The Novrosk Peninsula, the Soviet naval base, has been abandoned, and the nuclear submarines are rusting and rotting. Cold, isolated, forgotten unt...
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reviews
Aug 28, 2009
Holly (2 Kids and Tired)
rated it: 
The Doctor finds himself on a remote, Soviet naval base with Captain Jack and Rose, after Jack mistakenly answers a distress call. A mysterious stone circle, unexplained deaths and and unknown killer mean adventure and disaster. What is the Deviant Strain and can the Doctor and his friends discover the truth?
The story is full of chases and running and campy sort of octopus-like jelly monsters. It also includes Captain Jack, and while he's still brave and heroic, he's also a bit of More...
The story is full of chases and running and campy sort of octopus-like jelly monsters. It also includes Captain Jack, and while he's still brave and heroic, he's also a bit of More...
Apr 29, 2009
Jules
rated it: 
And I really, really, really loved it. As a friend already pointed out, it's SOOOOO good. And it really was! I think this is one of my favourite Doctor Who books so far (mind you, I only have read three now).
Oh, but it was exciting! Also, you've got the old time team! The ninth Doctor, Rose and Jack. And they've got a whole lot to do! I think my favourite scene was the one when Rose had to get away from Sofia. Wow, very few gripping scenes.
Also, the whole plot about that young-old gi More...
Oh, but it was exciting! Also, you've got the old time team! The ninth Doctor, Rose and Jack. And they've got a whole lot to do! I think my favourite scene was the one when Rose had to get away from Sofia. Wow, very few gripping scenes.
Also, the whole plot about that young-old gi More...
Apr 14, 2011
Corey
rated it: 
Th new series took a while to really hit it's stride with the books. Th Deviant Strain has all the makings of a good ninth doctor book, but ends up falling short of the mark. It's not a bad book in any way, but it's nothing that would blow you away.
The story is very cookie cutter: mystery signal, a military presence, something not what it seems, and people who don't quite add up. That said, some special mention for the parts about Jack. His work with the catatonic is both filled with f More...
The story is very cookie cutter: mystery signal, a military presence, something not what it seems, and people who don't quite add up. That said, some special mention for the parts about Jack. His work with the catatonic is both filled with f More...
Jun 14, 2011
Jimmy
rated it:
Set Between Episodes ‘The Doctor Dances’ & ‘Boom Town’
I liked this book better than the previous one. I found myself more caught up in the story and the mystery. I believe that ‘Winner Takes All’ was perhaps an attempt to be more light-hearted and humorous that just didn’t quite make it for me. In ‘The Deviant Strain’, I found similarities that reminded me of Stephen King’s ‘Tommyknockers’ and of SyFy’s ‘BattleStar Galactica’. Because of Captain Jack, (hubba, hubba) the Doctor is mora More...
I liked this book better than the previous one. I found myself more caught up in the story and the mystery. I believe that ‘Winner Takes All’ was perhaps an attempt to be more light-hearted and humorous that just didn’t quite make it for me. In ‘The Deviant Strain’, I found similarities that reminded me of Stephen King’s ‘Tommyknockers’ and of SyFy’s ‘BattleStar Galactica’. Because of Captain Jack, (hubba, hubba) the Doctor is mora More...
Jan 08, 2012
Casi
rated it:
This is probably the worst Doctor Who book I've read. And I've read a lot of them now. Richards seems to have little concept of the Doctor, Rose, or Jack as characters. His storyline lacks focus and direction. His efforts to build suspense are misguided and frustrating. As short as this book is, it took me ages to read. There are so few 9th Doctor Books, it makes me really sad to know that this is one of them.
