Reign of Terror).