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22nd out of 155 books
—
43 voters
Doctor Who: The Slitheen Excursion (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #32)
The Doctor battles his old enemy, the Slitheen, in Ancient Greece in the latest of the bestselling Doctor Who novels
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
April 2nd 2009
by BBC Books
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Declaration of interest: Simon's one of my best mates. Occasionally, we've even been known to hug.
I read this in draft during the writing, but only now got around to revisiting it in its finished form. It's a fun, clever romp, leaning towards the lighter side of Who, unafraid of jokes and silliness but with a serious plot at its heart and no shortage of on- and off-screen carnage.
The book's temporary companion, June, is instantly likeable and competent, and Tennant's Doctor leaps off the page,...more
I read this in draft during the writing, but only now got around to revisiting it in its finished form. It's a fun, clever romp, leaning towards the lighter side of Who, unafraid of jokes and silliness but with a serious plot at its heart and no shortage of on- and off-screen carnage.
The book's temporary companion, June, is instantly likeable and competent, and Tennant's Doctor leaps off the page,...more
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The Slitheen Excursion is in most ways a standard alien invasion New Series Adventures romp, but lifted partly by the total absence of fart jokes for the Slitheen and mainly by the strong presence of June Brown, a contemporary classics student who bumps into the Doctor while on holiday in Athens and helps him go back in time to defeat the nefarious plans of the green slimy shape-shifters. Perhaps it helped that I was listening to the audio as narrated by...more
The Slitheen Excursion is in most ways a standard alien invasion New Series Adventures romp, but lifted partly by the total absence of fart jokes for the Slitheen and mainly by the strong presence of June Brown, a contemporary classics student who bumps into the Doctor while on holiday in Athens and helps him go back in time to defeat the nefarious plans of the green slimy shape-shifters. Perhaps it helped that I was listening to the audio as narrated by...more
Doctor Who is a difficult franchise. Most of the stories are familiar monster-of-the-week stuff, but good Who can take that premise and breath magical intrigue and substantial wisdom into the old story formulas. Sometimes this additional dimension is lacking, though, and such is the case with “The Slitheen Excursion”.
Taking place between seasons 4 and 5 of the new era, the novel gives us a lonely Doctor who has decided to abandon his friends for their good. We do however get a new companion, the...more
Taking place between seasons 4 and 5 of the new era, the novel gives us a lonely Doctor who has decided to abandon his friends for their good. We do however get a new companion, the...more
Oct 28, 2011
Erin
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Doctor Who fans
Shelves:
doctor_who,
books-read-in-2011
I wasn't sure what to expect, as this was my first Doctor Who book to read. I love the TV show, and even though the Slitheen stories were not my favorite, I liked the premise from the brief description. There were times that I could really hear the Doctor coming through the page, but there were other times I just didn't feel that connected to it all. It took me a bit to warm up to the companion, June, but I've noticed that the same has happened with some of the one-shot companions on the show. I...more
As far as the New Series Adventures go, this wasn't half bad, although could have used a bit more editing. For example, the main character constantly teeters on the verge of becoming a Mary Sue. lots of information about history is being dumped in clumsy paragraphs, there are several silly typos, and some other stuff I can't bring myself to put into words right now. However, the pacing was good, there were bits that made me laugh or at least smile, and there was a tiny bit of wibbly-wobbly timey...more
I picked up a job lot of Doctor Who novels recently as I decided to try and complete reading all the ones featuring the Doctor in his Tenth incarnation. I ended up with 7 novels in total! I've never been a big fan of the Slitheen so this was the first one I read. It's one of the later novels with Ten so he's without a longterm companion and finds a temporary associate in June.
June is quite likeable and seems well-written. She's very much in the Rose style of companion; young, clever in her own...more
June is quite likeable and seems well-written. She's very much in the Rose style of companion; young, clever in her own...more
I've never been a big fan of the Slitheen, but since my local library has so few options for the Doctor Who novelizations I figured I'd give this one a go anyways, and I'm actually kind of glad I did. This was a good read. I really liked June as a companion and while I'm still 'meh' about the Slitheen,this book did go a long ways to showing me that they can be effective villans. I was not a big fan of how Simon Guerrier characterized the 10th Doctor. Most of the time I forgot that the Doctor in...more
This is the first New Series Adventure which I thought did not keep the Doctor in character. His reluctance to get involved was jarring. I liked June and her perspective on the Doctor but the other characters were a problem. They all, Earthlings and aliens from past and future, seemed human and contemporary.