Apr 08, 2009
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1210391.html[return][return]This was the first book published to feature Jack Harkness as a character. It foreshadows Torchwood, no doubt unintentionally, with Team Tardis resolving abandoned alien tech and local human factionalism in an Arctic port in contemporary Russia. Richards has caught Ecclestone's portrayal of the Ninth Doctor very well, and builds up a decent sense of terror driven by blue glowing aliens with life-6orce-sucking tentacles. We fanboys would h
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Jun 25, 2007
Writerlibrarian
rated it:
Doctor Who series featuring the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack. Russia, some godforsaken forgotten place where people are existing and surviving on the nuclear submarines the Russian military "forgot" there. Captain Jack answers some distress signal and the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack stumble into this terrible forgotten place where a lost alien artifact is waiting to be found. That's mostly the plot. It's in the scary with slimy aliens genre. Interesting enough to keep my inter
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Nov 15, 2011
Megan
rated it:
In The Deviant Strain, the Doctor, Rose, and Jack answer a distress signal and end up at an abandoned Soviet nuclear base complete with decaying nuclear submarines and, of course, an alien menace.
Because there are three characters, the plot of this book is able to branch out and fold back in on itself, and it feels a lot like the way an actual episode would. As is typical for the Doctor Who novels I've read so far, Rose and Jack are basically just shells, not really given a lot of th More...
Because there are three characters, the plot of this book is able to branch out and fold back in on itself, and it feels a lot like the way an actual episode would. As is typical for the Doctor Who novels I've read so far, Rose and Jack are basically just shells, not really given a lot of th More...
Jan 25, 2010
Karen
rated it: 
I will admit that if I was basing my rating purely on the story then it would only be two stars,maybe three if I was feeling generous.However it features The Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston and he is my favourite Doctor
Sep 10, 2009
Noah
rated it:
There's a lot to like about this book... but sadly not enough. the strong points are the characterizations, and the cool setting of an old Soviet submarine yard. The plot is a bit loosey goosey, and the last 50 pages of the book are simply boring.
Jun 27, 2011
Emily
rated it:
Non-stop action with the Doctor, Rose, and Jack. Lots of people die gruesome deaths, alien blobs attack, witty banter is exchanged, and there are zombies.
Jack's character didn't seem quite . . . right. He kept up-staging the Doctor.
All in all, not one of my favorite Doctor Who books, but the end was rewarding.
If you like the Doctor, read it.
Jack's character didn't seem quite . . . right. He kept up-staging the Doctor.
All in all, not one of my favorite Doctor Who books, but the end was rewarding.
If you like the Doctor, read it.
Nov 27, 2010
Shazzer
rated it:
Not one of the stronger Doctor Who novels; I didn't care for the story, which was a bit slap-bang and suffered from sudden-solution-syndrome (which admittedly, happens a lot with Doctor Who).
Aug 07, 2011
Tim
rated it:
So many Doctor Who books (and I have all the new ones)....a written review is unnecessary for them all.
Oct 10, 2009
Rebecca
rated it: 
Interesting at first, but the end is very heavy on the action in a boring, logistical sort of way.
Dec 16, 2009
katie
rated it:
This was a re-read of course, but it totally counts. I love when these DW books get it at least mostly-right! Actually, that's not fair, they're fine on the whole, I just get frustrated because they don't have as much ~*emotional nonsense as I'd like. Whatever, this is one of my favourites. Partly because it has Captain Jack being a Real Big Hero, partly because it's nice and straightforward. I think that's my favourite thing about the books, how straightforward and direct and comfortable to rea
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Jun 16, 2008
Eleanor
rated it:
A bit disappointing but not a bad story. Unfortunately it features the incredibly annoying Captain Jack Harkness, although his character was quite low-key and not as objectionably arrogant as usual.
Jan 04, 2012
Michelle
rated it:
This one was pretty good. I was excited to see Jack, and the story was interesting. I thought the Doctor took a bit long to catch on to what was going on.
Oct 23, 2008
Karla
rated it:
Just okay. It seemed like a lot of running in circles some of which is just part of the Doctor Who fun but in this book it's just a bit too much.
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 09, 2012
Feb 09, 2012