I refuse to open up a shelf for Dr. Who and another for horror. An adequate story set in our world and Ancient Greece, dealing with horrid space invaders and their elimination by Dr. Who. My review may be tainted because I was taking pain meds at the time I read it. Got some nice dreams, though.
A fun book that travels to Ancient Greece where the Slitheen are meddling with history tourism. A nice idea, and the companion figure is well described. I have a feeling though that ths was originally written for a different companion. A decent read, and the Doctor is manic in it.
It took a long time for me to accept the narrator's voice in this story - as often happens when it is read by someone who has no particular connection with Doctor Who. Some parts plodded or even lost me and there were too many false endings.
However, Ancient Greece was an interesting setting with some worthwhile issues to ponder. And the Slitheen tend to be good value monsters.
However, Ancient Greece was an interesting setting with some worthwhile issues to ponder. And the Slitheen tend to be good value monsters.
Slightly different from the other 10th Doctor Who novels I've read, as there isn't a companion in it. Instead, the Doctor enlists the help of June, a university student, to help him rid ancient greece of the slitheen.
Jul 27, 2011
Mary
added it
Good book love greek myths anyways greek myths plus the doctor good combo you see how he really cares for everyone he meets and helps the aliens has a cool show of his timelord abilties too
The Slitheen are my least favorite Doctor who aliens--I mean, they look like bloated, weird babies. Who thought that would be effective? Even with that aside, though, this book falls short. The Doctor, especially in early scenes, doesn't act like the Doctor, and the plot is just silly and even a bit dull. June is a generic companion. I never really got a sense of her personality.
This book only took me a couple of hours to read but it was pretty amazing and quite pleasant. I love all the history orientated novels and have had a slight fascination with Ancient Greece ever since I was a child so I was kept amused by the Doctor's rambling.
I even liked the OC June, the student. She was nice except I still got the impression she was being paired with the Doctor, stopit writers, just let him have a mate for once.
I still don't like the slitheen but that's probably personal pr...more
I even liked the OC June, the student. She was nice except I still got the impression she was being paired with the Doctor, stopit writers, just let him have a mate for once.
I still don't like the slitheen but that's probably personal pr...more
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It has been a while since I read this book, but to me it was a slooow read. I just did not get into it like I have some of the other Doctor Who books. I really like the Doctor Who series but this one left something to be desired.
I have just found this book after about a year. I'll have to re-read this as I forgot everything about it. I know this book is good. As all Doctor Who books are.
I actually kind of liked this Doctor Who book....played out more like a tv show than an actual read, but good fun nonetheless.
It's so bad it's almost insulting that the BBC have put this out. Forget the dreadful story, the poor characterisation, the stilted dialogue etc for a moment - even the editing was atrocious. The editor missed a lot of poor grammar and basic spelling mistakes (for example - you're instead of your). The whole thing reads like a rushed first draft.
It's a shame really because there's an opportunity to expand the franchise and take it in directions not possible on TV instead of just shamelessly cash...more
It's a shame really because there's an opportunity to expand the franchise and take it in directions not possible on TV instead of just shamelessly cash...more
Together with university student June, the Doctor travels back to ancient Greece to stop the Slitheen from whiping out the human race. Fast paced, with a great storyline and a brilliant temporary companion, this is a great Doctor Who novel!
This is one of my favorite Who tales...
Totally awesome.
Sep 08, 2010
Tyler
added it
awesome
I'll read these while I'm waiting my turn for the Doctor Who DVDs. The books take about as much time to read as it does to watch an episode; contains some dishy David Tennant flavor. Suitable for young readers.
May 18, 2013
Sadie
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Denise Horst
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
The Doctor
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Luisa
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Samantha
marked it as to-read
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Simon Guerrier is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of Doctor Who and its spinoffs. Although he has written three Doctor Who novels, for the BBC Books range, his work has mostly been for Big Finish Productions' audio drama and book ranges.
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips rang...more
More about Simon Guerrier...
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips rang...more
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